The (#7) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they won it.  On Wednesday (11/19/2025), they beat Middle Tennessee State 86-61 in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s record improves to 4-0.

What Happened?

After a couple tense, close games (beating Wake Forest by 1 point in overtime, then beating TCU by 4 points), it was refreshing to have a relatively low-stress game that turned into a blow-out win.  The game was close for much of the 1^st half, but Michigan woke up in the 2^nd half and beat MTSU convincingly.

Game Flow

As I just mentioned, the 1^st half of the game was close and tense.  Michigan led for most of the half, but they built up a nice lead, then let it almost entirely slip away.  MTSU had their last lead of the game at the 15:40 mark, up 9-8.  Michigan then went on a 12-0 run, to take control, 20-9, with 10:34 left.  They pushed the lead up to 12 points (23-11) at the 9:18 mark, then they let MTSU sneak back into the game.  MTSU went on a 13-2 run, and got within one point (25-24) with 3:56 left in the half.  Michigan woke up, and pushed their lead back up to 9 points (36-27) with 8 seconds left.  Unfortunately, MTSU scored an “and one” at the buzzer, to cut the lead to 6 points (36-30) at halftime.

Michigan came out on fire to start the 2^nd half, and quickly doubled their lead: 42-30 in the first 45 seconds.  They slowly pushed their lead higher and higher, finally getting over 20 (61-40) at the 13:08 mark.  They pushed the lead as high as 27 points several times, and kept it in the 24-26 point range the rest of the game, winning by 25 points.

Stats

The game stats were just OK.  Michigan shot pretty well overall (31/67 = 46.3%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (5/25 = 20.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (19/26 = 73.1%).  They won the rebounding battle (48-40) and the turnover battle (13-15).  They won this game with decent overall shooting and good rebounding.  They still had a few too many turnovers, and the 3-point shooting continues to be a problem.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Will Tschetter.  Tschetter started in place of Aday Mara, who did fairly well off the bench.

Who Looked Good?

It was the Yaxel Lendeborg show, again.  He was the leading scorer, with 25 points, and the leading rebounder, with 12 boards, giving him another double-double.  He even had 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot, and 0 turnovers.  He was brilliant.

Cadeau was the only other starter in double figures, with 10 points.

Mara was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 10 points off the bench.  He also had 10 rebounds, for a nice double-double.  He needs to work on his 3-foot jumpers; he missed several of them.

Johnson almost hit double figures, with 9 points, to go with 7 rebounds.

Roddy Gayle Jr. did a nice job off the bench, with 8 points.

L.J. Cason also did a nice job off the bench, with 8 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Tschetter started out strong, with Michigan’s first basket, a 3-pointer 33 seconds into the game, but that was it for him.  He finished with 5 points on 1/3 shooting, all from deep, and a pair of free throws.

Burnett was quiet out there, again.  He had 5 points on 2/6 shooting, 0/3 from deep.

Trey McKenney came off the bench and had a terrible game.  He scored 3 points on lousy shooting: 1/10 overall, 1/7 from deep.

Who Else Played?

Oscar Goodman played for 3 minutes, and missed his only shot attempt, an easy put-back layup.

Winters Grady was finally recovered from his foot injury, and played 7 minutes.  He missed his only shot, a 3-point attempt.

Malick Kordel played for 2 minutes, and scored 3 points.  He made his only shot attempt (a dunk), and made 1/2 free throws.

Charlie May played in the final minute, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

The only scholarship player who didn’t play was Ricky Liburd.

The Scout Team players who didn’t play were: Howard Eisley Jr. and Harrison Hochberg.

What Does It Mean?

Middle Tennessee State is a notch up from “cupcake”, but not at the same level as Wake Forest or TCU.  Still, this was a game that Michigan couldn’t afford to lose, and they played pretty well, especially in the 2^nd half.  Every win helps Michigan build their postseason resume, and this was a solid win.

This Week

This week, Michigan plays three games, all in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas, NV.  On Monday (11/24/2025, 10:30 p.m. EST, truTV), they play San Diego State, then on Tuesday (11/25/2025, 8:30 p.m. EST, TNT), they play (#22) Auburn.

 Depending on how those games go, Michigan might play in one of these games:

• The championship third-place game at 7:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday (11/26/2025)
• The championship first-place game at 9:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday (11/26/2025)
• The consolation bracket first-place game at 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday (11/27/2025)
• The consolation bracket third-place game at 10:30 p.m. EST on Thursday (11/27/2025)

Confusing?  You bet.  That’s only 4 games on Wednesday/Thursday, and there are 18 teams; are there 10 teams that will only play 2 games?  I don’t know.

San Diego State is currently 2-1, with no noteworthy results.  Last season, they were 21-10 (14-6 in the Mountain West).  They had some big wins last season: (#21) Creighton and (#6) Houston.  They lost in the 1^st round of their conference tournament, but they went to the NCAA Tournament.  They lost in the 1^st round of the Big Dance.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: a 7-footer and a 7’1” guy.  This could be a very challenging contest.  Michigan should win, as long as they don’t commit too many turnovers and shoot a decent percentage from 3-point range.

Auburn is currently 4-1, with their only loss by one point to (#1) Houston.  They were 32-6 last season, and were a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they beat Michigan 78-65 in the Sweet 16, before losing to Florida in the Final Four.  They have a loaded roster, with some height: a 6’10” player and a 7-footer.  This will be Michigan’s most difficult non-conference game until the Duke game in February.  If Michigan really deserves to be ranked in the Top 10, they need to win this kind of game.

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

Go Blue!

The (#6) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them.  On Tuesday (11/11/2025), they beat Wake Forest 85-84 in overtime in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, then on Friday (11/14/2025), they won at Texas Christian (TCU) 67-63.  Michigan’s record improves to 3-0.

Note: Remember in last week’s article where I said that Michigan only played one game this week?  Wrong.  I completely blanked out on the TCU game, no excuses.  I’ll try to do better.

What Happened?

Welcome to Cliffhanger U!  Not only did the last couple basketball games come down to the final seconds, but so did the last couple football games (21-16 over Purdue and 24-22 over Northwestern).  In fact, including the two exhibition games, the Michigan basketball team has had four cliffhangers (an exhibition loss to Cincinnati, an exhibition win over St. John’s, and the two games this past week) and one blowout (the regular season opener over Oakland).

Considering that Michigan was a 10.5 point favorite vs. WFU and a 6.5 point favorite vs. TCU, both of the basketball games were a lot closer than they should have been.  Just like the football team vs. Northwestern, the basketball team kept both games too close with turnovers.  In both sports, it’s frustrating to watch Michigan outplay an opponent, but struggle to pull away due to turnovers.

Enough football, back to just basketball.

Game Flow

Against Oakland last week, Michigan led from wire to wire.  Not in the games this week.  In the Wake Forest game, Michigan built up an early 7-2 lead at the 18:11 mark, then they went to sleep.  WFU ripped off a 9-0 run over the next 2 minutes, and led 11-7 with 16:08 left in the half.  The lead went back and forth for the next 11 minutes, and Michigan was up 29-26 at the 5:00 mark.  They pushed the lead up to 10 points (38-28) with 2:27 to go, then 13 points (47-34) at halftime.  Things looked to be under control.

The 2^nd half of the WFU game was a slow-motion disaster.  Michigan managed to keep their lead in the 11-13 point range for the first 4 minutes, and still led by 13 (53-40) at the 16:08 mark.  That’s when the wheels started to come off.  WFU went on a quick 13-3 run, and cut the lead down to 3 points (56-53) with 13:15 to go.  Michigan managed to keep the lead between 4-6 points for a while, but WFU finally tied the game up (64-64) at the 8:45 mark.  WFU finally went ahead (67-66) 25 seconds later, and pushed their lead up to 7 points (77-70) with 4:53 left.  That woke Michigan up, and they went on an 8-0 run over the next 4 minutes, to lead 78-77 at the 1:14 mark.  WFU hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, Michigan made a layup with 36 seconds left, and that made it a tie game (80-80) at the end of regulation.  On to overtime.

Michigan never trailed in overtime.  They led 82-80 at the 4:43 mark, the game was tied up 82-82 at the 4:26 mark, Michigan led 84-82 at the 3:39 mark, the game was tied up 84-84 at the 1:54 mark, and Michigan scored the winning free throw with 13 seconds left.  WFU missed a runner at the buzzer.

The TCU game was also close and tense.  Michigan led 3-0 and 4-3, then TCU led for the next 12 minutes, by as many as 8 points.  Michigan finally caught up and led briefly (23-21) at the 4:47 mark.  That lead didn’t last long.  TCU went back ahead for the rest of the half, although Michigan stayed close.  UM made a layup with 1 second left in the half to pull within 2 points (35-33) at halftime.

The 2^nd half of the TCU game was more of the same.  TCU led for the first 14 minutes, but they couldn’t pull away.  Michigan managed to tie the game up a couple times (35-35, 49-49, and 51-51) before they finally regained the lead (52-51) at the 6:24 mark.  Once they got the lead back, they never trailed again.  They pushed the lead as high as 7 points (61-54) with 2:19 left, and held off TCU for the 4-point victory.

Stats

The stats for the Wake Forest game were unimpressive.  Michigan shot decently overall (28-for-62 = 45.2%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (4-for-25 = 16.0%), and they shot free throws just so-so (25-for-37 = 67.6%).  They won the rebounding battle handily (50-43), but they lost the turnover battle (17-13).  They won this game at the free throw line and with superior rebounding, but they almost lost it with lousy 3-point shooting and turnovers.

The stats for the TCU game were slightly better.  Michigan shot decently overall (23-for-53 = 43.4%), they shot 3-points decently (5-for-16 = 31.3%), and they shot free throws pretty well (16-for-20 = 80.0%).  They won the rebounding battle decisively (44-23), but lost the turnover battle badly (22-11).  They won this game with decent shooting and great rebounding, but they almost lost it with WAY TOO MANY turnovers.

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

Johnson was the most consistent player this week, with double figures (10 points) in both games.  He also had 8 and 12 rebounds, giving him a solid double-double vs. TCU.

Roddy Gayle Jr. was the only other Michigan player to hit double figures in both games, with 13 and 10 points off the bench.  He’s turning out to be a valuable “6^th man”.

Lendeborg had one good game and one decent game.  He was the leading scorer for Michigan vs. TCU, with 14 points, and he almost hit double figures vs. WFU, with 9 points.  He had 10 rebounds vs. TCU, for a double-double.

Trey McKenney came off the bench and had one good game and one decent game.  He was the 2^nd leading scorer for Michigan vs. TCU, with 11 points, and he almost hit double figures vs. WFU, with 8 points.

Mara had one good game and one mediocre game.  He was the star of the WFU game, with a team-high 18 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 blocked shots.  He shot very well: 8-for-11 overall.  He was much less effective vs. TCU, with only 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Cadeau also had one good game and one mediocre game.  He had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in the WFU game, but only 3 points vs. TCU.

L.J. Cason had two decent games, with 8 and 5 points off the bench.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Burnett had one decent game (8 points vs. TCU) and one lousy game (2 points vs. WFU).  As a starter and returning veteran, much more is expected from him.

Will Tschetter had a terrible week, with 0 points in both games.  He can do much better than that.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play?

Winters Grady sat out both games with an injured foot.  He is listed as “day to day”, and should be available soon.

The uninjured scholarship players who didn’t play this week were: Oscar Goodman, Malick Kordel, and Ricky Liburd.

The Scout Team players who didn’t play this week were: Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May.

What Does It Mean?

These were two important wins for Michigan.  Sure, they were favored to win both games, and sure, they struggled to put the games away, but they were still wins over power conference opponents, away from Crisler Arena.  Come March, these results will look good on Michigan’s postseason resume.

This Week

This week, Michigan only plays one game (yes, I double checked this time).  On Wednesday (11/19/2025, 6:30 p.m., BTN), they play Middle Tennessee State in Crisler Arena.

Middle Tennessee State was 22-12 (12-6 in Conference-USA) last season.  They lost in the 2^nd round of their conference tournament, then lost in the 1^st round of the NIT.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: two 6’11” players.  This is a game that Michigan should win relatively easily, which would be a welcome change after all the cliffhangers lately.

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

Go Blue!