No. 23 Michigan Beats No. 20 Indiana 68-56
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Trey Burke scored 18 points, and No. 23 Michigan raced to a 20-point first-half lead before holding on for a 68-56 victory over No. 20 Indiana on Wednesday night.
The Wolverines (17-6, 7-3 Big Ten) remained unbeaten at home. They got off to a quick start after last weekend's loss at No. 3 Ohio State, scoring the first 13 points and eventually taking a 28-8 lead.
Indiana (17-6, 5-6) twice fought back within two points in the second half, including at 52-50 with 3:20 remaining. Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a big 3-pointer for Michigan, and after Indiana's Derek Elston missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Stu Douglass made a 3-pointer to put the Wolverines up by eight.
Jordan Hulls scored 18 points for Indiana.
During the final seconds, the Michigan fans began chanting "Beat the Spartans!" - the Wolverines will try for their fourth straight victory over Michigan State on Sunday in East Lansing.
The Hoosiers beat Michigan 73-71 earlier in the season, part of a 15-1 start for Indiana that included wins over Kentucky and Ohio State. The Hoosiers have lost five of their last seven to fall well off the pace in the Big Ten race.
Burke opened the scoring with a spinning layup and added two 3-pointers, and Zack Novak's 3-pointer from the right corner put Michigan ahead 13-0.
It was 28-8 after a free throw by Michigan's Jordan Morgan, but Indiana answered with nine straight points. Burke found a cutting Hardaway with an alley-oop pass to make it 33-20, and the Wolverines led 33-22 at halftime.
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Michigan had only one turnover in the first half, while Indiana had eight.
The Hoosiers kept chipping away in the second half. Watford's three-point play made it 38-36 with 12:53 remaining, but Novak answered with a 3-pointer, the start of a 9-2 run for Michigan.
Indiana trailed by six points when Hulls made a 3-pointer and Watford added a free throw to again cut the deficit to two. But Hardaway, who has struggled with his outside shot, connected from the left wing after a pass from Burke to make it 55-50.
Hardaway and Novak each scored 13 points. Cody Zeller had 11 for Indiana but was outshined by Burke in a matchup of two of the country's top freshmen.
Hulls went 4 of 5 from 3-point range, but the rest of the Hoosiers were 1 of 9.
There were eight fouls called in the first half and 25 in the second.
