The University of Michigan menâs basketball team played one (exhibition) game this past week, and they won it. On Friday (10/16/2026), they beat Oregon State 98-93 in Crisler Arena. Since this was just an exhibition game, Michiganâs record is still 0-0.
What Happened?
This one didnât feel like an exhibition game. Both teams were playing hard to win, and it was a close, exciting, back-and-forth game. Neither team could pull away, and either team could have won it in the last minute. Fortunately, Michigan played just better enough in the final minute to win it.
Game Flow
Oregon State jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the first 2 minutes. Yikes. OSU made their first 5 shots before they finally missed, and they led 17-13 at the 12:20 mark. Michigan finally got their act together and pulled ahead 22-17 with 11:21 to go. That was a nice 9-0 run. The lead went back and forth for a few minutes, and it was tied (25-25) at the 9:01 mark. Michigan went on a 14-1 run to lead by 13 (39-26) with 4:06 to go, and it looked like they might have the game under control, when OSU started coming back. They got the deficit down to 7 points (41-34) at the 2:04 mark, then down to 3 points (45-42) at halftime.
OSU scored the first 4 points of the 2nd half, and completely erased the 13-point Michigan lead, going up 46-45 at the 19:00 mark. The next 10 minutes saw 5 ties and 11 lead changes, with neither team able to pull more than 4 points ahead. Michigan finally got a 5-point lead (72-67) with 9:40 to go, but it didnât last. OSU went ahead 76-74 at the 7:12 mark, and that was the last time they led. Michigan tied it up (76-76) with 7:00 to go, and went ahead for good 79-76 a few seconds later. They got their lead up to 6 a few times, and OSU got within a point once (89-88 at the 1:46 mark), but Michigan played tough down the stretch to hang on for a 5-point win.
Stats
The game stats were pretty good:
Overall shooting – 34/67 = 50.7% (Very good)
3-point shooting – 8/31 = 25.8% (Poor)
Free throws – 22/32 = 68.8% (Decent)
Rebounds – Michigan lost 29-37
Turnovers – Michigan won 7-17
Michigan won this game with good overall shooting and minimal turnovers.
Who Started?
The starters were Elliot Cadeau, J.P. Estrella, Ricky Liburd, Trey McKenney, and Moustapha Thiam.
Who Looked Good?
Cadeau was the leading scorer, with 27 points on decent shooting: 7/16 overall, 1/6 from deep, 12/15 from the line. He also had 8 assists. He scored 1 point in the 1st half and 26 points in the 2nd half. He put Michigan on his back in the last 10 minutes.
Thiam had a much better offensive game this time, with 19 points and 10 rebounds, for a double-double. He also had 5 assists. He shot pretty well: 7/11 overall, 2/6 from deep, 3/7 from the line. He fired up a couple ill-advised 3-pointers, but he did make 2 of them.
McKenney had another good game, with 18 points on decent shooting: 7/13 overall, 2/6 from deep, 2/2 from the line. He should shoot 3-pointers better than that.
Estrella almost hit double figures, with 9 points (and 7 rebounds) on decent shooting: 4/6 overall, 1/2 from deep.
Quinn Costello had a good game off the bench, with 10 points on good shooting: 2/4 overall, 2/4 from deep, 4/4 from the line. When he squares up for his 3-point shot, heâs deadly. The 2 he missed were wild shots where he wasnât set.
Kenny Noland played for almost 24 minutes as the backup point guard, and he did a nice job. He scored 6 points on decent shooting: 3/6 overall, 0/2 from deep. He had 3 assists.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
Liburd started, but he didnât do much offensively: he scored Michiganâs first basket on a steal-dunk, and he scored Michiganâs last point on a free throw, and in between he didnât do much. He ended up with 3 points on lousy shooting: 1/3 overall, 0/2 from deep, 1/4 from the line.
Jalen Reed didnât do much off the bench. He scored 4 points on decent shooting: 2/4 overall, 0/1 from deep.
Joseph Hartman didnât do much off the bench, with 2 points.
Oscar Goodman played for 4+ minutes and didnât score, missing his only shot attempt, a 3-pointer.
Malachi Brown played for 4+ minutes, and didnât score, missing his only shot attempt.
Who Else Played?
No one else played.
Who Didnât Play?
Roddy Gayle Jr. is still waiting for the legal details of his eligibility to be worked out, so he didnât play.
Marcus Møller was dressed and on the bench, but didnât play. His medical trip to Denmark disrupted his practice time.
The two players on the Scout Team (Howard Eisley Jr. and Harrison Hochberg) didnât play in this game.
What Does It Mean?
We learned a lot more from this exhibition game than from the exhibition game against Eastern Michigan last week. Oregon State is a much better opponent, and they gave Michigan all they could handle. Regardless, Michigan looked better than OSU, but it was their own sloppiness that kept the game close. If they can clean up some of the dumb mistakes, they should be able to take control of the game more easily.
This game has no effect on Michiganâs standing or post-season chances. It was just an exhibition.
This Week
This week Michigan plays their third and final exhibition game. On Sunday (10/25/2026, 1:00 p.m., B1G+) they play Houston in Grand Rapids, MI. The first AP Poll hasnât come out yet, but when it does, Houston will probably be ranked higher (around #18) than Michigan (maybe #22).
Houston was 30-7 (14-4 in Big 12) last season. They lost in the semifinals of their conference tournament, and made it to the Sweet 16 in the Big Dance. They had impressive wins over (#22) Auburn, (#14) Arkansas, (#14) Texas Tech, (#16) BYU, and (#16) Kansas. They didnât have any unimpressive losses. They donât have any noteworthy players, and they donât have much height: a 6â10â player and a 7â0â player. This game is a true âtoss upâ. Michigan certainly has the talent to beat anyone this season, but they need to have the right lineups out there, based on whoâs hot, and they need to stop making dumb mistakes. Thatâs why they play exhibition games, to work these things out.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why.
Go Blue!
