The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they won it. On Sunday (12/21/2025), they beat La Salle 102-50 in Crisler Arena. Michigan’s record improves to 11-0 (2-0 in Big Ten).
What Happened?
This was a “guarantee” game, a game that Michigan was expected to win easily, and that’s exactly what they did. They followed their now-familiar script: get a nice lead early, expand it to a commanding lead at halftime, then keep it growing through the 2nd half. It was another dominant win.
Game Flow
The first 5 minutes of the game were sloppy and choppy. The lead went back and forth, and it looked like La Salle was going to be trouble. At the 14:47 mark, La Salle was up 10-9, and Michigan promptly turned the ball over. That was the high-water mark for La Salle. Michigan stole the ball back, and went on a nice 11-0 run. Suddenly, it was 20-10 with 12:22 to go. La Salle got back within 8 points, and then Michigan went on another 11-0 run, and that was the game. Michigan was up by 19 points (31-12) at the 8:33 mark, and they kept the lead in the 12-16 point range for the next 4 minutes. With 4:02 left in the half, Michigan was still up 17 points (44-27), when they finally got the lead over 20 points, going into halftime up by 21 points (54-33).
The second half was more of the same. Look at the final score: 102-50; La Salle didn’t even get up to Michigan’s halftime score (54). It took less than 5 minutes for Michigan to push their lead up to 30 points (67-37), at the 15:45 mark. It took another 7 minutes to get the lead up to 40 points (83-43), with 8:43 to go. In another 6+ minutes the lead was up to 51 points (97-46), at the 2:24 mark. It got as high as 56 points (102-46) with 1:28 left, before La Salle scored the last 4 points against the Scout Team to pull within 52 points at the end.
Stats
The game stats were impressive. Michigan shot well overall (34/62 = 54.8%), they shot 3-pointers very well (14/29 = 48.3%), but they didn’t shoot free throws very well (20/30 = 66.7%). They won the rebounding battle (40-35) and the turnover battle (10-19). They won this game with solid shooting and low turnovers.
Who Started?
The starters were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.
Who Looked Good?
Trey McKenney was the high scorer for Michigan, with 17 points, off the bench. He shot very well: 5/8 overall, 3/5 from deep, 4/4 from the free throw line.
Mara had a good game, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, for a nice double-double. He shot very well from the floor: 5/5 overall, but not so well from the free throw line: 4/8. He was credited with 2 blocked shots, but he altered at least a dozen shots and did a great job guarding the rim.
Cadeau also had 14 points, but he didn’t shoot quite as well: 4/9 overall, 3/5 from deep.
L.J. Cason was the next leading scorer, with 13 points, off the bench. He shot very well: 5/7 overall, 3/4 from deep. A couple of his 3-pointers were from beyond NBA range, and he nailed them confidently.
Johnson was the last Wolverine in double figures, with 10 points. He also shot pretty well: 4/6 overall.
Lendeborg only had 8 points, but he led the team in assists, with 5.
Roddy Gayle Jr. chipped in 6 points off the bench.
Will Tschetter chipped in 6 points off the bench.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
Burnett only scored 4 points, on lousy shooting: 1/4 overall, 0/2 from deep. He’s a senior starter at shooting guard, but he isn’t shooting (or scoring).
Who Else Played?
Since the game was a blowout, the non-rotation players got to play a bit.
Howard Eisley Jr. was the “feel good” story of this game. He played for the last 2 minutes, and scored his first points at Michigan, with a nice 3-pointer, on his only shot attempt. The crowd (and the Michigan bench) went wild, and kept cheering for a good 30 seconds after the basket. It was fun.
Oscar Goodman played for almost 8 minutes, and scored 2 points on 1/1 shooting.
Winters Grady played for almost 7 minutes, and scored 5 points on 1/3 shooting (all 3-point attempts) and 2/2 free throw shooting.
Malick Kordel played for almost 7 minutes, but missed his only shot attempt and his only free throw.
Who Didn’t Play?
The only scholarship player who didn’t play was Ricky Liburd. It turns out that he is taking a medical redshirt year, so I won’t be mentioning him anymore.
The Scout Team players who didn’t play were: Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May.
What Does It Mean?
This win doesn’t change anything on Michigan’s postseason resume, which is already stacked. It was a dominant win against a “cupcake” opponent. The most important thing is that Michigan is still unbeaten, which is very encouraging. The list of undefeated teams is down to six: Arizona, Iowa State, Miami (OH), Michigan, Nebraska, and Vanderbilt. Duke just dropped from the list on Saturday.
This Week
This week, Michigan has the week off! Their next game is Monday 12/29/2025, and my week range for these articles is Monday – Sunday.
Check back next week for midterm grades and a preview of Michigan’s next games.
Go Blue!
