Michigan's Darius Morris (4) drives past Bryant's Frankie Dobbs during the second half of Michigan's 87-71 win Thursday night at Crisler Arena. Morris finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Updated 9:33 p.m.

By the end of the season, there might not be words left to describe what Darius Morris has meant to Michigan basketball or what he has done this season for the Wolverines.

Each game, it seems, the sophomore point guard has a better performance than the last. Michigan’s 87-71 win over Bryant Thursday night at Crisler Arena was no exception.

Consider: In the second half, with Michigan trying to pull away, Morris led a 3-on-1 break. He held on to the ball, probably a step too long, and looked like he might commit his first turnover of the night. Instead, he cradled it in his right hand and threw it over his shoulder while turned away from the basket.

It went off the backboard and in. It would have been exceptional had the Wolverines not seen something similar almost every game this season.

Thursday night, though, was a little bit special. Morris set a career high with 26 points, tied his career high with 12 assists and was one off his career high by grabbing six rebounds.

He set career marks for 3-pointers made (four) and taken (six) along with free throws made (eight) and taken (10).

“Twenty-six and 12?,” Michigan junior guard Zack Novak said. “I’m out of superlatives. That’s it.

“He’s just, wow.”

That really has become the easiest way to describe Morris, who reached another milestone by having no turnovers for the first time this season. He has grabbed control of a Michigan team searching for a leader and a star, and has owned every last inch of it.

The way he moves across the floor and breaks through a defense looks effortless, even if it is the result of a summer’s worth of hard work and sweat and jump shot-after-jump shot.

In the midst of a game where Michigan tied a school record for 3-pointers made with 16 — first set against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 13, 2008 — it was Morris who stood out because of how he controlled everything.

Morris conducts the Michigan offense like a maestro, with the flair of a rock n' roll guitar solo thrown in.

“One thing I take from it is that hard work does pay off,” Morris said. “Even if it doesn’t pay off right away, it will pay off in the long run. And it really does make me happy to know that hard work does pay off.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m good or anything like that, but our team is playing well.”

Morris is the reason Michigan (10-2) is playing well above expectations. He’s the reason freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. was open on the wing to score a career-high 20 points and why so many of the Wolverines’ 3-pointers were taken by wide open shooters.

And Michigan needed every bit of Morris, too, because Bryant made 13 of 25 shots from 3-point range itself. Bryant sophomore forward Vladyslav Kondratyev was particularly effective, making 5 of 6 3-pointers for a team-high 20 points.

“It reminds you of AAU a little bit, up-and-down, up-and-down, three, three, three, three,” Morris said. “We weren’t complaining.”

The explosion left Michigan with a season-high in points and the 71 points Bryant (1-10) finished with was the most a Wolverine opponent has scored all year.

Morris was at the center of it all from the beginning. He had seven points and seven assists in the first half and took over the game in the second.

So even though Morris won’t say it, others will. Darius Morris is good. Really good.

“He’s special,” sophomore guard Matt Vogrich said. “The way he doesn’t look and one-hand passes ... where is that ball going? He finds the shooters every time.

“He’s special.”

Michael Rothstein covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.