Michigan Basketball claims Fort Myers Tip-Off championship

Chris Breiler | 2 Hours Ago

Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Michigan Wolverines are off to an impressive start under head coach Dusty May, notching another big win on Wednesday night over Xavier to capture the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship.

Michigan's two 7-foot centers led the way, as Danny Wolf leading all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Vlad Goldin added 18 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Following the win, May said he was pleased with his teams toughness, particularly on the defensive end.

"I thought it was an extremely gritty performance, especially defensively, against an Xavier program that we have the utmost respect for," May said. "Sean Miller's one of the best coaches in our game. They're a veteran group. And this wasn't their best game, but a lot of that, I think, did have to do with our size and our tenacity on the defensive end. We were as active as we've been. We were as physical as we've been. And it's a good starting point for us, as we have a long season in front of us and a lot of room to grow. Hats off to our guys. They fought like warriors tonight."

Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Although there were a lot of positives to take away from the win moving forward, May was quick to caution that the Wolverines are far from where they want to be - which is playing at a championship level.

"Well, we think to be a championship-level program," May said. "And we're a long way from that. You have to be really sound on both sides of the basketball. On certain nights, your defense has to carry you. On other nights, the offense can maybe carry the load. I thought we defended the first half. I thought the score wasn't indicative of how well we were playing defensively. I think they scored nine points: there was a banked three, a very friendly roll three, and then a botched assignment late-clock three. And so we felt like we defended even better than the score indicated. But that's us botching the last 30 seconds of a half, us not capitalizing on free throws. Just shows how we have a lot of room for growth."

Up next, the Wolverines will travel to Madison to take on No. 15 Wisconsin on Dec. 3 at 9:00 pm ET.

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