If the Michigan basketball team didn’t take Concordia seriously before their game on Monday night began, they may have learned an important lesson by the time the final buzzer sounded.
The NAIA Cardinals, making the four-mile trip across Ann Arbor, gave their Division I neighbors a tougher game than anyone likely expected. At one point in the second half, Concordia was within seven points of Michigan, 59-52.
But the Wolverines eventually asserted themselves with approximately seven minutes left in the game and pulled away for a 86-65 win at Crisler Arena.
Michigan was led by Jordan Morgan, who scored 23 points. Darius Morris added 19 points and 12 assists, and Zack Novak pulled down 14 rebounds. Stu Douglass scored 13, which pushed him past the 500-point mark for his career.
For the second straight game, the Wolverines had trouble handling an opposing forward. A game after Harvard’s Keith Wright scored 18 points, Concordia’s Rocko Holmes muscled his way inside to 29 points. That’s the highest total an opposing player has scored against Michigan this season.
Michigan improves their record to 6-2, and will host Utah on Friday night.