Yaxel Lendeborg had 17 points and eight rebounds as No. 2 Michigan ran away in the second half to earn an 86-56 Big Ten win over UCLA on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan (24-1, 14-1), which led 40-38 at halftime, maintained a two-game lead in the conference standings and figures to be the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 2013 when the Associated Press poll comes out Monday as Arizona lost to Kansas earlier this week.

Morez Johnson Jr. posted 15 points, L.J. Cason scored 13 points, Nimari Burnett had 12 points and UCLA transfer Aday Mara added nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Michigan, which never trailed while winning its 10th in a row.

Trent Pery scored 14 points while Donovan Dent and Tyler Bilodeau each added 10 points for UCLA (17-8, 9-5), which had won five of its last six. Senior guard Skyy Clark, who had been out since Jan. 3 with a hamstring injury, contributed eight points in 16 minutes off the bench.

Leading 43-40 early in the second half, Michigan went on a 13-4 spurt to take a 56-44 lead with 13:22 remaining in the game after layup by Trey McKenney.

Michigan continued to grow its lead as Cason scored five points in a 9-0 run to seize a 68-47 lead with 8:17 to play.

During that Michigan spree, UCLA went nearly six minutes without a field goal and 4:06 without scoring.

UCLA had a brief flurry to cut Michigan’s lead to 70-54 with 6:34 left after a 3-pointer by Clark. But Michigan answered with six straight points – highlighted by Mara’s reverse alley-oop dunk of an Elliot Cadeau lob — to take a 76-54 lead with 5:09 remaining and all but put the game away.

Michigan got off to a strong start, taking a 22-12 lead on Cason’s deep 3-pointer with 10:54 remaining in the first half.

Michigan held a 39-28 lead with 2:39 to go until halftime, but UCLA ended the half on a 10-1 run to make it 40-38 Michigan at intermission. Bilodeau started the spree with a 3-pointer and a layup.

–Field Level Media

Milan Momcilovic scored 18 points and made 4 of 9 three-pointers, and No. 5 Iowa State’s ferocious defense broke No. 9 Kansas’ eight-game winning streak, grounding the Jayhawks 74-56 on Saturday afternoon in Ames, Ia.

The overwhelming victory moved the Cyclones (22-3, 9-3) into a third-place tie in the Big 12 with the Jayhawks (19-6, 9-3).

Joshua Jefferson totaled 11 points, five rebounds and four assists for Iowa State. Tamin Lipsey had 11 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Jamarion Batemon and Blake Buchanan (six boards) added 11 points as Iowa State made 11 of 30 (36.7%) from long range and forced 13 turnovers.

Kansas’ Melvin Council Jr. posted 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Flory Bidunga had 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Darryn Peterson had 10 points.

The Jayhawks made just 19 of 51 (37.3%) from the floor.

Kansas went up 6-2 early in the physical matchup as Bidunga, Peterson and Bryson Tiller made baskets, but the home crowd came to life when Buchanan viciously threw down a slam dunk off Lipsey’s missed layup at 12:11 to knot it 6-all. Killyan Toure then sank a 24-footer for Iowa State’s first lead at 11:43 to cap a 9-0 run.

Council sparked the Wildcats’ offense by canning a trio of three-pointers and added an alley-oop assist for Bidunga’s dunk with 13:19 left to give the visitors a 20-16 lead.

With his team struggling from long range, Jefferson drove past Bidunga on one series and then Peterson on another, and both Jayhawks fouled him on a made layup. Jefferson converted the three-point plays, the latter at 3:37 to make it 29-22.

The margin grew to 14 behind a 21-7 run to end the half, which the Cyclones, who forced 10 Kansas turnovers, led 37-27 at the break.

Momcilovic connected on his first two treys in the opening 90 seconds of the second half before Lipsey hit two more from deep for a 49-29 lead with 17:06 left as Kansas was outscored 12-0 to increase the deficit.

After going 3 for 16 from deep in the opening 20 minutes, the Cyclones made their first five – the last one Momcilovic’s third of the second half for a 52-32 lead with 16:09 to play.

Kansas only got as close as 12 points as Iowa State made its first six threes and rolled on to win for the sixth time in seven games.

–Field Level Media

Pryce Sandfort swished six 3-pointers on the way to scoring 29 points, as No. 7 Nebraska defeated visiting Northwestern 68-49 on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska (22-3, 11-3 Big Ten) surpassed last season’s win total despite matching a season-high with 18 turnovers, two fewer than slumping Northwestern (10-16, 2-13).

The Wildcats matched a season-worst with their fifth straight loss. Nick Martinelli scored 11 points to pace the Wildcats, who shot 34.8 percent in the second half.

Arrinten Page split a pair of free throws to put the Wildcats ahead by one point with 12:32 to go. The Cornhuskers regained the advantage on a Cale Jacobsen layup on the next trip down the floor and never relinquished it.

Nebraska held Northwestern without a field goal over a 4:05 stretch midway through the second half. Jacobsen’s layup started the Cornhuskers on a 8-0 run. A Sandfort 3-pointer with 7:46 to go put the hosts ahead by 10 points and set them on a 16-4 spurt to close the game.

Sandfort finished 10-for-21 from the floor, including a 6-for-13 effort from long range.

Sam Hoiberg recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while Jacobsen added 10 points. Rienk Mast grabbed nine boards to help Nebraska to a 40-24 edge on the glass.

Northwestern, which led No. 2 Michigan by 16 in the second half Wednesday before faltering, was unable to sustain momentum after the break Saturday. Angelo Ciaravino scored nine points to go with four rebounds.

Nebraska overcame 10 turnovers and 34.5 percent shooting to take a 28-27 lead into halftime.

Northwestern grabbed a 20-12 advantage when Tre Singleton converted a three-point play with 6:10 left before the break before the Cornhuskers responded down the stretch. Nebraska closed the half on an 8-2 run, bookending the spurt with treys from Braden Frager and Sandfort.

Martinelli, the conference’s leading scorer, didn’t register his first points of the game until he hit a jumper in the paint at the 1:39 mark.

Sandfort led all scorers with 11 first-half points. Jordan Clayton, Ciaravino, and Singleton had five apiece for the Wildcats.

The Cornhuskers improved to 13-2 at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season.

–Field Level Media