Yaxel Lendeborg had 17 points and eight rebounds as No. 2 Michigan ran away in the second half to earn an 86-56 Big Ten win over UCLA on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Michigan (24-1, 14-1), which led 40-38 at halftime, maintained a two-game lead in the conference standings and figures to be the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 2013 when the Associated Press poll comes out Monday as Arizona lost to Kansas earlier this week.
Morez Johnson Jr. posted 15 points, L.J. Cason scored 13 points, Nimari Burnett had 12 points and UCLA transfer Aday Mara added nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Michigan, which never trailed while winning its 10th in a row.
Trent Pery scored 14 points while Donovan Dent and Tyler Bilodeau each added 10 points for UCLA (17-8, 9-5), which had won five of its last six. Senior guard Skyy Clark, who had been out since Jan. 3 with a hamstring injury, contributed eight points in 16 minutes off the bench.
Leading 43-40 early in the second half, Michigan went on a 13-4 spurt to take a 56-44 lead with 13:22 remaining in the game after layup by Trey McKenney.
Michigan continued to grow its lead as Cason scored five points in a 9-0 run to seize a 68-47 lead with 8:17 to play.
During that Michigan spree, UCLA went nearly six minutes without a field goal and 4:06 without scoring.
UCLA had a brief flurry to cut Michigan’s lead to 70-54 with 6:34 left after a 3-pointer by Clark. But Michigan answered with six straight points – highlighted by Mara’s reverse alley-oop dunk of an Elliot Cadeau lob — to take a 76-54 lead with 5:09 remaining and all but put the game away.
Michigan got off to a strong start, taking a 22-12 lead on Cason’s deep 3-pointer with 10:54 remaining in the first half.
Michigan held a 39-28 lead with 2:39 to go until halftime, but UCLA ended the half on a 10-1 run to make it 40-38 Michigan at intermission. Bilodeau started the spree with a 3-pointer and a layup.
