While Michigan isn't known for its high-scoring ways, it had little difficulty putting points on the board its last time out.
Coming off their biggest offensive output in more than two years, the 20th-ranked Wolverines should be able to do plenty of scoring against woeful Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday night at Crisler Arena.
Michigan (7-2) is ninth in the Big Ten with an average of 70.3 points, but it pulled away from in-state rival Oakland with a dominating effort on the offensive end Saturday. The Wolverines went a season-best 15 of 28 from 3-point range in a 90-80 win, recording their highest point total since a 97-50 victory over Division II Northern Michigan on Nov. 14, 2009.
"I didn't think we were going to win a game like this all year," senior Stu Douglass said. "Teams like (Oakland) score a bunch of points and we like to beat them 70 to 60, and kind of play that gritty Big Ten style a little bit."
With a team-best 16.4 points per game, Tim Hardaway Jr. continues to pace the offense. He had 21 and matched a career-high with five 3s against Oakland.
Freshman Trey Burke and sophomore Evan Smotrycz also came up big, with each scoring a career-best 20 points. Burke had nine assists while Smotrycz totaled a career-high nine boards.
Smotrycz, who went 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, committed two fouls in a career-high 33 minutes. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward has been plagued by foul trouble this season, getting disqualified three times - including from both Wolverines losses.
"He's worked so hard right now on just getting consistency to his shot and trying to stay on the court," coach John Beilein said. "He's learning everyday, (he) still will get a bit too anxious about what he's trying to do, but at the same time, that was probably his best game since he's been here."
Beilein's team seems unlikely to get much of a test from the Golden Lions (1-5), who aside from a 58-56 win over FIU on Nov. 21, have been unable to slow anyone down.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff has been outscored by an average of 19.4 points in its losses, during which opponents have shot 49.0 percent from the floor and 41.6 percent from 3-point range.
The Golden Lions are coming off a 63-51 defeat at Air Force on Saturday. They were outrebounded 34-25 and couldn't keep up with the Falcons despite winning the turnover battle 20-13.
Senior Savalace Townsend, the only player on the team averaging double figures in points, scored 16 but shot 3 of 12. Townsend is averaging a Southwestern Athletic Conference-high 18.2 points among players with a minimum of six games played.
The Golden Lions have dropped 29 consecutive non-conference road games by 20.8 points a contest. Michigan has won 25 of 26 home matchups against unranked non-conference opponents.
The Wolverines used a big second half to pull away from Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a 67-53 victory Dec. 5, 2009. The teams entered the break tied at 32.
