Category: Featured

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!

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 2^nd 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!