CHICAGO – In his prolific four seasons with the University of Michigan-Dearborn men's basketball team, senior forward Jason Penn (SR/Detroit, MI) had never had a game quite like the one he put together against Robert Morris University-Illinois Thursday in Chicago.
Penn set career highs in both points and rebounds, as the No. 23 Wolverines ran away from the Eagles for a 107-91 win, moving to 11-5 on the season.
The Wolverines hardly missed in the first half, shooting 70.8 percent from the floor and 9-of-11 from deep in the first 20 minutes to take a 64-41 lead. RMU started to fight back in the second half, but UM-Dearborn was able to hold off the rally for the win.
Penn finished with 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field while grabbing 18 rebounds for the double-double. He added six assists and three steals.
Penn was one of five Wolverines to score in double figures as seniors Gage Throgmorton (SR/White Lake, MI) and Ashton Curd (SR/Detroit, MI) were joined by freshman Jason Gigliotti (FR/Hartland, MI) with 15 points each. Gigliotti narrowly missed a double-double, adding eight rebounds. Sophomore Cody Kegley (SO/Yale, MI) added 11 points, while junior Donovan Farrell (JR/Detroit, MI) had a team-high eight assists.
The Wolverines shot 43-of-68 (63.2 percent) from the field, 9-of-17 deep and 12-of-33 from the free-throw line while winning the rebounding battle 40-34.
RMU was led by Jarvae Tate with a game-high 32 points, while Chelby Frazier added 24.
The Wolverines have a week off before welcoming No. 2 University of Saint Francis (Ind.) for a top-25 matchup at 1 pm Dec. 29 at the UM-Dearborn Fieldhouse.
