Category: Featured

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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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!

The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won one and lost the other.  On Tuesday (01/06/2026), they won at Penn State 74-72, then on Saturday (01/10/2026), they lost to Wisconsin 91-88 in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s record is now 14-1 (4-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

You can’t win ‘em all, but we were hoping…

After many easy, stress-free, blowout wins against opponents large and small, Michigan’s magic run just ran out of steam.  They managed to sneak out a narrow road victory at Penn State, but they couldn’t keep up with a red-hot Wisconsin team at home.  Michigan didn’t look anything like the team that was routinely blowing away all opponents by an average of 30+ points in either game this week.  They were favored by about 20 points in each game, and they won by 2 and lost by 3.  It was very disappointing.

Game Flow

Penn State led for the first 8 minutes, up by 6 points (12-6) at the 15:16 mark.  Michigan tied it up (12-12) with 12:11 to go, then went ahead.  They got their lead up to 10 points (34-24) at the 3:16 mark, and still led by 9 points (40-31) at halftime.  Michigan kept the lead in the 10-12 point range for the first 10 minutes of the 2^nd half, up by 11 points (63-52) at the 9:48 mark.  That’s when PSU went on an 8-0 run.  They got within 3 points (63-60) with 7:13 to go, but Michigan pushed back.  Michigan was up by 8 points (71-63) at the 4:01 mark, and it looked like they were going to coast home, when they gave up a 9-3 run to end the game.  A little quick arithmetic shows that they only gave up 6 of the 8 points they led by, to win by 2.  Still, it was a lot closer than predicted.  PSU got off an errant 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game, so Michigan barely escaped.

Michigan led Wisconsin early, up 21-10 at the 12:49 mark.  They kept the lead in the 9-11 point range for a while, and were up by 14 points (31-17) with 7:38 to go in the half.  That was the high point of the game.  From there, Wisconsin steadily whittled away at the lead, trailing by only 1 point (38-37) at halftime.  No problem, right?  Michigan has been playing great in the first few minutes of the 2^nd half all season.  Not this time: Wisconsin came out of the locker room on fire, hitting their first 9 shots, many of them 3-pointers.  They quickly went ahead, but Michigan hung around.  When Wisconsin finally missed a shot, at the 14:33 mark, they were up by 3 points (62-59).  Look at that scoring: Wisconsin outscored Michigan 25-21 in the first 5:27 of the half.  That’s incredible.  If they had kept that up, they would have scored around 150 points.  Fortunately, they cooled down, just a little, and Michigan managed to tie the game (65-65) at the 13:17 mark.  Wisconsin went ahead for a couple minutes, but Michigan actually regained the lead (71-70) with 10:50 to go.  Michigan went ahead by 3, but Wisconsin tied it up again (73-73) at the 8:56 mark.  It was tied up again at 75-75, 77-77, 79-79, and 81-81.  Michigan had their last lead (84-83) with 4:10 to go, and stayed close to Wisconsin down the stretch, but couldn’t quite get the stop they needed or make the basket they needed.  They were only down 2 points (90-88) with 15 seconds left, and 3 points (91-88) with 9 seconds left, but they missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left, and that was the game.  It was a shame, especially when they had a large and vocal crowd rooting them on.

Stats

The stats for the PSU game were just OK.  Michigan shot decently overall (26/47 = 45.6%), they shot 3-pointers OK (8/27 = 29.6%), and they shot free throws well enough (14/19 = 73.7%).  They lost the rebounding battle, a rarity (43-37) and the turnover battle (12-10).  They won this game (barely) with just enough shooting and just enough defense.  They probably should have lost it.

The stats for the Wisconsin game were actually pretty good.  Michigan shot decently overall (29/62 = 46.8%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (8/25 = 32.0%), and they shot free throws very well (22/24 = 91.7%).  They won the rebounding battle (32-30) and the turnover battle (9-10).  So, how did they lose this one?  Defense.  Wisconsin outshot them: 29/58 = 50.0% overall, 15/33 = 45.5% from deep.  Michigan got Wisconsin to shoot the shots they wanted them to shoot, but Wisconsin made them.  It’s tough to beat a team that’s as hot as Wisconsin was at the beginning of the 2^nd half.

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

Lendeborg hit double figures in both games, with 10 and 14 points.  He didn’t shoot well in the PSU game (3/9 overall, 0/4 from deep), but he did better vs. Wisconsin (4/9 overall, 1/2 from deep).  Still, he wasn’t really himself in either game.  He might still be slowed down by the calf injury he suffered in the USC game.

Burnett was the only other starter to hit double figures in both games, with 12 and 10 points.  For a good 3-point shooter, he had a mediocre week: 2/4 vs. PSU and 2/7 vs. Wisconsin.

Cadeau had one good game (19 points vs. Wisconsin, Michigan’s high scorer) and one decent game (9 points vs. PSU).  He single-handedly kept Michigan in the game when Wisconsin was on their rampage to start the 2^nd half.

Johnson had one good game (18 points vs. Wisconsin) and one lousy game (3 points vs. PSU).

Mara had two decent games: 7 and 9 points.  He also had 7 and 6 rebounds, and 4 and 2 blocked shots.

Roddy Gayle Jr. chipped in some points off the bench: 7 and 9 points.

Trey McKenney had one good game (12 points vs. PSU) and one mediocre game (7 points vs. Wisconsin).  He shot pretty poorly getting those 7 points vs. Wisconsin: 2/8 overall, 1/6 from deep.

L.J. Cason had one very good game (14 points vs. PSU, Michigan’s high scorer) and one lousy game (0 points vs. Wisconsin).

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Will Tschetter was worthless this week, with 0 and 2 points.

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?

The first loss of the season always stings, but especially after a 14-game winning streak, and especially at home.  Still, there might be a (small) upside to this loss: it might (maybe?) take some of the pressure off the team, now that their perfect season is ruined.  Maybe they can get back to playing the way they did before the holiday break.

The loss to Wisconsin knocks Michigan out of 1^st place in the Big Ten, and will certainly knock them out of the #2 spot in the AP Poll.  Still, all of their goals are still ahead of them: they can still win the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships, and they can still shoot for the Final Four and beyond in the NCAA Tournament.  They just don’t have as much “wiggle room” as they had before.

This Week

This week, Michigan plays two games, on the road, out West.  On Wednesday (01/14/2026, 10:30 p.m. EST, BTN), they play at Washington, then on Saturday (01/17/2026, 4:00 p.m. EST, NBC), they play at Oregon.

Washington is currently 10-6 (2-3 in Big Ten), with an impressive win over (#24) USC, and unimpressive losses to Baylor, Colorado, and Seattle.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have plenty of height: two 6’10” players, and four 6’11” players.  This could be a very challenging game for Michigan.  They haven’t played very well in true road games so far, and the travel and jetlag issues with playing out West could be a factor.

Oregon is currently 8-8 (1-4 in Big Ten), with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to Stanford, San Diego State, Creighton, Rutgers, and Ohio State.  They have one noteworthy player (Nate Bittle), and plenty of height: two 6’10” players, a 6’11” player, and a 7-footer (Bittle).  This will certainly be a very challenging game for Michigan, for all the reasons listed for Washington and more: Oregon’s bizarre, distracting floor.

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

Go Blue!

The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them.  On Monday (12/29/2025), they beat McNeese 112-71, then on Friday (01/02/2026), they beat (#24) USC 96-66. Both games were in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s record improves to 13-0 (3-0 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan won two games, by 41 and 30 points, which is dominant.  The funny thing is, now that we’ve gotten spoiled by Michigan’s dominance, the two wins don’t seem as impressive as what we’ve gotten used to.  If Michigan hadn’t put in the Scout Team for the last 7 minutes of the McNeese game, they would have surely scored at least 125 points, and won by at least 50.  Michigan didn’t shoot very well vs. USC, and they still won by 30 points.  If Michigan had shot their season average in that game, they certainly would have scored over 100 points and won by at least 40.  They’re that good: they can play their “scrubs and subs” for the last 7 minutes as still win by 41.  They can have an “off” shooting night and still win by 30.

Game Flow

The McNeese game looked like a lot of the other Michigan games this season: Michigan never trailed, got ahead early, and pushed their lead to 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and finally, 52 points.  They hit the 10-point lead (15-5) at the 15:55 mark, hit the 20-point lead (38-18) at the 7:26 mark, hit the 30-point lead (59-29) at the 0:41 mark, led by 31 at halftime (60-29), hit the 40-point lead (69-29) at the 18:07 mark, passed the 50-point lead (88-37) at the 11:27 mark, and hit the high-water mark with 9:01 left: a 52-point lead (92-40).  The Scout Team came in for the last 7 minutes, and McNeese managed to get the deficit down to 41 points by the end of the game.

Michigan had several nice scoring runs in this game, but the best was the 21-0 run that started with 1:29 left in the 1^st half.  McNeese scored to pull within 26 points (55-29).  Michigan scored the last 5 points of the 1^st half, then the first 16 points of the 2^nd half, and suddenly the score was 76-29 (a 47 point lead) with 16:49 to go.  At that point, the game was over.

The USC game was similar to the McNeese game, since Michigan never trailed, got ahead early, and pushed their lead the rest of the game, but it wasn’t as quick or as decisive as the McNeese game.  Michigan played excellent defense all game, but especially for the first 6:31 of the game, and they led 11-0 at the 13:29 mark.  In that period, USC committed 6 turnovers, missed 8 shots, and committed 5 fouls and a technical foul on their coach.  If Michigan hadn’t been cold, they would have been up by 20-25 points.  Once they finally scored, USC managed to sneak back within 5 points (15-10) with 12:08 to go.  That was as close as they got.  Michigan kept the lead around 10 points for a while, then they finally started to pull away.  With 3:23 left in the half, Michigan was only up by 10 (34-24), but they went on a nice 15-7 run to lead by 18 at halftime, 49-31.

The first 5 minutes of the 2^nd half were even, and Michigan still led by 18 points (57-39) at the 14:46 mark.  That’s when Michigan pulled away again; they pushed the lead into the 26-28 point range, and kept it there for the rest of the game, finally pushing it to 30 points with 2 seconds left.

Our old buddy Terrance Williams II played more than 25 minutes for USC, but he wasn’t much of a factor.  He scored 5 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.  He didn’t get much of a reaction, positive or negative, from the Michigan fans.  Nobody misses him.

Stats

The stats for the McNeese game were solid.  Michigan shot very well overall (37/63 = 58.7%), they shot well from 3-point range (7/23 = 30.4%), and they shot free throws pretty well (31/45 = 68.9%).  They won the rebounding battle decisively (55-32), but they lost the turnover battle (15-9).  They won this game with strong shooting and rebounding.

The stats for the USC game were just OK.  Michigan shot decently overall (31/65 = 47.7%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (6/30 = 20.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (28/39 = 71.8%).  They won the rebounding battle (40-35) and the turnover battle (11-21).  They won this game with decent shooting and lots of defense.

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

It was Morez Johnson Jr. Week!  He tied his career high with 24 points vs. McNeese, then set a new career high the next game with 29 points vs. USC.  In both games, he was unguardable.  He was too quick and agile for the big men who tried to stop him, and too strong for the shorter players when they tried.  He had excellent shooting stats: 8/12 overall vs. McNeese, and 10/12 overall, 1/2 from deep vs. USC.  He also had 11 rebounds vs. McNeese, for a nice double-double.  He was awesome.

Lendeborg had one good game (16 points vs. McNeese) and one decent game (8 points vs. USC).  In all fairness, he only played for 18 minutes vs. USC, due to some sort of injury.  He’s been nursing a sore back all season.  Still, his normally good shooting was “off” in the USC game: 3/10 overall, 1/7 from deep.  He shot fine in the McNeese game: 6/10 overall, 1/2 from deep.

Mara also had one good game (13 points vs. McNeese) and one mediocre game (5 points vs. USC).  Once again, he was very valuable on defense, guarding the rim.

Cadeau didn’t score as much as usual (7 points in each game), but he did a nice job running the offense and playing tough defense.

Burnett had one good game (12 points vs. McNeese) and one lousy game (3 points vs. USC).  Once again, in all fairness, he only played 14 minutes vs. USC, due to an injury.  He banged his forehead against Roddy Gayle’s knee, then against the floor.

Trey McKenney had a good week coming off the bench.  He hit double figures in both games: 13 and 10 points.  The only downside: He was 0/6 shooting 3-pointers, but 7/7 from 2-point range.

Roddy Gayle Jr. had a good week coming off the bench.  He hit double figures in both games: 10 and 12 points.

L.J. Cason had a good week coming off the bench.  He had 7 points vs. McNeese and 10 points vs. USC.  His steal and layup with 2 seconds left in the USC game gave Michigan the 30-point win.

Will Tschetter had one good game (10 points vs. USC) and one quiet game (2 points vs. McNeese) coming off the bench.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

All the mainstream players looked good this week.

Who Else Played?

Howard Eisley Jr. played in the final minute of the McNeese game, and missed his only shot attempt, a 3-pointer.

Oscar Goodman played for 7 minutes vs. McNeese and 3 minutes vs. USC.  He missed all 3 of his shot attempts.

Winters Grady played for 7 minutes vs. McNeese and 3 minutes vs. USC.  He missed his only shot attempt (a 3-pointer) vs. McNeese, but made 4/5 free throws, for 4 points.  He shot 1/2 overall, 0/1 from deep, vs. USC, for 2 more points.

Malick Kordel played for 6 minutes vs. McNeese and 2 minutes vs. USC.  He shot 2/2 vs. McNeese, for 4 points, and didn’t attempt a shot vs. USC.

Who Didn’t Play?

The Scout Team players who didn’t play were: Harrison Hochberg and Charlie May.

What Does It Mean?

These were two very important wins for several reasons: they were both against quality opponents, they were both by impressive margins, they kept Michigan undefeated overall and in Big Ten play, and they kept the team’s confidence up there.  Both these wins will look very nice on Michigan’s NCAA Tournament resume.

The only bad news was the injuries to Lendeborg and Burnett.  At this point, there isn’t much information about how serious they are or if they’ll miss any games.

This Week

This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Tuesday (01/06/2026, 7:00 p.m., FS1), they play at Penn State, then on Saturday (01/10/2026, 1:00 p.m., CBS), they play Wisconsin in Crisler Arena.

Penn State is currently 9-5 (0-3 in Big Ten), with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to Providence, Indiana (113-72!), and Pittsburgh.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: a 6’10” player and two 7-footers.  This is a game that Michigan should win convincingly, even on the road.  If Indiana can beat them by 31 points, Michigan can do the same.

Wisconsin is currently 9-5 (1-2 in Big Ten), with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to Oklahoma, TCU, and Villanova.  They have a couple noteworthy players (John Blackwell and Nolan Winter) and quite a bit of height: three 6’10” players and two 7-footers.  This should be a pretty challenging game for Michigan, but Wisconsin isn’t any better than USC, so if Michigan can stay focused, they should be fine.

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

Go Blue!

The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team didn’t have any games this past week.  It was Christmas break.  Michigan’s record remains at 11-0 (2-0 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan had the week off, as a Christmas break.  Other than the three-games-in-three-days thing at the Players Era Festival during Thanksgiving week, Michigan has had their games very nicely spaced.  That’s about to change.  Once the main portion of the Big Ten schedule starts up in the new year, the games come fast and furiously.  Fortunately, Michigan is going into the new year in good shape: well rested, injury free, and undefeated.  Of course, they have one more non-conference game left to play, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Midterm Grades

The regular season is 31 games long, and Michigan has played 11 games so far, so the season isn’t exactly at the midpoint yet, but now is a good time for (early) midterm grades.

Freshman Eligibility

• Oscar Goodman (C+) – Oscar has only played a little (8 games, 55 minutes), but it’s enough to get him a grade instead of “Inc.”.  He’s scored 11 points on decent shooting: 5/12 (41.7%) overall, 0/3 from deep.  He’s had his chances out there, and he hasn’t done much with them.  He has had two nice dunks, but he hasn’t shown much of an outside touch.

• Winters Grady (C) – Winters has only played a little (7 games, 45 minutes), but it’s enough to get him a grade instead of “Inc.”.  He’s scored 20 points on mediocre shooting: 6/17 (35.3%) overall, all from deep.  All his shot attempts have been from 3-point range.  At this point, he’s “Just A Shooter”, with no rebounding or defense.

• Malick Kordel (C) – Malick has only played a little (8 games, 42 minutes), but it’s enough to get him a grade instead of “Inc.”.  He’s scored 7 points on mediocre shooting: 3/8 (37.5%) overall, 0/1 from deep.  He’s tall, and he’s strong, but he doesn’t have a lot of basketball IQ.  When he’s in there, he gets some rebounds and makes some dunks, but that’s about it.

• Ricky Liburd (Inc.) – Ricky isn’t playing this season.  He is being medically redshirted.

• Trey McKenney (B) – Trey has played in every game so far, but all off the bench.  He has scored 117 points, on pretty good shooting: 36/79 (45.6%) overall, 23/57 (40.4%) from deep.  He’s had some good games (Oakland: 21 points, TCU: 11 points, Auburn: 11 points, Gonzaga: 17 points, Rutgers: 13 points, Villanova: 10 points, and La Salle: 17 points) and some forgettable games (MTSU: 3 points, SDSU: 6 points, and Maryland: 0 points).  He’s a freshman, so we have to cut him some slack, but he has a tendency to be a little “trigger happy” when he gets in.

Sophomore Eligibility

• L.J. Cason (B-) – L.J. has played in 10 of the 11 games so far, but all off the bench.  He has scored 83 points, on good shooting: 31/58 (53.4%) overall, 12/29 (41.4%) from deep.  He’s had some good games (Auburn: 10 points, Rutgers: 11 points, Maryland: 12 points, and La Salle: 13 points) and some forgettable games (TCU: 5 points, SDSU: 6 points, and Gonzaga: 2 points).  His scoring is secondary to his contributions as a “pass first” point guard, although he doesn’t have many assists (24) to show for it.

• Howard Eisley Jr. (Inc.) – Howard is on the Scout Team, and he hasn’t played much: 3 games, 5 minutes, 1/2 shooting (all 3-point shots).

• Morez Johnson Jr. (B+) – Morez has been an important contributor to Michigan’s early success.  He’s been the starting power forward for every game, and he’s played well.  He’s strong around the basket, and he’s a capable backup at center, despite being “only” 6’10”.  He’s averaging 12.6 points/game on good shooting: 57/86 (66.3%) overall, 2/6 (33.3%) from deep.

Junior Eligibility

• Elliot Cadeau (A-) – Elliot has been the starting point guard all season, and he’s played well.  He’s had a few games with low points, low assists, or high turnovers, but for the most part he’s been running the offense well and scoring pretty well.  He’s averaging 10.1 points/game on good shooting: 39/86 (45.3%) overall, 20/46 (43.5%) from deep.  His free throw shooting has been surprisingly poor: 13/21 (61.9%).  He leads the team in assists, with 64.

• Harrison Hochberg (Inc.) – Harrison is on the Scout Team, and he hasn’t played yet this season.

• Aday Mara (A-) – Aday has been the starting center for 10 of the 11 games, and he’s played well.  He’s averaging 10.7 points/game on good shooting: 50/75 (66.7%) overall, 0/4 from deep.  Obviously, he doesn’t have much of a touch from 3-point range.  He also isn’t very good at free throws: 18/40 (45.0%).  He’s the leading rebounder on the team, with 93, and the leading shot blocker, with 29.

• Charlie May (Inc.) – Charlie is on the Scout Team, and he hasn’t played much: 4 games, 13 minutes, 4 points.

Senior/Grad Student Eligibility

• Nimari Burnett (B) – Nimari has been a little disappointing so far this season.  He’s averaging 8.4 points/game on pretty good shooting: 30/64 (46.9%) overall, 15/37 (40.5%) from deep.  He’s had some good games (Oakland: 14 points, SDSU: 11 points, Auburn: 15 points, and Gonzaga: 14 points) and some forgettable games (Wake Forest: 2 points, MTSU: 5 points, Rutgers: 5 points, Villanova: 5 points, and La Salle: 4 points).  He needs to be more consistent in his offensive output.

• Roddy Gayle Jr. (B+) – Roddy has been a great “6^th man” this season.  He’s played in every game, all but one off the bench.  He’s averaging 10.4 points/game on good shooting: 41/76 (53.9%) overall, 7/21 (33.3%) from deep.  His most valuable contribution has been his consistency: he has scored at least 9 points in almost every game (MTSU: 8 points, and La Salle: 6 points), with 6 games in double figures.  He’s also a fierce rebounder who plays like a much taller player.

• Yaxel Lendeborg (A) – Yaxel is the undisputed star on this team, and the only player to get an “A” for his midterm grade.  He can do it all.  He’s the leading scorer (15.6 points/game), the 2^nd leading rebounder (78), and 2^nd on the team in assists (42).  He’s shooting well: 57/96 (59.4%) overall, 20/50 (40.0%) from deep.  He’s hit double figures in all but 3 games (Wake Forest: 9 points, Villanova: 9 points, and La Salle: 8 points), and he’s been the leading scorer in most games.  He was even the MVP of the Players Era Festival.

• Will Tschetter (C+) – Will has been another good “6^th man” on this team, but he hasn’t been quite as consistent as he was the last couple seasons.  He’s averaging 5.3 points/game on decent shooting: 16/40 (40.0%) overall, 12/31 (38.7%) from deep.  He’s had more scoreless games (3: Wake Forest, TCU, and Rutgers) than double figure games (2: Oakland [16 points] and SDSU [10 points]).

This Week

This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Monday (12/29/2025, 7:00 p.m., BTN+), they play McNeese, then on Friday (01/02/2026, 7:00 p.m., Peacock), they play (#24) USC.  Both games are in Crisler Arena.

McNeese is currently 10-2 (3-1 in the Southland Conference), with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to Santa Clara and Incarnate Word.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: three 6’10” players.  This is a team that Michigan should beat soundly, but they have to be careful: it was only two years ago to the day (12/29/2023) that McNeese came into Crisler and beat Michigan 87-76.  That was embarrassing.  Of course, that Michigan team was the infamous 8-24 team that got Juwan Howard fired, but still…

USC is currently 12-1 (1-1 in the Big Ten), with impressive wins over Arizona State and Oregon, and an unimpressive loss to Washington.  They have a couple noteworthy players: Alijah Arenas, son of NBA great Gilbert Arenas, and our old buddy, Terrance Williams II.  Yes, Terrance is still playing.  He was injured for a lot of last season, including the Michigan game, so between a medical redshirt and the COVID-year waiver, he’s still around.  He started his college career at Michigan in fall 2020 and played for 4 years in Ann Arbor.  He’s started 9 of USC’s 13 games this season, and he’s averaging 3.2 points/game.  Of course, he’ll be gunning to beat his old team.  It should be interesting.  USC has height to match Michigan: two 6’10” players and a 7’5” player.  Yes, someone even taller than Mara.  He doesn’t start, he only plays 9.2 minutes/game, and he’s only averaging 3.3 points/game, but he’s still 7’5” tall.  This is a game that Michigan should win, but it could be challenging.

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

Go Blue!