For the week leading up to Saturday afternoon’s men’s basketball matchup between Michigan and Oakland, it had been the mid-major program just an hour’s car ride away from Ann Arbor that dominated headlines nationwide — not the Big Ten team.

Three days prior, following a near-upset win against then-No. 7 Michigan State, the Golden Grizzlies went on the road to shock No. 7 Tennessee, 89-82, in a nationally televised contest.

But at Crisler Arena, the Wolverines controlled the game, never relinquishing the lead after taking it five minutes into the first half and winning by a final score of 69-51.

“You hear about stuff — people were saying they’re the second-best team in the state, and you see them on SportsCenter,” Michigan guard Zack Novak said after the game. “There’s just people talking about them a lot. So we knew they’re a really good team, and we were ready to go, we were ready to fight.”

And it was evident Michigan felt the added intensity in the atmosphere on Saturday.

Midway through the first half, redshirt freshman center Jordan Morgan and Oakland center Keith Benson went up for a rebound, and both came down with it, resulting in a jump ball as they wrestled each other to the ground. Freshman forward Evan Smotrycz came to help Morgan to his feet, only to find himself in a yelling and shoving match with Oakland forward Ilija Milutinovic.

Smotrycz, who is not known for being animated on the court, and Milutinovic were called for technical fouls.

“The refs (were) letting us play. It really was a physical game,” sophomore point guard Darius Morris said. “But that one play right there — when Evan and a couple of players got tangled up — it really let me know and let Oakland know that we’re a tough team and that we’ve got a lot of heart. We (weren’t) going to back down today.”

PLAYING WHEN IT COUNTS: Michigan outscored Oakland by 10 points in the second half — which has caused problems for the Wolverines early this season.

Michigan’s play in the second half of high-profile matchups had been a concern for Beilein. The Wolverines were outscored in the second halves against Syracuse, UTEP, Utah and Clemson, easily the team’s most competitive opponents before Saturday.

This time, the coaches made a point of it at halftime.

“(Beilein) said, ‘Alright, the first half is over. Let’s go out there, and let’s play Michigan basketball,’ ” Morris said. “A test for us, always, is the first couple of minutes of the second half because that’s when you can win or lose a game. And we really came out and responded well, played team basketball and really got stops on the defensive end.”

Coming out of the break, Michigan went on a 7-0 run on baskets from Morgan, Smotrycz and Morris, respectively, and kept Oakland off the scoreboard for the first three minutes.

Freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr. led the scoring effort in the second half — the frame that all 10 of his points came.

NO PRESSURE HERE: As Michigan (9-2) continues to rack up non-conference wins, many are speculating as to if and when the Wolverines will move from the shadows toward the legitimate Big Ten spotlight.

In the preseason, most analysts ranked Michigan 10th or 11th in the conference, but so far, the team has impressed as underdogs in a number of games this season. And every time Morris and Novak register double-doubles, Morgan outrebounds his more-experienced opponent and bench players rack up double-digit points, many wonder: Should Michigan be playing under a brighter spotlight?

It’s something that Beilein doesn’t want to happen too soon. With such a young team, he would rather stay in the dark a bit longer, making it easier for his group to develop.

“I hope not,” said Beilein when asked about the possibility of getting a vote or two in the polls. “Just let us play. We’re just going to keep working on getting better and better and better.”

But for the most part, the players don’t think that added attention would affect their play.

“I think the character of this team just says, ‘We’re going to keep playing for the guys in this room,’ ” Novak said “It’s great, we love the fans here, but we need to make sure we stay within ourselves.”