ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Danny Wolf scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Tre Donaldson added 16 points and seven assists and Michigan never trailed Monday night in its 101-53 season-opening win over Cleveland State in coach Dusty May's debut for the Wolverines.
May — who set a program record for wins (126) in his six-year run at Florida Atlantic and led the Owls to their first Final Four appearance in 2023 — took over after the Wolverines went 8-24 under former Michigan star Juwan Howard last season.
Wolf — a 7-foot transfer from Yale and a unanimous all-Ivy League first-team selection last season — also had three steals and three blocks. Will Tschetter had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, freshman L.J. Cason added 14 points and Roddy Gayle Jr., a transfer from Ohio State, scored 13 for Michigan.
Donaldson, an Auburn transfer, scored six points before Tschetter made a layup and then hit a 3-pointer just 33 seconds apart to give the Wolverines a 13-4 lead about 5 minutes into the game.
Seven different Michigan players scored during an 18-2 run that made it 45-21 with 2:31 left in the first half and the Vikings trailed by at least 23 points the rest of the way.
Dylan Arnett scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Cleveland State, which made just 30% of its field goal tries. Michigan shot 68% (39 of 57) from the field and hit 10 of 18 (59%) from 3-point range.
The Vikings will host Baldwin Wallace in their home opener Wednesday night.
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