The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them. On Tuesday (12/09/2025), they beat Villanova 89-61 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (12/13/2025), they beat Maryland 101-83 in College Park, MD. Michigan’s record improves to 10-0 (2-0 in Big Ten).
What Happened?
Michigan is still unbeaten, one of only seven teams left without a loss: Arizona, Duke, Iowa State, Miami (OH), Michigan, Nebraska, and Vanderbilt. However, after thumping six opponents in a row, Michigan looked beatable for much of the Maryland game. Fortunately, they came to life in the last 16 minutes, and beat Maryland by a comfortable 18 points. Still, after beating six opponents in a row by at least 25 points, trailing by 9 points in the 2nd half at Maryland was a little scary. On the other hand, this could be a good wake-up call for Michigan.
Game Flow
The Villanova game looked a lot like the previous five games: Michigan got an early lead, slowly built it up to a solid lead by halftime, then built it up even more in the 2nd half. In this case, the 2nd half wasn’t quite as dominating as some of the previous games (SDSU and Gonzaga), but it was more than enough to win comfortably.
Villanova actually tied the game up (3-3) and led briefly (4-3) at 18:33 mark, but once Michigan got back ahead (5-4) with 17:59 to go, they never trailed again. They pushed the lead up to 6 points (10-4) at the 15:50 mark, then 14 points (21-7) at the 13:40 mark, then 23 points (39-16) at the 7:58 mark. They managed to push the lead up to 30 points (53-23) at halftime. How often do you think Villanova is behind by 30 points at halftime?
The 2nd half was just an exercise in holding off every Villanova run. They let Villanova get within 28 points a couple times, but they mostly kept the lead in the 32-34 point range. They pushed it up to 38 points (83-47) at the 4:43 mark, then they put in the Scout Team. That’s the only reason Michigan didn’t score 100 points and win by at least 35 points.
The Maryland game was much more tense. The game was close for the entire 1st half, and much of the 2nd half. Maryland figured out the secret to getting ahead of Michigan: shoot 70% from 3-point range. When they finally started missing, the game slipped away from them.
Michigan had a couple early leads (2-0 and 5-3), but one Maryland player (Coit) was deadly from 3-point range early, and he powered Maryland to a 5 point lead (10-5) all by himself at the 16:32 mark. Michigan fought back, and went ahead by 5 points (17-12) at the 13:53 mark. The lead went back and forth, with Michigan ahead by 6 points (31-25) with 8:35 left in the half. Michigan fell asleep, and Maryland went on a 12-2 run, to go up by 4 points (37-33) at the 5:25 mark. The lead went back and forth again, and Maryland took a 5-point lead into halftime, 50-45.
Before we get to the 2nd half, look at that halftime score. It’s only the second time this season that Michigan has been behind at halftime. The other time was at TCU, when they were down 35-33 at halftime. Here are the halftime scores for the first 9 games:
Oakland: 69-38 (+31)
Wake Forest: 47-34 (+13)
TCU: 33-35 (-2)
Middle Tennessee: 36-30 (+6)
SDSU: 45-33 (+12)
Auburn: 59-31 (+28)
Gonzaga: 53-29 (+24)
Rutgers: 50-25 (+25)
Villanova: 53-23 (+30)
That’s an average halftime lead of 18.5 points. Michigan wasn’t used to a game being close at halftime. How would they respond?
Well, Michigan responded just fine, but not until Maryland pulled even further ahead. They pushed their lead to 9 points (56-47) at the 18:48 mark, and things were looking pretty gloomy for Michigan. That’s when Michigan finally woke up, and went on an 8-0 run to get back in the game, down just 56-55 with 17:09 to go. Maryland hung onto their slim lead for a couple minutes, but Michigan finally went back on top (62-60) at the 14:42 mark. Maryland led one more time, 63-62, 30 seconds later, and that was it. Michigan went ahead for good 64-63 with 13:52 left, and never trailed again. They pushed their lead up to 11 points (84-73) at the 8:01 mark, then 20 points (101-81) with 19 seconds left, before Maryland scored with 13 seconds left to make it an 18-point game at the end.
Stats
The game stats for the Villanova game were pretty weak. Michigan didn’t shoot very well overall (33/69 = 47.8%), they didn’t shoot 3-pointers very well (9/23 = 27.3%), and they didn’t shoot free throws very well (14/25 = 56.0%). They did crush Villanova on the boards (53-33), and they did win the turnover battle (12-15). They won this game with decent shooting and dominating rebounding.
The game stats for the Maryland game were very good. Michigan shot very well overall (35/58 = 60.3%), they shot 3-pointers very well (12/19 = 63.2%), and they shot free throws very well (19/22 = 86.4%). They lost the rebounding battle (26-29), but they won the turnover battle (9-12). They won this game with great shooting and low turnovers.
Who Started?
The starters for both games were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.
Who Looked Good?
All five starters played well in both games.
Cadeau was the leading scorer for Michigan in the Villanova game, with 18 points, and he scored 12 more against Maryland. He also had 4 and 10 assists, which gave him a double-double in the Maryland game.
Mara also hit double figures in both games, with 11 and 18 points. He also had 8 and 3 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in each game.
Lendeborg was the star of the Maryland game, with a team-high 29 points. He sparked the rally at the start of the 2nd half that won the game. He shot very well: 8/11 overall, 4/5 from deep, and 9/9 from the free throw line. He also had 9 assists and 3 blocked shots. He was awesome. He had a good game vs. Villanova, with 9 points.
Johnson had two pretty good games, with 7 and 8 points. He had a team-high 10 rebounds vs. Villanova.
Burnett chipped in 5 and 9 points.
Trey McKenney came off the bench and had one good game (10 points vs. Villanova) and one lousy game (0 points vs. Maryland).
Roddy Gayle Jr. had two decent games off the bench, with 9 points in each game.
L.J. Cason had two good games off the bench, with 8 and 12 points.
Will Tschetter chipped in 7 and 4 points off the bench.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
All the main rotation players looked good this week.
Who Else Played?
Since the Villanova game was a blowout, some of the non-mainstream players got to play in that game.
Oscar Goodman played for 6 minutes, but missed his only shot attempt.
Winters Grady played for 5 minutes, and was 1/2 from deep, for 3 points.
Malick Kordel played for 5 minutes, and scored 2 more points on a nice dunk.
Howard Eisley Jr. got to play in the final minute. He didn’t attempt a shot.
Who Didn’t Play?
The only scholarship player who didn’t play was Ricky Liburd.
The Scout Team players who didn’t play were: Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May.
What Does It Mean?
These were both solid wins over major opponents. Michigan’s postseason resume is packed with good wins. At this point, Michigan is playing to win the Big Ten title and enter the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed. The first half of the Maryland game was a little concerning, but it could be the wake-up call that Michigan needs. It was encouraging that Michigan shook off their sub-optimal first half and played a great second half vs. Maryland.
This Week
This week, Michigan only plays one game. On Sunday (12/21/2025, 4:00 p.m., Peacock), they play La Salle in Crisler Arena.
La Salle is currently 4-7 (0-0 in the Atlantic 10), with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to Hofstra, Penn, Merrimack, and Long Island University. They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: a 6’10” player and a 7-footer. This is the kind of team that Michigan should beat by 30 points.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why.
Go Blue!