I’m away from my desktop and laptop, using my iPad, so this report will be shorter and less detailed this week.  Sorry.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week as the #1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament in Buffalo, NY, and they won both of them.  On Thursday (03/19/2026), they beat (#16 seed) Howard 101-80, then on Saturday (03/21/2026), they beat (#9 seed) Saint Louis 95-72.  Michigan’s record is now 33-3.

What Happened?

For the second year in a row, Michigan is headed to the Sweet 16!  They won the games in the first and second rounds convincingly, although they did have a few scary moments. In both games, once they started pulling away in the 2nd half, they didn’t look back.

Game Flow

Michigan never trailed in the Howard game, although they did let Howard get within 2 points early in the 2nd half.  Michigan scored an easy slam dunk to start the game, just 8 seconds in.  Howard tied it up 2-2, and that was the last time Michigan wasn’t leading.  Michigan went ahead by 10 points (16-6) at the 13:41 mark, and it looked like they were going to run away with the game early.  Not so fast.  After missing their first five 3-point shots, Howard got hot and made their next seven 3-pointers in a row.  That kept the game close, although Michigan never lost their lead.  The lead was in the 6-8 point range for most of the half, getting as low as 3 points once.  With 57 seconds left in the half, Michigan had their largest lead of the game to that point: 11 points (50-39).  As they have done too often this season, Michigan had a terrible time closing out the 1st half.  They let Howard go on a 7-0 run in the last 57 seconds, cutting the Michigan lead to just 4 points, 50-46. Yikes.

It got worse in the opening minutes of the 2nd half, when Howard cut the lead to 2 points (50-48) at the 19:44 mark, and got the ball back with a chance to tie the game or go ahead.  Fortunately, they turned the ball over, and Michigan kept the lead, and started to pull away.  Michigan pushed their lead back to 9 points (61-52) with 17:18 left, then to 10 points (68-58) at the 15:00 mark.  That was it for Howard; they never got the lead down under 10 points again.  Michigan pushed it to 20 points (85-65) with 8:24 left, and over 30 points (98-67) with 3:27 to go.  Coach May put in the subs, and Howard made their score look closer than it really was, losing by “only” 21 points.

The Saint Louis game was much closer, with 3 ties and 7 lead changes.  SLU led for most of the first 3 minutes, but Michigan went ahead (11-10) at the 16:39 mark.  They got the lead up to 8 points (20-12) with 15:16 left, but SLU came back with a 15-7 run over the next 5 minutes to go back in front by 4 points (27-23) at the 10:22 mark.  Michigan went back on top (28-27) with 9:36 left, and they never trailed again.  They pushed their 1st half lead as high as 12 points (46-34) at the 1:50 mark, and led by 9 points (48-39) at halftime.

SLU made one last run at the start of the 2nd half, pulling to within 4 points (57-53) at the 15:50 mark, but that was it for them.  Michigan pushed the lead back up to 8 points (61-53) in 40 seconds, and finally got it back over 10 points (69-58) with 11:17 left.  SLU never got closer than that the rest of the game as Michigan pushed their lead past 20 points (84-63) at the 6:33 mark, and never let it get below 20 the rest of the way.  Coach May brought in the subs for the last minute, and Michigan won by 23.

Stats

The stats for the Howard game were fabulous:

Overall shooting – 37/55 = 67.3% (Great)

3-point shooting – 11/24 = 45.8% (Great)

Free throws – 16/20 = 80.0% (Very good)

Rebounds – Michigan won 35-23

Turnovers – Michigan won 4-8

The stats for the Saint Louis game were very good:

Overall shooting – 34/61 = 55.7% (Very good)

3-point shooting – 11/23 = 47.8% (Great)

Free throws – 16/23 = 69.6% (Good)

Rebounds – Michigan won 42-27

Turnovers – Michigan lost 9-8

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.

Who Looked Good?

Johnson had a great week, with 21 and 15 points.  His 21 points vs. Howard were the game high for Michigan, and he also had 10 rebounds, for an impressive double-double.  He is just the fifth player in NCAA Tournament history to score 20 points, grab 10 rebounds, and shoot 100%.  He was 8/8 overall, 1/1 from deep.  He was awesome.

Mara also had a great week, with 19 and 16 points. He was unguardable for both opponents, and shot very well: 8/10 vs. Howard and 7/12 vs. SLU.

Burnett had a good week, with 15 and 11 points.

Lendeborg had a great game vs. SLU (game-high 25 points) and a good game vs. Howard (9 points).  He was unstoppable vs. SLU.

Cadeau had one good game (12 points vs. SLU) and one quiet game (5 points vs. Howard).

Trey McKenney had a good week off the bench, with 10 and 8 points.

Roddy Gayle Jr. had a good week off the bench, with 14 and 3 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Will Tschetter had a quiet week off the bench, with 6 and 2 points.

Who Else Played?

Both games were blowouts at the end, so several of the non-mainstream players got to play in both games.

Howard Eisley Jr. didn’t attempt a shot in either game.

Oscar Goodman scored 3 points vs. SLU on an “and one” basket.  He missed his only shot vs. Howard.

Malick Kordel scored 2 points vs. Howard on a dunk.  He didn’t attempt a shot vs. SLU.

Charlie May didn’t attempt a shot in either game.

Who Didn’t Play?

All the able-bodied scholarship players got to play this week.  L.J. Cason and Winters Gradyare both out with injuries.

Harrison Hochberg was the only Scout Team player who didn’t get to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

These two wins were huge.  As a #1 seed, Michigan is expected to make it to the Final Four, but they have to win the games leading up to it, and these two games were part of that.  They looked very good, and they showed real composure and confidence when things got (a little) scary.

On to the Sweet 16!

This Week

This week Michigan plays at least one game in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the NCAA Tournament, as the #1 seed in the Midwest Region in Chicago. On Friday (03/27/2026, 7:35 p.m. EDT, TBS), they play (#4 seed) Alabama.  If they win that game, they’ll play again on Sunday (03/29/2026, Time: TBD, TV: TBD) against the winner of the (#6 seed) Tennessee vs. (#2 seed) Iowa State game.

Alabama is currently 25-9, with impressive wins over (#5) St. John’s, (#8) Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Auburn (twice), (#20) Arkansas, (#22) Tennessee, and Texas Tech (in the NCAA Tournament).  They have lost to (#2) Purdue, (#12) Gonzaga, (#1) Arizona, (#11) Vanderbilt, Texas, Tennessee, (#19) Florida, and Georgia.  They have one noteworthy player: Labaron Philon Jr.  They have a lot of height: two 7-footers, two 6’11” players, and two 6’10” players.  As you would expect in a Sweet 16 game against a #4 seed, this will be an extremely challenging game.  Michigan is playing well, but so is Alabama.  Michigan can win this game, but they need to stay sharp.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.  I’ll still be out of town, with just my iPad, so my report will be similar to this one.

Go Blue!

I’m away from my desktop and laptop, using my iPad, so this report will be shorter and less detailed this week.  Sorry.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played three games this past week as the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, and they won two and lost the third.  They finished 2nd in the tournament.  On Friday (03/13/2026), they beat (#8 seed) Ohio State 71-67, on Saturday (03/14/2026), they beat (#5 seed) Wisconsin 68-65, then on Sunday (03/15/2026), they lost to (#7 seed) Purdue 80-72.  Michigan’s record is now 31-3 (19-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan fought their way to the tournament championship game, and they were tied at halftime, but a disastrous start to the 2nd half put them in a hole they just couldn’t dig out of.  They almost won the tournament, but not quite.

The two wins to get them to the championship game were very exciting.

Game Flow

OSU: 

Michigan led for all but 54 seconds of the game, but never pulled away.  Michigan led by as many as 11 points (25-14 at the 8:36 mark in the 1st half), but they usually were ahead by 5-7 points.  OSU got within 4 points at halftime, 39-35.  The 2nd half was much closer, with Michigan only leading by 2-4 points most of the way.  They pushed their lead up to 7 points (59-52) at the 9:20 mark, but it didn’t last.  OSU went ahead for the first time all game, 61-60, with 5:40 left.  This was the start of their 54 seconds; by the 4:46 mark Michigan had tied it up, 62-62.  Michigan never trailed again, and won by 4.

Wisconsin:

The Wisconsin game was much closer, with 7 ties and 6 lead changes.  Wisconsin led for more of the game, but Michigan never let Wisconsin get too far ahead.  The 1st half was a seesaw affair for most of the half, until Wisconsin pulled ahead by 8 points (26-18) at the 4:26 mark.  That woke Michigan up, and they fought their way back to tie the game up at halftime, 28-28.  Michigan started the 2nd half strong, and opened up an 11-point lead (42-31) at the 14:20 mark.  They pushed their lead to 15 points (54-39) with 9:50 to go, and it looked like Michigan was going to run away with the game.  No one told Wisconsin, and they stormed back with a 17-2 run to tie it up (56-56) at the 5:31 mark.  Wisconsin went up by 4 points (62-58) with 3:50 left, but that was it for them.  Once Michigan tied the game up (62-62) at the 1:51 mark, they never trailed again.  It was tied 65-65 in the last 29 seconds, and Michigan held the ball for the last shot.  It worked: Yaxel Lendeborg hit a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to win the game.  It was very exciting.

Purdue:

The first half of the Purdue game was close and tense, with 4 ties and 5 lead changes.  It was all tied up at halftime, 38-38.  The 2nd half was a train wreck.  Purdue went ahead by 7 points (45-38) before the first media timeout (17:45 mark), and that was it for Michigan.  Purdue never trailed in the 2nd half, leading by as many as 14 points (60-46 at the 12:25 mark).  Michigan did manage to get within 5 points once (68-63 with 3:47 left), but Purdue pushed their lead back up to 11 points, and won by 8.

Stats

OSU: 

Overall shooting – 24/53 = 45.3% (OK)

3-point shooting – 5/17 = 29.4% (Poor)

Free throws – 18/24 = 75.0% (OK)

Rebounds – Michigan won 34-32

Turnovers – Michigan won 9-10

Wisconsin:

Overall shooting – 25/58 = 43.1% (OK)

3-point shooting – 8/25 = 32.0% (OK)

Free throws – 10/12 = 83.3% (Good)

Rebounds – Michigan won 40-29

Turnovers – Michigan lost 14-11

Purdue:

Overall shooting – 30/64 = 46.9% (OK)

3-point shooting – 7/24 = 29.2% (OK)

Free throws – 5/6 = 83.3% (Good)

Rebounds – Michigan won 33-29

Turnovers – Michigan lost 7-2

Who Started?

The starters for all three games were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.

Who Looked Good?

Mara had a great week, with 17, 16, and 14 points.

Cadeau also had a great week, with 15, 15, and 10 points.  He also had 10 assists in the Purdue game, for a double-double.

Lendeborg had two good games (12 points vs. Wisconsin and 20 points vs. Purdue) and one lousy game (6 points vs. OSU).

Burnett had one good game (12 points vs. Purdue) and two lousy games (6 points vs. OSU and 4 points vs. Wisconsin).

Johnson had one good game (11 points vs. OSU), one decent game (8 points vs. Purdue), and one lousy game (4 points vs. Wisconsin).

Trey McKenney had two good games (12 points vs. OSU and 10 points vs. Wisconsin) and one decent game (6 points vs. Purdue) off the bench.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Will Tschetter was worthless again off the bench, with 0, 3, and 0 points.

Roddy Gayle Jr. had a quiet week off the bench, with 4, 4, and 2 points.

Who Else Played?

No one else played this week.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play were Oscar Goodman and Malick Kordel.  L.J. Cason and Winters Grady are both out with injuries.

None of the Scout Team players (Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May) got to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

On the one hand, the Big Ten Tournament didn’t mean anything to Michigan; they kept their #1 seed in their preferred host site.  On the other hand, the loss to Purdue in the championship game halted Michigan’s 6-game winning streak, and may have hurt their momentum and confidence going into the Big Dance.

This Week

This week Michigan plays at least one game in the NCAA Tournament, as the #1 seed in the Midwest Region in Buffalo, NY.  On Thursday (03/19/2026, Time: TBD, TV: TBD), they play the #16 seed (the winner of the UMBC/Howard game).  If they win that game, they’ll play again on Saturday (03/21/2026, Time: TBD, TV: TBD) against the winner of the (#8 seed) Georgia vs. (#9 seed) St. Louis game.

The other high seeds in the Midwest Region are:

#2 Iowa State

#3 Virginia

#4 Alabama

Michigan is the only Big Ten team in the Midwest Region.

The other Big Ten teams in the Big Dance are:

#3 (East) Michigan State 

#7 (East) UCLA

#8 (East) Ohio State

#3 (South) Illinois

#4 (South) Nebraska 

#9 (South) Iowa

#2 (West) Purdue

#5 (West) Wisconsin 

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.  I’ll still be out of town, with just my iPad, so my report will be similar to this one.

Go Blue!

The (#3) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them.  On Thursday (03/05/2026), they won at Iowa 71-68, then on Sunday (03/08/2026), they beat (#8) Michigan State 90-80 in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s final regular season record is 29-2 (19-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan finished both games strong, and finished the regular season strong as well.  In the Iowa game, the score was tied in the last minute, and Michigan finished strong to seal the victory.  In the MSU game, State was within 3 points with less than 4 minutes to go, and Michigan finished very strong to win comfortably.  It was a great finish to the regular season.  Michigan had already locked up the outright regular season Big Ten championship last week when they beat Illinois, but they didn’t want to endanger their potential #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament by losing either of the two remaining regular season games.  They took care of business.

The win over MSU gave Michigan a rare season sweep of the Spartans, and also gave them their 19^th Big Ten win, a new conference record.  It also gave Michigan a 4-game lead over the 2^nd place teams (Nebraska, Michigan State, and Illinois) in the final Big Ten standings.  It’s been a while since a team won the Big Ten by 4 games.

After the game, Michigan held their Senior Day ceremony, and honored 5 seniors/grad students:

• Nimari Burnett – Nimari played for 3 years at Michigan, and he was a steady, quiet leader.
• Roddy Gayle Jr. – Roddy played for 2 years at Michigan, and he has been a valuable sub.
• Yaxel Lendeborg – Yaxel only played for 1 year at Michigan, but he’s made the most of it.
• Charlie May – Charlie played for 2 years at Michigan, on the Scout Team.
• Will Tschetter – Will played for 4 years at Michigan, a true rarity these days.  In fact, there were only 33 players in Division 1 basketball this year who played all 4 years at only one school.

Game Flow

The Iowa game was close and tense the whole way.  There were 8 ties and 14 lead changes.  Michigan led more often than Iowa, but they couldn’t pull away.  Michigan took an early 3-0 lead, then Iowa went on a miserable 11-2 run to go up 11-5 at the 14:19 mark.  Michigan clawed their way back, and got another lead (14-13) with 10:05 to go.  The lead went back and forth for a couple minutes, then Michigan started to pull away.  They were up 5 points (26-21) at the 3:37 mark, when they did their traditional pre-halftime swoon.  They let Iowa go on a 9-4 run to end the half, all tied up: 30-30.

Michigan opened the 2^nd half with a nice run to regain the lead.  They were up by 7 points (42-35) at the 16:07 mark, but they couldn’t hold the lead.  Iowa went on another run, this time 9-2, to go up by 3 points (46-43) with 12:25 to go.  Michigan kept their composure, and slowly regained the lead, up 10 points (63-53) at the 6:14 mark.  This was the largest lead for either team, and it didn’t last long.  Iowa promptly went on an 11-1 run to tie the game, 64-64 with 1:57 to go.  Michigan scored to go up by 2, then Iowa tied it again (66-66) at the 0:52 mark.  Michigan led the rest of the way, making one more basket and enough of their free throws to win by 3 points, 71-68.

The MSU game was also close and tense the whole way.  There were 5 ties and 5 lead changes, although Michigan led the game for most of the time.  The few times MSU led, Michigan didn’t let them get to far ahead, never by more than 5 points.  Michigan had a few decent leads, 8-9 points, but State always came back and either got close or pulled ahead.  All except for the final surge by Michigan to put the game away.

State scored the first 5 points, but Michigan kept pace, and finally tied things up (7-7) at the 15:28 mark.  Michigan went ahead, and pushed their lead up to 7 points (14-7) with 13:24 left.  State hung around, getting as close as 3 points a couple times, but Michigan finally pushed their lead up to 9 points (23-14) at the 9:00 mark.  State went on a 13-4 run to tie it up (27-27) with 5:58 left, but Michigan went back ahead by 6 points (35-29) at the 4:09 mark.  State wouldn’t go away, and climbed back into the lead (41-37) with 1:47 left in the half.  Fortunately, Michigan went on a 5-0 run to end the half up by one point, 42-41.

The 2^nd half was more of the same.  Michigan led most of the time, but they couldn’t pull away from MSU.  Michigan pushed their 1-point halftime lead to 6 points (49-43) at the 17:42 mark, but State went on an 8-2 run to tie it up again (51-51) with 15:27 to go.  It was still tied up (53-53) a few seconds later, when State went ahead again.  MSU was up by 4 points (61-57) at the 12:59 mark, but Michigan tied it up again (61-61) with 11:51 to go.  It was Michigan’s turn to go ahead, and they led by 5-7 points for the next 5 minutes.  With 6:10 to go, Michigan was up by 5 points (73-68), but State got within 3 points (73-70) at the 3:47 mark.  That was as close as they’d get the rest of the game.  Michigan pushed the lead up to 11 points (83-72) with 0:54 left, and held off every push by State to get back in it, winning by 10.  It was a glorious victory.

Stats

The stats for the Iowa game were solid.  Michigan shot well overall (24/45 = 53.3%), they shot 3-pointers very well (6/12 = 50.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (17/22 = 77.3%).  They crushed Iowa on the boards (38-25), but they gave away all 13 of those extra possessions in turnovers (18-5).  They won this game with great shooting and rebounding, but they almost lost it due to heavy turnovers.

The stats for the MSU game were very good.  Michigan shot well overall (27/55 = 49.1%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10/22 = 45.5%), and they shot free throws very well (26/29 = 89.7%).  They won the rebounding battle (35-32), but lost the turnover battle (10-7).  They won this game with superior shooting.

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.

Who Looked Good?

Lendeborg was the star of both games, with a tied-for-team-high 16 points vs. Iowa, and a team-high 27 points vs. MSU.  He had a great game vs. MSU in his final appearance in Crisler, shooting 8/12 overall, 5/6 from 3-point range, and 6/6 from the free throw line.

Johnson was the only other Michigan player in double figures for both games, with a tied-for-team-high 16 points vs. Iowa, and 18 points vs. MSU.  He also had 8 and 7 rebounds.

Mara had one good game (14 points vs. Iowa) and one decent game (4 points vs. MSU).  He was in foul trouble for most of the State game, only playing 19 minutes.

Cadeau had one good game (11 points vs. Iowa) and one lousy game (2 points vs. MSU).  He got 9 of his 11 points in the Iowa game at the free throw line.

Burnett had one good game (10 points vs. MSU) and one lousy game (3 points vs. Iowa).  It was nice that he hit double figures in his final game in Crisler.

Roddy Gayle Jr. had one good game (15 points vs. MSU) and one decent game (6 points vs. Iowa) off the bench.  It was nice that he hit double figures in his final game in Crisler.

Trey McKenney had one good game (12 points vs. MSU) and one decent game (5 points vs. Iowa) off the bench.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Will Tschetter had another worthless week off the bench, with 0 and 2 points.  He deserved better in his final game at Crisler.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play were Oscar Goodman and Malick Kordel.  L.J. Cason and Winters Grady are both out with injuries.

None of the Scout Team players (Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May) got to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

These were two weird games.  On the one hand, since Michigan had clinched the regular season Big Ten championship the week before, they were meaningless in the Big Ten standings.  On the other hand, they were very important, since they kept Michigan at #3 in the AP Poll, and kept them in the running for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  They give Michigan some momentum and confidence heading into the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.  Plus, it’s always great to beat State.

This Week

This week, Michigan plays at least one game, in the Big Ten Tournament in the United Center in Chicago.  Since they won the Big Ten regular season championship (by 4 games!), they are the #1 seed, and they get a triple-bye into the Friday (quarterfinal) round.  They will play on Friday (03/13/2026, 12:00 p.m. EDT, BTN) against TBD.  They won’t know their opponent until the game on Thursday is played.  The teams they could face are:

• Tuesday – (#16 seed) Maryland vs. (#17 seed) Oregon
• Wednesday – Winner of the Tuesday game vs. (#9 seed) Iowa
• Thursday – Winner of the Wednesday game vs. (#8 seed) Ohio State

Michigan beat all 4 of these teams in the regular season, either by a little (Iowa – 3 points) or a lot (Maryland – 18 points, Oregon – 10 points, and Ohio State – 12 points and 11 points).

If Michigan wins the game on Friday, they will play in the semifinals on Saturday (03/14/2026, 1:00 p.m. EDT, CBS) against another TBD.  The possible teams for Saturday’s game are:

• Wednesday – (#13 seed) USC vs. (#12 seed) Washington
• Thursday – Winner of the Wednesday game vs. (#5 seed) Wisconsin
• Friday – Winner of the Thursday game vs. (#4 seed) Illinois

It would be nice for Michigan to get another shot at Wisconsin, the only Big Ten team to beat Michigan in the regular season.  They beat all the other teams in the regular season.

If Michigan wins the game on Saturday, they will play for the Big Ten Tournament championship on Sunday (03/15/2026, 2:30 p.m. EDT, CBS) vs. the winner of the other side of the bracket.  They beat all the teams on the other side of the bracket in the regular season.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.  I’ll be out of town, with spotty Internet connectivity, so my report might be a little different.

Go Blue!

The (#3) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them.  On Tuesday (02/24/2026), they beat Minnesota 77-67 in Crisler Arena, then on Friday (02/27/2026), they won at (#10) Illinois 84-70.  Michigan’s record improves to 27-2 (17-1 in Big Ten).  Michigan clinched 1^st place outright in the Big Ten.

What Happened?

With these two wins, Michigan clinched the outright Big Ten regular season championship!  When they beat Minnesota on Tuesday, they clinched at least a share of the title, but they still had to win one more game to clinch the outright title, and they did it on Friday at Illinois.  This is a Big Deal: the Big Ten is loaded this season, and winning the championship is impressive.  Winning it with two games left to play is very impressive.

Michigan looked good vs. Minnesota and very good vs. Illinois.  They won both games convincingly, especially the Illinois game.  It was very satisfying to finally beat Illinois, since Michigan had lost the last 4 games in Champaign and the last 9 games overall to Illinois.

Trivia Question:  Prior to this season, when was the last time Michigan beat Michigan State in East Lansing and Purdue in West Lafayette AND Illinois in Champaign all in the same season?  The answer is at the end of the article.

Game Flow

The 1^st half of the Minnesota game was close, with 2 ties and 10 lead changes.  Michigan led for much of the half, but they had trouble pulling away from Minnesota.  It looked like they were trying too hard.  The few times Minnesota led, it was only by 2-4 points.  Michigan was up early (5-0 at the 18:53 mark), but Minnesota went on a 13-4 run to go up by 4 points (13-9) with 13:33 left.   Michigan caught them and pulled back in front (30-20) with 2:58 to go, then they let Minnesota go on an 8-2 run to end the half, with Michigan clinging to a 4-point lead, 32-28.  It was a little worrying.

The 2^nd half was also a little scary.  Michigan led for the entire half, but let Minnesota hang around.  In the first 11 minutes of the half, Michigan led by as many as 9 points, but as few as 2 points.  Finally, at the 8:49 mark, Michigan got their lead back up to 10 points (57-47), and that was the game.  Michigan pushed the lead as high as 18 points, but never let it get below 10 points, winning by 10.

The Illinois game was also close in the 1^st half, with neither team able to get more than 9 points ahead.  Illinois led by 5 points (16-11) at the 13:03 mark, and that was the high-water mark for them.  Michigan went on an 11-0 run to go up 6 points (22-16) with 9:45 left, and Illinois never led again.  Michigan pushed their lead up to 9 points (38-29) with 0:42 to go in the 1^st half, and led by 7 points (38-31) at halftime.

It looked like Illinois might catch up early in the 2^nd half.  They got within 5 points (42-37) at the 18:09 mark, but Michigan pushed their lead up to 10 points (51-41) with 16:11 to go.  Michigan kept the lead in the 7-9 point range for a while, and finally got it over 10 points (63-52) at the 9:51 mark.  Once they got it over 10 points, Illinois wilted, and Michigan pushed the lead up as high as 21 points (75-54) with 6:49 to go, and coasted home.  They still had a 20 point lead (81-61) with 1:48 left, and they let Illinois bomb away from 3-point range a few times to run out the clock, winning by 14 points.

Stats

The stats for the Minnesota game were solid.  Michigan shot well overall (29/58 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers well (14/33 = 42.4%), and they were perfect shooting free throws (5/5 = 100.0%).  I had to look twice at the rebounding stats: Michigan won the rebounding battle (39-18).  Minnesota only had 18 rebounds?  Amazing!  Of course, Michigan lost the turnover battle (14-8).  Michigan won this game with good shooting and great rebounding.

The stats for the Illinois game were very good.  Michigan shot very well overall (31/59 = 52.5%), they shot 3-pointers well (8/22 = 36.4%), and they shot free throws well (14/17 = 82.4%).  Michigan won the rebounding battle (34-30), and tied in the turnover battle (10-10).  Michigan won this game with good shooting and solid rebounding.

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.

Who Looked Good?

Mara had the best week this week, with 10 and 19 points.  He shot extremely well: 4/4 vs. Minnesota and 8/9 vs. Illinois.  He was also 2/2 and 3/3 from the free throw line!

Cadeau had one good game (15 points vs. Minnesota) and one decent game (7 points vs. Illinois).  He also had 5 assists in each game.

Lendeborg had one good game (16 points vs. Illinois) and one lousy game (3 points vs. Minnesota).

Johnson had a great game against his former team (Illinois – 19 points) and a decent game against Minnesota (6 points).  He was the star in the Illinois game, with 11 rebounds, giving him a double-double.  The Illinois fans were relentless in booing him, but he ignored them and let his game do the talking.

Burnett had a quiet week, with 8 and 3 points.

L.J. Cason had a good week off the bench, with 14 and 9 points.  Unfortunately, he tore the ACL in his right knee in the Illinois game, and he’s done for the season.  This is a huge setback for Michigan, since Cason was playing a very valuable role, backing up Cadeau at point guard and shooting well from 3-point range.

Trey McKenney had one good game (12 points vs. Minnesota) and one decent game (6 points vs. Illinois) this week off the bench.

Roddy Gayle Jr. had a decent week off the bench, with 9 and 2 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Will Tschetter was almost worthless this week off the bench, with 0 and 3 points.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play were Oscar Goodman and Malick Kordel.  Winters Grady is out with an injury.

None of the Scout Team players (Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May) got to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

These were two very important wins, for several reasons.  The most obvious reason is that they gave Michigan an outright Big Ten regular season championship, along with the #1 seed (and the triple bye) in the Big Ten Tournament.  They also should keep Michigan at #3 in the AP Poll, and in line for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  They also gave Michigan 17 Big Ten wins, which is a school record, and they gave Coach May at least one win over every other Big Ten team in just his second season at Michigan.

This Week

This week, Michigan plays 2 games, their last 2 games of the regular season.  On Thursday (03/05/2026, 8:00 p.m. EST, Peacock), they play at Iowa, then on Sunday (03/08/2026, 4:30 p.m., CBS), they play (#13) Michigan State in Crisler Arena.  The MSU game is Senior Night, and the Senior Night ceremony will be held AFTER the game, not before.  Also, the team will celebrate their outright Big Ten regular season championship after the Senior Night ceremony.

Iowa is currently 20-9 (10-8 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over Xavier, UCLA, Indiana, and (#9) Nebraska, and unimpressive losses to Minnesota, Maryland, and Penn State.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they don’t have much height: a 6’10” player and a 6’11” player.  This is a game that Michigan should win handily, but things are always tricky on the road in the Big Ten.  Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been a tough place for Michigan to win, so they will have to play a solid game to get the “W”.

Michigan State is currently 24-5 (14-4 in Big Ten).  Since Michigan beat them in East Lansing back on 01/30/2026, they have a couple impressive wins over (#5) Illinois and (#8) Purdue, and a couple unimpressive losses to Minnesota and Wisconsin.  This game was supposed to be a battle for the Big Ten title on the last day of the regular season, but Michigan ran away with the race a few games early.  It is still a very important game for both teams, as they battle for seeding in the NCAA Tournament.  It is a very important game for Michigan for several other reasons: it would be great to sweep MSU in the regular season, it would be great for Michigan to have a nice winning streak and momentum going into the postseason, and it would be very nice to win the game before the Senior Night ceremony and Big Ten championship celebration.

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

Go Blue!

Trivia Answer: The last time Michigan won at MSU, Purdue, and Illinois in the same season was 1994.

The (#1) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won one and lost the other.  On Tuesday (02/17/2026), they won at (#7) Purdue 91-80, then on Saturday (02/21/2026), they lost to (#3) Duke 68-63 in Washington, DC.  Michigan’s record is now 25-2 (15-1 in Big Ten).  Michigan is still all alone in 1^st place in the Big Ten.

What Happened?

It was great that Michigan finally got the #1 ranking in the AP Poll, but they only got to enjoy it for one week.  With the loss to Duke, Michigan will undoubtedly drop out of the #1 spot, hopefully no further than #3 or #4.  Since (#2) Houston also lost, Duke will probably be #1 this week.

Michigan played very well on Tuesday against Purdue, but they were flat and “off” against Duke.  Duke is a very good team, but if Michigan had played their “A” game, they would have beaten them.

Trivia Question:  Prior to this season, when was the last time Michigan beat Michigan State in East Lansing and Purdue in West Lafayette in the same season?  The answer is at the end of the article.

Game Flow

The Purdue game started out as a back-and-forth affair, with Purdue going ahead 5-0 and 7-2, before Michigan went ahead 8-7 at the 14:58 mark.  Purdue had their last lead of the game (11-10) with 13:36 left, then Michigan started to pull away.  Michigan went on a beautiful 16-0 run over the next 4 minutes, and suddenly it was 26-11 at the 9:28 mark.  Purdue finally scored again, but Michigan kept building their lead, pushing it up to 20 points (42-22) at the 4:23 mark.  The lead was still 20 points (48-28) with 1:55 to go, but Purdue managed to trim 4 points off their deficit before halftime, making the score 48-32.

The 2^nd half was just a matter of Michigan trading time for points.  They let Purdue chip away at the lead, but very slowly.  At the 19:27 mark, Michigan had actually extended their lead to 19 points (51-32), and it was still 16 points (69-53) with 9:25 to go.  Purdue got as close as 11 points (74-63) with 5:11 left, but Michigan pushed it back up to 16 points (79-63) at the 4:22 mark.  So, at this point, Purdue hadn’t taken a single point off their halftime deficit in 15:38.  In the final 4:22 they managed to get as close as 8 points a few times: 81-73 with 2:05 left, 83-75 with 1:30 left, and 86-78 with 0:53 left, but that was as close as they could get.  Michigan got the stops and made their free throws down the stretch, winning by 11.

The Duke game was close the whole way, with neither team ever getting a double-digit lead.  The 1^st half was a seesaw battle, with 5 ties and 13 lead changes.  Michigan led more often than Duke, but never by more than 5 points.  The key moment for the entire game came in the last 3 minutes of the half.  Michigan was up by 4 points (33-29) at the 3:11 mark, when they let Duke go on a 6-0 run to end the half up by 2 points, 35-33.  Michigan never led or tied again.  The really frustrating part was that Michigan had the ball with the shot clock off and the score tied (33-33), and they took the last shot with 4 seconds left.  It missed, but Michigan fouled a Duke player on the rebound with 0.8 seconds left, and he made 2 free throws to give Duke a lead they never surrendered.  Michigan could have been 2-3 points ahead at halftime, but instead they were 2 points behind, and never recovered.

The 2^nd half was one long frustrating mess.  Duke never trailed, but Michigan stayed close, and got within one point a couple times, the last one being 58-57 with 3:49 to go.  The rest of the way, Michigan just couldn’t get the stops they needed or make the shots they needed, and Duke kept them at arm’s length.

Stats

The stats for the Purdue game were very impressive.  Michigan shot pretty well overall (30/57 = 52.6%), they shot 3-pointers very well (13/23 = 56.5%), and they shot free throws well (18/23 = 78.3%).  They won the rebounding battle (39-31), but lost the turnover battle badly (14-6).  They won this game with great shooting and good rebounding.

The stats for the Duke game were sad.  Michigan shot poorly overall (22/55 = 40.0%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (6/25 = 24.0%), and they shot free throws decently (13/18 = 72.2%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (41-28), but won the turnover battle (7-11).  They lost this game with miserable shooting and terrible rebounding.  This is one of the few games this season where Michigan has been out-rebounded.

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.

Who Looked Good?

Lendeborg had a good week, with 13 and 21 points.  He was the high scorer for Michigan in the Duke game, and he was the main reason the game was close.

Johnson also had a good week, with 12 and 13 points.  He also had 11 rebounds in the Purdue game, for a solid double-double. 

Mara had 10 points in each game, and 11 rebounds in the Purdue game, for another double-double.  He was hampered by foul trouble in the Duke game, which really limited Michigan’s inside offense.

Cadeau had one good game (17 points vs. Purdue) and one decent game (8 points vs. Duke).  He had the worst shooting of all the Michigan players in the Duke game: 1/8 overall, 1/6 from deep.  He scored most of his points on free throws (5/6).

L.J. Cason had a good week off the bench, with 13 and 7 points.

Trey McKenney had one good game (13 points vs. Purdue) and one quiet game (2 points vs. Duke) this week off the bench.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Burnett was almost non-existent this week, with 5 and 0 points.

Roddy Gayle Jr. had a quiet week off the bench, with 5 and 2 points.

Will Tschetter was almost worthless this week off the bench, with 3 and 0 points.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play were Oscar Goodman and Malick Kordel.  Winters Grady is out with an injury.

None of the Scout Team players (Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May) got to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

The win over Purdue was huge, especially in Michigan’s quest to win the Big Ten regular season championship.  The Duke loss was a mixed bag: on the one hand, it will certainly knock Michigan out of the top spot in the AP Poll.  On the other hand, it won’t have any effect on the Big Ten race.  It also showed that Michigan can play with “the big boys”, since it was a close game on a night when Michigan didn’t play close to their best game.

Hopefully, when the AP Poll comes out on Monday afternoon, Michigan will still be in the top 4, which should keep them in line for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Michigan still has 4 regular season Big Ten games left, 2 at home (Minnesota and Michigan State) and 2 on the road (Illinois and Iowa).  If Michigan wins 1 of these 4 games, they would clinch at least a tie for the Big Ten title.  A 2^nd win would clinch the title outright.  However, they really need to win all 4 of them to help their cause for a #1 seed in the Big Dance.

This Week

This week, Michigan plays 2 games.  On Tuesday (02/24/2026, 8:30 p.m., BTN), they play Minnesota in Crisler Arena, then on Friday (02/27/2026, 8:00 p.m. EST, FOX), they play at (#10) Illinois.

Minnesota is currently 13-14 (6-10 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#22) Indiana, (#19) Iowa, and (#10) Michigan State, and unimpressive losses to Missouri, San Francisco, Stanford, Santa Clara, USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland, and Washington.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they don’t have much height: one 6’10” player.  This is a game that Michigan should win handily, which is why it is the ultimate “trap” game.  After playing a bunch of Top-25 teams away from Crisler, Michigan could feel overconfident playing a lower-division team at home.  They need to take Minnesota seriously.  The Gophers have beaten some good teams this season.

Illinois is currently 22-6 (13-4 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#11) Texas Tech, (#13) Tennessee, (#19) Iowa, (#4) Purdue, and (#5) Nebraska, and an unimpressive loss to UCLA.  They have a very noteworthy player: Keaton Wagler, the likely Big Ten Freshman of the Year.  He is averaging 18.2 points/game, with a 46-point game vs. Purdue, and a 34-point game vs. Wisconsin, along with 6 other games of 20+ points.  He will be a handful.  Illinois has plenty of height, with a 6’10” player, a 7’1” player, and a 7’2” player.  This will be a very challenging game for Michigan, especially in the State Farm Center, where Michigan hasn’t won since 01/10/2019 (4 games).  In fact, Illinois has won the last 9 games in the series.  Michigan can beat Illinois, but they will need to play their “A” game.

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

Go Blue!

Trivia Answer: The last time Michigan won at MSU and Purdue in the same season was 1994.