The No. 2 OU men’s gymnastics team escaped with a road victory Saturday over No. 3 Michigan at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Freshman Jacob Dalton once again led the team as the Sooners (7-0, 3-0 MPSF) earned their first win over a top-five opponent this year to remain undefeated this season.

“It wasn’t our best performance by any means, but it was enough to get the job done,” head coach Mark Williams said. “There were a few times when we put the guys late in our lineup in a difficult position though.

“It was exciting to watch them come through, but we should not be in that position to begin with if everyone does their job,” Williams said.

Dalton claimed the all-around title for the third time in four meets as OU survived a comeback by Michigan (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) to post a 354.450-354.000 victory and total its sixth victory away from home.

Williams said when the Sooners needed him the most, Dalton was able to come through with clutch performances.

“[Jacob] has definitely been great on floor and vault, which has been big for the team as a whole,” Williams said.

In addition to Dalton, junior Steven Legendre (floor exercise), freshman Alex Naddour (parallel bars) and junior Bobby Shortle (vault) each collected individual event titles for the Sooners.

OU posted a season-high mark on floor exercise (61.050) and claimed four of the team event titles (floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and parallel bars) in Ann Arbor.

Saturday’s contest was a back-and-forth battle between the Sooners and the Wolverines, with OU barely surviving a comeback by Michigan to win by a 0.450 margin. Previously, OU’s smallest margin of victory was by more than eight points in a 349.500-340.950 defeat of No. 8 Iowa on the road.

By winning in Michigan’s home arena, the Sooners also exacted a little payback for last season.

The last time OU faced Michigan, in the 2009 NCAA Championships, the Wolverines stunned the Sooners on the final rotation to move ahead on the leaderboard and claim second place behind Stanford.

Williams said the victory was partly redemption for OU, but also served as a test for the Sooners to gauge the competition going into the second half of the season.

“I think it gives us the confidence that we can go on the road, put together a competitive meet and outduel basically one of the top teams in the country,” Williams said. “In terms of message, we feel like we’ve proven head-to-head, yesterday at least, we’re the better team.”

OU looks to continue its undefeated run when the Sooners host No. 7 Minnesota and the University of Texas club team at 7 p.m. Saturday inside the Howard McCasland Field House.