Ann Arbor, Mich. - Michigan's rebounding effort against Northern Illinois was just offensive.

So offensive in fact that the Wolverines grabbed 19 caroms off of their own shots and forced 23 turnovers as Michigan earned the 67-52 non-conference victory over the visiting Huskies at Crisler Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Michigan senior center Courtney Sims topped the Wolverines with a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds, while teammate Lester Abram added 14 points in the victory.

"A very good Michigan Wolverine team -- the best defensive team that I think Tommy Amaker has had,"Â? NIU head coach Rob Judson said. "Great ball pressure, great wing denial and they are athletic enough to protect the paint so that made a big difference in our game today.

"I thought our guys competed well," Judson continued. "The difference in the game was the turnovers, obviously, and then (Michigan's) offensive rebounds."

With the victory, Michigan improves to 11-1 on the season, while the Huskies dropped their fifth straight contest, moving them to 3-5 on the campaign.

Judson attributed the Wolverines' success on the offensive glass to NIU's 2-3 zone defense.

"Always in basketball, you have more accountability boxing out in man-to-man defense," Judson said. "But guarding Michigan's man-to-man offense is a difficult task, so our zone defense was better. It made the Wolverines use the shot clock more. But then when they shot it, you don't have the accountability on the box-out. So that's something our team needs to grow with. We need to have that accountability and be able to box-out and get a rebound out of our zone because that can be a good defense for us."

Junior guard / forward Zach Pancratz (Schaumburg, Ill.) and senior center James Hughes (Silvis, Ill.) each topped the Huskies with 12 points. Hughes grabbed a team-best seven rebounds for NIU and had four blocks in the defeat.

Despite the loss, Judson feels that this game can be a stepping stone for his squad.

"We're looking to build on this game," Judson said. "It was good for our guys to come into this environment and play a very athletic and high-level team."

NIU is back in action on Wednesday evening, as they travel to the Lone Star state to face off with the Lamar Cardinals for a 7:05 p.m. tip-off.

--NIU--