The (#7) University of Michigan men’s basketball team didn’t play any games this week.  Michigan’s record is still 0-0.

What Happened?

This is a rare week off.  In past seasons, Michigan has played one exhibition game against a “cupcake” opponent in Crisler Arena the week before the regular season starts.  This season, Michigan played two exhibition games against quality opponents, 3 weeks before the regular season at home, and 2 weeks before the regular season on a neutral court.  This is very different.

How Are Things Looking?

Since there’s no game to analyze, let’s look at the current state of the team, now that we have a couple games worth of data to examine.  Here’s the good news and the bad news.

The Good News:

• Michigan appears to have a lot of talent and a lot of depth.  Coach May got to try lots of combinations that he might not try in a game that counts, and most of the time, most of the players looked good.
• Michigan is highly ranked, and they appear to deserve it.  They beat the #5 team in the nation (St. John’s) on their home court in the second exhibition game.
• The few minor injuries that bothered Michigan for the first exhibition game vs. Cincinnati appear to be healed up, and everyone is available.

The Bad News:

• Michigan lost their first exhibition game at home to an unranked team, and gave up 100 points in the process.  Of course, they were missing two key players due to the minor injuries mentioned above.
• Michigan appears to have a turnover problem, again.  They had several high-turnover games last season, including a few that were lost due to this problem, and the two exhibition games have been pretty sloppy.  It’s one thing to turn the ball over on a high risk/high reward play, but many of Michigan’s turnovers have been unforced.
• Michigan appears to have a foul problem.  Both exhibition games were slow, messy affairs with lots of fouls and free throws, and very little flow.

Who Has Looked Good So Far?

It’s still VERY early in the season, and the games were both exhibition games, but it’s still possible to see who has looked good so far and who hasn’t.

Yaxel Lendeborg has been the undisputed star of both games.  He has been the high scorer and the leading rebounder in both games, and he has looked very comfortable out there.  He should: he was voted a Preseason All-American.

Roddy Gayle Jr. has been a good supporting player so far.  He’s hit double figures in both games, and he’s shot relatively well.

Aday Mara missed the first exhibition game due to a minor injury, but he looked good in the one game he played in.  He’s not a dominating big man, he’s more of a finesse player, but when you start with a 7’3” frame, it makes the game a lot easier.

Morez Johnson Jr. also missed the first exhibition game due to a minor injury, but he also looked good in the one game he played in.  He’s a tough, solid, bruiser-type player, and he’s going to give Michigan some valuable muscle in the paint.

Will Tschetter has done all the things we’re used to seeing from him: he plays hard, he plays tough, he gives Michigan a good option at center when they’re playing “small ball”, and he makes things happen out there.  Unfortunately, one of the things he makes happen is “fouls”.

Elliot Cadeau has been good-but-not-great at starting point guard.  He has scored a reasonable number of points (14 and 9), he has dished out a decent number of assists (7 and 9), but he has had an unfortunate number of turnovers (2 and 5) and fouls (5 and 5).

Who Has Looked Not-So-Good So Far?

There are a few players who have not impressed so far this season:

Nimari Burnett has been the most disappointing player on the team so far.  We know what he’s capable of doing, and he isn’t doing it.  He has turned in two mediocre games, but it’s too early to give up on him.

L.J. Cason has had a slow start this season.  He has had his opportunities, and he hasn’t done much with them.  A lot was expected from him for this season, and he needs to start improving quickly.

Trey McKenney has played like a true freshman so far.  He just doesn’t look like a Mr. Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American.  He’s been shooting a lot, but the ball won’t go in the basket.  I’m confident that he’ll get better.

Winters Grady has played in both games, but hasn’t done much.  He’s also a true freshman, but with lower expectations than McKenney.  It isn’t clear if he will “get it” this season.

Oscar Goodman played in the first (Cincinnati) exhibition game, but didn’t do much.  He’s a redshirt freshman, and it’s not clear if he should be considered a “mainstream” player or not.

Malick Kordel played in the first (Cincinnati) exhibition game, but didn’t do much.  He’s a freshman, and it’s not clear if he should be considered a “mainstream” player or not.  I suspect that he’s more of a “project”.

Ricky Liburd played in the first (Cincinnati) exhibition game, but didn’t do much.  He’s a freshman, and it’s not clear if he should be considered a “mainstream” player or not.

Who Hasn’t Played So Far?

None of the Scout Team players have played so far: Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May.

This Week

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Monday (11/03/2025, 8:30 p.m., FS1), they play Oakland in Crisler Arena.

Oakland was 16-18 (11-9 in the Horizon League) last season.  They lost in the semifinals of their league tournament, and didn’t play in the postseason.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they don’t have much height: one 6’10” guy.  This is the kind of team that Michigan used to play in their exhibition game, but this game is the regular season opener.  Michigan should handle Oakland easily, and get to try some unusual player combinations.  This should also be an opportunity for some of the non-mainstream players to get some serious playing time.

Note: Michigan will hang the banner to celebrate their Big Ten Tournament Championship from last season before this game.  Be sure to show up and be in your seat early for this.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!

The (#7) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one (exhibition) game this past week, and they won it.  On Saturday (10/25/2025), they beat (#5) St. John’s 96-94 in overtime in Madison Square Garden, in New York City.   Since it was just an exhibition game, Michigan’s record is still 0-0.

What Happened?

This season, Michigan played two exhibition games, instead of the usual one.  Also, instead of playing an easy exhibition game against a “cupcake” opponent (think Northern Michigan), they played two games against quality opponents.

Full disclosure: I don’t subscribe to B1G+, the Big Ten Network’s premium service, so I wasn’t able to watch the game on TV.  Instead, I followed it using the “Live Stats” app on the web.  That gave me a feel for the flow of the game, but not how it looked.  I’ve seen highlights, but not the full game.  So, I’m patching this together from limited information.

It may have been a “meaningless” exhibition game in late October, but it had all the drama of a Sweet 16 game in mid-March.  A matchup between the #5 and #7 teams in the nation in Madison Square Garden?  Yes, please.

It was a close game the whole time, with neither team able to pull away.  As with Michigan’s first exhibition game last week, a 100-98 home loss to Cincinnati, there were way too many fouls called.  In this case, there were 28 fouls called on Michigan, with 2 players fouling out, and 26 fouls called on SJU, with 3 players fouling out.

Game Flow

Thanks to the very detailed PDF stats on UM’s website, I can give some meta information about the game flow:

• Michigan’s biggest lead was 8 points, at the 2:38 mark in overtime.
• SJU’s biggest lead was 5 points, at the 14:21 mark in the 2^nd half.
• Michigan’s best scoring run was 8 points, up to the 2:38 mark of overtime.
• SJU’s best scoring run was also 8 points, from the 2:38 mark to the 1:39 mark in overtime.
• There were 19 lead changes, and 10 ties.  That is a very close game.
• Michigan had the lead for 24:20.
• SJU had the lead for 16:19.

Michigan took the early lead, up 13-6 at the 14:55 mark.  They kept the lead in the 1-3 point range for the next few minutes, but SJU went ahead 19-18 with 7:52 left in the half.  The lead went back and forth for a while, and the game was all tied up (26-26) at the 3:57 mark.  SJU led for the rest of the half, but never by more than 4 points.  Michigan hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to pull within 1 point, 35-34.

The beginning of the 2^nd half was more back-and-forth, with a couple lead changes, and the game all tied up again (40-40) at the 17:46 mark.  At this point SJU pulled away, and led by 5 points (51-46) with 12:44 to go.  Michigan fought back and tied it up (51-51) at the 11:52 mark, but SJU went back ahead, keeping the lead in the 1-3 point range.  Finally, Michigan regained the lead (64-63) at the 7:49 mark.  They stretched the lead to 5 points (72-67) with 6:10 to go, but SJU tied it up again a couple times (72-72 and 74-74).  SJU got their final lead of the game (77-76) at the 3:13 mark, then UM pulled ahead again.  Michigan led by 4 points (84-80) with 1:52 to go, but SJU tied it up (84-84) with 1:04 left.  Amazingly, no one scored again for the last 64 seconds.  In fact, SJU never even attempted a shot.  Michigan attempted 3 shots, 2 of them driving layups, and missed them all.  They got a couple offensive rebounds, so they kept shooting, but they couldn’t buy a basket.  Sigh.

Overtime.  Michigan scored the first 8 points, and they were in control, 92-84, with 2:38 to go.  SJU scored the next 8 points to tie the game up, 92-92, with 1:39 to go.  Michigan made the last basket of the game at the 0:56 mark to go up 94-92, then the teams traded free throws the rest of the way.  Michigan went 2-for-4, and SJU went 2-for-5, and that was the ball game.

Stats

The game stats were decent.  Michigan shot pretty well overall (35-for-67 = 52.2%), they shot 3-pointers well (8-for-19 = 42.1%), but they didn’t shoot free throws very well (18-for-29 = 62.1%).  They won the rebounding battle easily (48-36), but they lost the turnover battle badly (22-10).  They won this game with shooting from the floor, but almost lost it with turnovers and free throw shooting.           

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Roddy Gayle Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.

Who Looked Good?

Lendeborg was the star of the game for Michigan again, with 25 points and 10 rebounds, for another double-double.  He shot well: 10-for-15 overall, 2-for-4 from deep.

Mara returned from a minor injury, and he looked good out there, with 13 points on good shooting: 5-for-10.  I expected more rebounding from him: 5 boards.

Gayle was the only other starter in double figures, with 11 points.  He shot just OK: 4-for-10 overall, 0-for-2 from deep.

Morez Johnson Jr. also returned from a minor injury, and he was the 2^nd leading scorer for Michigan with 15 points off the bench.  He was also the 2^nd leading rebounder, with 8 boards.

Will Tschetter was the 5^th UM player in double figures, with 10 points off the bench.  On the negative side, he fouled out.

Cadeau almost hit double figures, with 9 points on efficient shooting: 4-for-6 overall, 1-for-2 from deep.  On the positive side, he led the team with 9 assists.  On the negative side, he led the team with 5 turnovers.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Burnett had another mediocre game, scoring 5 points on just OK shooting: 2-for-5 overall, 1-for-3 from deep.

L.J. Cason came in a few times, but didn’t do much.  He scored 4 points in 20 minutes.  He’s having a slow start.

Trey McKenney continued to play like a freshman.  He kept shooting, and he finally made a basket, but he still doesn’t look like a Mr. Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American.  He scored 4 points on poor shooting: 1-for-5 overall, 1-for-3 from deep.

Who Else Played?

Winters Grady played for 2.5 minutes off the bench, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Oscar Goodman, Malick Kordel, and Ricky Liburd were the scholarship players who didn’t play in this game.

None of the Scout Team players played: Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May.

What Does It Mean?

Once again, it was only an exhibition game, but it was a good benchmark for Michigan.  SJU played hard to win, and Michigan got to experience a tournament-style game without worrying about their win-loss record.  This game showed that Michigan can hang in there with the big boys.

This Week

This week, Michigan doesn’t play a game.  They play their first “real” game on Monday 11/03/2025, against Oakland.

Check back next week for a preview of the start of the regular season.

Go Blue!