With gift-giving season rapidly approaching, the Utah men’s basketball team was feeling generous at Crisler Arena on Friday night.

Runnin’ Utes’ center Jason Washburn, with his four-inch size advantage over Michigan redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan, won the opening tipoff easily, but slapped it a tad too hard. The ball sailed out of bounds, and the Wolverines gladly took first possession.

And that’s how it went for the rest of the contest, as Utah (6-3) committed 16 turnovers, and Michigan (7-2) remained undefeated at home with a 75-64 victory.

“You know, we talked to the team before the game, and the big thing was just being a team and just making sure that we play as a team,” Michigan coach John Beilein said after the game. “We’re going to have to score points, and we got it from different people at different times. (I’m) really proud of our team.”

The Wolverines dominated in the first half, shooting at a 46.9-percent clip en route to a 39-22 lead at the break.

In the second half, freshman forward Tim Hardaway Jr. came alive with 13 points, finishing the game with 17. He also showed some flash when redshirt freshman forward Blake McLimans picked up a defensive board and threw the long ball to Hardaway on the fast break. With enough room in front of the lagging Utah defense, he threw down a powerful one-handed slam.

"I think I went down to see him play last year (in high school)," Beilein said. "He took a lot of shots, but he made a lot of shots. (I reminded him), 'Put yourself back in high school. You're a great shooter. Just shoot it when you're open, keep it moving when you're not.' "

Michigan’s play underneath featured a breakout performance from freshman Jon Horford, who tallied a block, a steal and five points in a season-high 16 minutes of floor time. The 6-foot-9 forward got the Maize Rage riled up on multiple occasions, with his dunk over 7-foot-3 Utah center David Foster in the first half and his first 3-point bucket of the season in the second half.

Horford seemed more comfortable as he saw more playing time. He usually only gets brief minutes behind Morgan and McLimans.

“I don’t really think it changed me,” Horford said. “I’ve been trying to develop in practice, get the offense down. … Right when I got in at first it was like, ‘It’s getting easier, it’s getting better.’ My head is not as (much) in a cloud as I was the first few games.”

The other two forwards were also impressive, as Morgan finished with 11 points of his own, and McLimans came up with a couple of big stops in the paint on defense.

McLimans has struggled a bit on the offensive end this season, however, and he's yet to knock down a 3-pointer, going 0-for-13 from behind the arc through the first nine games this season.

But all in all, Michigan’s bench players have thrived so far this season, and they put up another 17 points against Utah. Sophomore guard Matt Vogrich led the bench scoring effort on Friday, going 2-for-2 from 3-point range and finishing the night with eight points.

“Our bench has kind of had a breakout performance it seems like every other game,” Vogrich said.

The 7-2 start for the Wolverines matches the start they had under Beilein in the 2009-10 season, when the team made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And with a relatively light schedule leading up to Big Ten play early next month, Michigan can be sitting pretty before playing any conference foes.