National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan 83, Eastern Michigan 66
When: 2:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 16, 2023
Where: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Officials: # Keith Patterson, # Shane Stagg, # Lewis Garrison
Attendance: 11761

Juwan Howard returned to Michigan's bench as head coach and the Wolverines shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range to roll past visiting Eastern Michigan 83-66 on Saturday in a nonconference game in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Assistant coach Phil Martelli had led Michigan for 10 games as Howard recovered from mid-September heart surgery.

Michigan (6-5) won its second straight after a string of three losses. Eastern Michigan (5-5) never led in the game and took its third loss in four games.

Power forward Olivier Nkamhoua led the Wolverines with 17 points and nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Shooting guard Nimari Burnett was 3-of-5 on 3-pointers and scored 14 for Michigan, which also got 13 points apiece from Terrance Williams II (3-of-7 from 3-point range) and Tarris Reed Jr. Dug McDaniel, Michigan's leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, added 11 and made 3 of 6 3-point attempts.

The Wolverines nearly hit their scoring average of 82.1 points per game.

Reed came off the bench and was a force inside for Michigan after scoring a career-high 19 against Iowa on Sunday.

Tyson Acuff, who entered averaging 22.2 points, led all scorers with 24 for Eastern Michigan, who got 16 off the bench from Orlando Lovejoy.

The Eagles went on a six-point run to cut the lead to 59-49 with 10 minutes remaining, but couldn't shoot their way back into the game, hitting only 13.3 percent (2-of-15) on 3-pointers.

The Wolverines shot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range and 58.6 percent from the field as they raced out to a 49-32 halftime lead, paced by Williams' 13 points.

The Big Ten's Michigan leads 29-3 in the local rivalry over Eastern Michigan. The schools eight miles apart in Washtenaw County.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Eastern Michigan   Michigan
Tyson Acuff 24 Scoring Olivier Nkamhoua 17
Tyson Acuff 2 Assists Olivier Nkamhoua 5
Julius Ellerbe 6 Rebounds Olivier Nkamhoua 9
Tyson Acuff 4 Free Throws Made Tarris Reed Jr. 3
Tyson Acuff 3 Steals Tarris Reed Jr. 2
Tyson Acuff 1 Blocks Olivier Nkamhoua 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Eastern Michigan 66 40.0 2-15 12-16 7 26 1 6 5
Michigan 83 54.4 12-27 9-15 18 34 5 2 11