The Michigan men’s basketball team didn’t intend for philanthropic work to be its New Year's resolution.

But after sending Penn State to the charity stripe 13 times in a tight second half in Sunday’s game, it looked as though Michigan could give away too much. Just 10 minutes into the half, the Wolverines had already racked up six fouls.

However, the Wolverines (1-1 Big Ten, 11-3 overall) refused to give away their first Big Ten victory of the season and made it out of Crisler Arena with a 76-69 win over the Nittany Lions.

Had Penn State shot better from the line in the second half, it could have been a very different game.

The Nittany Lions (1-1, 8-5) held a 36-31 advantage heading into the second stanza after strong first-half performances from redshirt senior David Jackson and senior Talor Battle, who scored 13 and 14 first-half points, respectively.

But the Wolverines regrouped during halftime and came into the second half more focused, playing one of their best halves of basketball so far this season, according to Michigan coach John Beilein. Between the first and second half the Nittany Lions' shooting percentage from the floor dropped, whereas the Wolverines improved their first-half shooting percentage of 54 percent to nearly 61 percent.

“When we went in (to the lockerroom at halftime) they were doing a lot of talking, not yelling at each other,” Beilein said Sunday after the game. “They were talking to each other, trying to figure out how to do things.”

In the second half, the Wolverines’ defensive post contingent — which included sophomore Matt Vogrich, who played as a post defender because of Penn State’s immense size — held the Nittany Lions starting post players to just 12 points and six rebounds in total.

But despite Michigan’s best efforts, Battle refused to be contained, scoring 17 of his game-high 31 points in the second half. The Wolverines tried to switch screens and even used some 2-3 zone defense to try slowing Battle’s production. More than four different players matched up with Battle throughout the game, but he was determined to put his team on his shoulders.

“You can say you’re gonna do something against him and double team him or something and play him a certain way, and he’ll just make you throw it all out the window,” junior Stu Douglass said. “You just gotta keep fighting against him and just respond. It’s hard to force him into certain things, it’s hard to force him into tough situations, but you’ve just gotta make him take tough shots. But he made a lot of tough shots today.”

Michigan was led by sophomore Darius Morris, who registered his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 assists. Redshirt freshman Jordan Morgan was close to a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, eight of which were on the defensive boards.

The Wolverines were perfect from the free throw line, shooting 14-for-14, including several in the last few minutes of the game, sealing the victory.

Just two games into the season, Michigan has shown two very different sides of what kind of a team they are — a team that can stay cool down the stretch, like against Penn State, and a team that becomes unraveled when the pressure is mounting, evidenced by Tuesday's loss to No. 12 Purdue.

If the Wolverines hope to capitalize on the daunting schedule ahead of them, they must hope to play more like they did on Sunday in order to add some wins to their schedule and tournament resume.

“No one is looking for moral victories,” Battle said. “We just wanted to win the game. We’re not excited that we kept it close. We’re disappointed that we lost the game.”