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Posted on by Drew Montag

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #02 – 10/20/2025 – Dusty Gets His Wish

The (#7) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one (exhibition) game this past week, and they lost it.  On Friday (10/17/2025), they lost to Cincinnati 100-98 in Crisler Arena.   Since it was just an exhibition game, Michigan’s record is still 0-0.

What Happened?

Before the game, head coach Dusty May said that he hoped that Michigan would lose an exhibition game.  He got his wish.  I understand what he meant: he was hoping that Michigan would play a team good enough to beat them, instead of the normal “cupcake” teams that Michigan usually schedules for their exhibition games.  He wanted to have any weaknesses exposed in a game that doesn’t count in the team’s win-loss record, so that they know what to work on before the games count.  Mission accomplished.  There were several weaknesses exposed, and now Dusty needs to figure out how to address them.  It was sad to lose a home game and give up 100 points, but it was only an exhibition.

In all fairness, Michigan was missing a couple key players due to minor injuries, and the officiating was, let’s say, interesting.  The refs called way too many fouls, so there was very little rhythm and flow to the game.  It will be interesting to see how Michigan does with a full roster and reasonable officials.

Game Flow

Cincinnati led for most of the game, except for a brief period in the 1st half when Michigan led.  Cinci was ahead 5-0 and 7-3, but Michigan went on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 11-7 at the 16:56 mark.  They were still ahead, 15-11, with 12:41 to go, then they went to sleep.  Cinci went on a 10-6 run, and went ahead for good, 21-17 at the 8:45 mark.  They pushed their lead as high as 20 points in the 1st half, 52-32, with 0:27 to go, and led by 18 at halftime, 52-34.  It was an ugly half.

The 2nd half was better.  Michigan cut the lead down to 11 points pretty quickly: 57-46 at the 17:11 mark.  Cinci kept the lead in the 10-14 range for the next 5 minutes, but Michigan finally got it down to single digits (69-60) with 12:04 to go.  UM kept chipping away at the deficit, and got within 2 points (86-84) with 4:23 left.  That was as close as they got.  They had the ball down 2 points a couple times, but they just couldn’t get the ball to go in the basket.  Cinci made their free throws in the final minute, and a last-second 3-pointer by Michigan made the score look closer than it really was.

Stats

For some reason, Michigan didn’t post stats for this game, but I found them on Cincinnati’s website.

The game stats were just OK.  Michigan shot decently overall (24-for-50 = 48.0%), they shot 3-pointers decently (9-for-32 = 28.1%), and they shot free throws very well (41-for-48 = 85.4%).  They won the rebounding battle (33-29), but lost the turnover battle (20-16).  They lost this game with mediocre shooting and lax defense.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Roddy Gayle Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Will Tschetter.

Who Looked Good?

Lendeborg was the star of the game for Michigan, with 31 points and 12 rebounds, for a solid double-double.  He shot well overall (10-for-16), but not from 3-point range (2-for-7).  He was 9-for-9 from the free throw line.  He was the best player out there.

Gayle was the 2nd highest scorer for Michigan, with 18 points.  He shot well overall (4-for-6), but only 1-for-3 from deep.  He was 9-for-11 from the free throw line.  Unfortunately, he led Michigan with 8 turnovers.  Yikes.

Tschetter was the 3rd leading scorer for Michigan, with 15 points.  He shot 3-for-5 overall, all 3-pointers, which is good, but he also had a technical foul, which is not so good.

Cadeau was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 14 points.  He was perfect from the floor (1-for-1), and got his other points at the free throw line (12-for-15).

Winters Grady only played for 13 minutes off the bench, but he made the most of it, scoring 6 points on 2-for-4 shooting, all from deep.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Burnett had a mediocre game, scoring 7 points on poor shooting: 2-for-7 overall, 1-for-6 from deep.

L.J. Cason came in a few times, but didn’t do much.  He scored 4 points in 14 minutes.  He could be a key player this season, so he needs to get going.

Trey McKenney played like a freshman in his first college game.  He wasn’t afraid to shoot, but he couldn’t buy a basket.  He ended up with 1 point (1-for-2 on free throws) on terrible shooting: 0-for7 overall, 0-for-6 from deep.  He shot 55% overall and 42% from deep his senior year in high school, so he knows how to make a basket.  First game nerves?

Who Else Played?

Oscar Goodman was the first player off the bench, for what that’s worth.  He scored 2 points in 7 minutes.

Malick Kordel played for 3 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.  I was surprised that Coach May didn’t have him in there more often, since Cinci had a much bigger lineup, but maybe he’s not ready yet.  He didn’t play enough to get an idea of how good he is.

Ricky Liburd played for 3 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara are the two mainstream players who didn’t play in this game.  Apparently, they both have minor injuries.

None of the Scout Team players played: Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May.  Who else will end up on the Scout Team?  Liburd?  Kordel?

What Does It Mean?

Not much.  It was just an exhibition game.  On the one hand, it was discouraging to see Michigan fall behind so quickly and so far in the 1st half, but on the other hand, it was encouraging to see them fight back and almost get the win.

This Week

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Saturday (10/25/2025, 7:00 p.m., BTN+) they play (#5) St. John’s in Madison Square Garden, in New York City.  This is another exhibition game.

St. John’s was 31-5 (18-2 in the Big East).  They won the Big East tournament, and were a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  They lost in the 2nd round to a #10 seed, Arkansas.  They are highly ranked (#5) this season, and they have a solid roster, with a couple 6’11” players.  This is going to be a very challenging game for Michigan, especially if they play the way they did vs. Cincinnati.

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

Go Blue!

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