Morgan played 29 minutes, while Horford did not make a field goal, nor grab a rebound, in just six minutes of action.

The 29 minutes weren't spent just running sprints, either, as Morgan's early second-half surge ultimately gave Michigan the breathing room it needed to seal the victory.

In a 25-second span, Morgan put home an easy bucket, blocked a dunk attempt at the opposite end of the floor and dropped in another layup. The sequence sparked his teammates, brought life to the crowd and seemed to officially solidify his spot in the starting lineup for the time being.

"That was a big step for him," Beilein said of Morgan's performance. "Over the last 10 days we've seen glimpses of what we saw last year (from him) at times.

"He's just got to keep working. If he got off to a good start (Thursday), we were going to give him a few more minutes. I thought he responded well."

Beilein said earlier in the week that he'll continue to try and find minutes for both Morgan and Horford, and again cautioned Thursday that both players still have a long way to go in their development moving forward.

Smotrycz a non-factor

After averaging 13.5 points in Michigan's first two games of the season, Evan Smotrycz fell back to Earth a bit against Western Illinois.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore went 1-for-8 from the floor with three points, and didn't make a field goal until there was less than a minute to play.

Smotrycz missed all three 3-point field goals he attempted and grabbed just two rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Free throw struggles continue

Michigan continued to leave points on the floor Thursday thanks to missed foul shots.

After a 14-for-22 performance against Western Illinois, the Wolverines are now shooting 58 percent as a team this season.

Beilein didn't seem overly worried about the charity stripe struggles, but did say it'll be an emphasis for improvement moving forward.

"I don't have any doubt that Tim Hardaway will clean some of that up, I have no doubt that Evan Smotrycz will (also)," Beilein said. "It's not the level we usually shoot. ... We'll be better than that."

Props for Clark

Beilein heaped heavy praise on Western Illinois senior guard Ceola Clark III, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

Clark, a former Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, made his season debut against the Wolverines. He missed all but six games a year ago, and sat out WIU's season-opening loss at Dayton.

"He was an all-conference pick after sitting a year out," Beilein said. "Clark just controlled the pace of that game. We played hard, but we didn't make shots."

Odds and ends
In two starts, Michigan freshman point guard Trey Burke is averaging 13.5 points and 3.5 assists. "He's just learning Division I basketball," Beilein said. "He's playing against a 22-year-old and he can't go out there and just do anything, he has to think about what he's doing. But I like his progress. ... Michigan junior guard Matt Vogrich connected on his first 3-pointer of the season. He started the year 0-for-5. ... Through three contests, Michigan is allowing just 45 points per game.

Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.