Michigan Basketball Dominates Ucla With Powerful 2nd-half Performance

After an emotional win in Evanston, Michigan basketball returned home to Crisler Center and looked poised to blow out UCLA early in the matchup. But the Bruins weren't exactly going to take things lying down, and surged back after being down by double digits, taking only a two-point deficit into the locker room at halftime.

But in the second half, the Wolverines flexed, and flexed hard.

The maize and blue put on a clinic on both sides of the court, keeping UCLA scoreless for long stretches while getting the offense going on the other end. What was a two-point lead quickly got into blowout territory.

The Wolverines kept pushing, kept making defensive stands, while finding ways to score. What was a modest lead kept growing until it was the full Michigan basketball experience, with the other team leaving dejected, as always.

Michigan defeated UCLA, 86-56. Here are our five takeaways:

A tale of two halves

This wasn't nearly as obvious as the Northwestern game, when Michigan really struggled in the first and exploded in the second. But given UCLA's run to get back into the game late in the first half, the Wolverines really had to do something to assert themselves. And that they did.

After shooting a respectable 48.1%, Michigan shot an astounding 78.3% in the second half. Also, in the first half, the Wolverines were outrebounded 21-11 only to turn the tables, 19-8, in the second. Ironically, this also all happened while the maize and blue turned the ball over much more in the second (7) compared to the first (2).

LJ Cason continues to shine

After being the catalyst for the comeback and win with his career-best performance at Northwestern, Cason continued to look like more than a viable option for the Wolverines coming off the bench. Cason made more big, clutch plays when the game was somewhat contested, hitting 3s, making difficult drives, securing and-one opportunities, and even playing solid defense.

Cason finished with 13 points, third best on the team on Saturday.

It was a so-so reunion for Aday Mara

This team is comprised of several high-profile transfers, and of those who joined the Wolverines this year, none have faced their former school until today. Mara was originally with the Bruins before coming to Ann Arbor this offseason, and he didn't exactly light it up against his former team. But he eventually rounded into form.

Mara actually struggled for much of the game, sitting at just four points relatively deep into the second half. But as the game was winding down and UCLA was looking for answers, Mara finally got his. He finished with nine points against his former Bruins squad.

On February 27, another Wolverine will get their chance when Morez Johnson Jr. faces Illinois on the road.

Very little drama

This game wasn't a full-blown blowout, nor was it a tight contest, save for a few moments. For a team that's mostly run roughshod over every team it has faced or uncharacteristically struggled, this was merely a ho-hum win for the maize and blue. And given that UCLA is a good, not great team, that's OK.

Not every game that the Wolverines play is going to have Jon Rothstein posting 'Michigan by TKO,' and that's fine. (Rothstein finally posted it with 3:08 remaining in the game, when Michigan had a 24-point lead.) Simply going out and handling business is enough, even if it doesn't come with fireworks from the jump.

A game without an obvious star

Yaxel Lendeborg was quietly amazing (as usual), but he doesn't always (or lately often) play a starring role. He goes and gets his 17 points and eight rebounds with little fanfare most games (this one included). But we've seen multiple players step up and be the 'star' any given game -- vs. Northwestern, it was Cason (who was a spark on Saturday); Mara was the star against Ohio State, Nimari Burnett was the guy against Penn State. But on Saturday, the production was spread pretty evenly across the board. Cason, Burnett, Johnson, Lendeborg, and Mara all had their moments, their streaks of pushing the pace and the score. But never did one fully come out and have this 'this is my game' moment.

Which shows just how dangerous this team is. And they'll need to remain dangerous with Purdue and Duke coming up next week.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan basketball defeats UCLA 86-56: 5 key takeaways