The (#4) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them. On Wednesday (01/14/2026), they won at Washington 82-72, then on Saturday (01/17/2026), they won at Oregon 81-71. Michigan’s record improves to 16-1 (6-1 in Big Ten).
What Happened?
Michigan went out to the Pacific Northwest and won two games in solid fashion. They didn’t blow either opponent away, the way they had been doing for the first part of the season, but they won convincingly. It’s not easy winning on the road in the Big Ten, and it’s even harder when you fly across three time zones. These were both solid, impressive wins.
During their “Reign Of Terror” portion of the season, Michigan was winning every game with the same formula: get an early (10-point) lead, push it up to 20+ points by halftime, use a very strong start to the 2nd half to push the lead up into the 30s, then coast to a 30-40 point win. Since the USC game on 01/02/2026, Michigan hasn’t done that. They won their next game, at Penn State, by 2 points, then lost at home to Wisconsin by 3 points. They won the two games out West by 10 points each, but they never really pulled away in either game.
Game Flow
Washington scored the first 3 points of the game, and they were up 3-0 at the 19:30 mark. That was it for them: Michigan went on a 12-0 run to make it 12-3 with 13:13 left. Michigan kept the lead in the 8-10 point range for a while, up by 12 points (30-18) at the 4:34 mark. Washington managed to trim their deficit down to 9 points (39-30) at halftime. The 2nd half was more of the same: Michigan kept their lead in the 8-10 point range for the rest of the game. Washington got as close as 6 points a few times, the last time being 69-63 at the 6:57 mark, but Michigan pulled away again, up 15 points (80-65) with 3:00 to go. Washington cut the deficit down to 10 points by the end of the game, but that was as close as they got.
Michigan started out strong in the Oregon game, up 7-2 at the 17:38 mark. They slowly built their lead up to 11 points (21-10) with 10:08 to go, then frittered it away for the rest of the half. They let Oregon creep back within 2 points (23-21) at the 8:09 mark, before they pushed their lead back up to 8 points (35-27) with 5:57 to go in the half. Oregon kept chipping away, and got back within 2 points again (35-33) at the 3:57 mark. They finally went ahead for the first time all game (38-37) with 1:56 to go, and hit a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in the half to keep that 1-point lead at halftime, 41-40.
Michigan isn’t used to being down at halftime, and they didn’t exactly come out hot to start the 2nd half. They were still down 1 point (47-46) at the 17:29 mark, but they finally got going, took the lead, and pushed it up to 9 points (58-49) at the 13:20 mark. They kept the lead in the 8-10 point range for a while, and still led by 10 points (74-64) with 5:21 left. Oregon got as close as 6 points a couple times, but that was it. Michigan won by 10, 81-71.
Stats
The stats for the Washington game were just OK. Michigan shot pretty well overall (32/69 = 46.4%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (5/23 = 21.7%), and they shot free throws well enough (13/17 = 76.5%). They won the rebounding battle (42-40) and the turnover battle (8-12). They won this game with decent overall shooting, solid rebounding, and low turnovers.
The stats for the Oregon game were pretty good. Michigan shot pretty well overall (25/51 = 49.0%), they shot 3-pointers well (9/23 = 39.1%), and they shot free throws well enough (22/30 = 73.3%). They won the rebounding battle (36-30), but lost the turnover battle (14-11). They won this game with decent 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 looked the best this week, with 20 and 12 points. He had a great game shooting vs. Washington: 10/11 overall. Wow! He also had 3 blocked shots in each game.
Johnson had one good game (18 points vs. Washington) and one decent game (9 points vs. Oregon). He also had a career-high 16 rebounds in the Washington game, for an impressive double-double.
Lendeborg had one good game (14 points vs. Washington) and one mediocre game (6 points vs. Oregon). He also had 7 and 10 rebounds, which really helped.
Burnett had one good game (15 points vs. Oregon) and one decent game (7 points vs. Washington).
Cadeau had one good game (17 points vs. Oregon) and one terrible game (0 points vs. Washington). He also had 6 and 5 assists.
Roddy Gayle Jr. had one decent game (9 points vs. Washington) and one lousy game (3 points vs. Oregon). He also had 4 rebounds and 5 assists in the Washington game.
Will Tschetter chipped in 5 and 8 points off the bench.
L.J. Cason chipped in 6 and 7 points off the bench.
Trey McKenney chipped in 3 and 4 points off the bench. That’s kind of low for him, since he’s averaging 10.1 points/game.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
All the mainstream players looked good this week.
Who Else Played?
No one else played.
Who Didn’t Play?
The scholarship players who didn’t play were: Oscar Goodman, Winters Grady, and Malick Kordel.
The Scout Team players who didn’t play were: Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May.
What Does It Mean?
These were two important games for Michigan to win, and they took care of business. Washington and Oregon will probably end up finishing in the bottom half of the Big Ten race this season, but they’re good solid teams, making these two wins good solid entries on Michigan’s NCAA Tournament resume. They also keep Michigan in the hunt for the Big Ten regular season title, just one game behind Nebraska and Purdue, both 7-0.
This Week
This week, Michigan plays two games, both in Crisler Arena. On Tuesday (01/20/2026, 7:00 p.m., Peacock), they play Indiana, then on Friday (01/23/2026, 8:00 p.m., FOX), they play Ohio State.
Indiana is currently 12-6 (3-4 in Big Ten), with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to Minnesota and Iowa. They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they only have a little height: two 6’10” players. This is a game that Michigan should win convincingly, but only if they can get back to their non-conference form.
Ohio State is currently 12-5 (4-3 in Big Ten), with an impressive win over UCLA, and unimpressive losses to Pittsburgh and Washington. They have one noteworthy player (Bruce Thornton), and they have some height: a 6’10” guy, a 7-footer, and a 7’2” guy. This could be a very challenging game for Michigan, but they can win it if they stay focused.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why.
Go Blue!
