ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson didn’t waste any time setting the tone.
Thirty seconds into Monday’s regular-season opener, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Bobby Planutis drove into the lane, where he was greeted by Dickinson and had his shot attempt swatted away. On the ensuing possession, the junior big man promptly scored over a double-team along the baseline.
That painted a picture for how the rest of the night would unfold, as Dickinson powered the No. 22 Wolverines past the undersized Mastodons, 75-56, to kick off the 2022-23 campaign in winning fashion at Crisler Center.
Dickinson finished with 22 points (9-for-11 shooting), 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for Michigan (1-0). He received plenty of help from freshman wing Jett Howard, who added 21 points, made five 3-pointers, dished out five assists and helped stave off a late-game push.
Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 15 and Planutis 13 for Purdue Fort Wayne (0-1), which shot 29.6% from the field (21-for-71) and trailed by double digits the entire second half.
The experienced Purdue Fort Wayne squad — which earned a share of the Horizon League regular-season title last season and was picked to repeat in the league’s preseason poll — appeared ready to put up a fight even without guard Jarred Godfrey, last season’s leading scorer and All-Horizon League first-team selection who didn’t check in.
The Mastodons shot 37% from deep and averaged nine made 3-pointers per game last season. They leaned on that strength, making a pair of deep balls to jump out to an early 8-4 lead five minutes into the contest.
Michigan, meanwhile, leaned on its strength in the middle with the 7-foot-1 Dickinson against Purdue Fort Wayne, whose tallest player on the roster was 6-9. Dickinson scored Michigan’s first six points and made his first five shots, three of which came during a 20-0 surge.
After grad transfer wing Joey Baker buried a 3-pointer to put Michigan up, 9-8, at the 14:36 mark, Dickinson had an offensive rebound and putback for a three-point play. Then following a second deep ball from Baker, Dickinson scored another bucket over a defender in the post.
By the time sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin capped the flurry with a layup at the 10:53 mark, Michigan’s lead swelled to 24-8. But for as good as Michigan looked during the stretch on both ends – it forced eight missed shots and four turnovers while blocking a pair of shots on defense – it couldn’t keep its foot on the gas when it turned to the bench and Dickinson sat.
Purdue Fort Wayne snapped a four-and-a-half-minute scoring drought with an uncontested layup on a blown defensive assignment, sparking a 9-1 spurt that cut the deficit to eight. But once Dickinson checked back in, he promptly blocked a shot in the lane and the Wolverines pushed the lead back to 16 before taking a 40-28 lead into the break.
Much like the first half, Michigan went to Dickinson early and often after halftime and he delivered as the Wolverines pulled away. He threw down back-to-back dunks, including one while being fouled for a three-point play. He tipped in his own missed layup. He also blocked a shot on a possession that led to a nifty coast-to-coast finish by freshman guard Dug McDaniel, putting Michigan up, 59-35, with 12:50 to play.
But, once again, Purdue Fort Wayne chipped away at the deficit without Dickinson on the floor. As the Wolverines’ offense went cold and missed seven consecutive shots, the Mastodons strung together 10 consecutive points to pull within 59-45 with 8:05 remaining.
That’s as close as Purdue Fort Wayne would get as Dickinson and Jett Howard put the game on ice. After Dickinson stuffed the Mastodon’s momentum and snapped a six-minute scoring drought with a finish off a pick-and-roll feed from Howard, the freshman buried two 3-pointers during a personal 8-0 run to make it 69-47 with 3:57 to play.
