The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541451
DECEMBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 39 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL [Wolf] was going to be as proficient as he was late game. "Right now, we're still trying to figure out what our cheat codes are going to be. No matter what type of game, we can go to this to calm us down, or get a basket, or whatever the case. We're still searching for the right combinations. We'll prob- ably tinker with the lineup again to find those." The Wolverines went big in the first three games with Mara, Johnson and Lendeborg on the floor to start. Down the stretch against TCU, though, Mc- Kenney was playing during winning time, and he came up with a huge triple at 5:01 that made it 57-51 and finally gave the Wolverines a bit of breathing room. In short, May said, the guys who started the game won't always play the most minutes. They're going to see what's working against different oppo- nents, ride the hot hands, and continue to explore different lineups to see what works. Because of injuries in the exhibi- tion season — Mara, Johnson and Cason all missed significant time — they're still in the process of figuring out what they have. "We do have a three-game sample size," May said. "We have some combina- tions that have played really well together on both sides of the ball. We have some other lineups that have been really good on one side of the ball, but not so efficient or proficient on the other side of the ball. "I can see us tweaking for longer than we would like to, but that's part of it … and the sooner the better, but it might not happen. You don't ever know. If you have a guy that's on the fringe and he comes in and the team functions better with him on the court and he brings this or that quality to the game, obviously, we prob- ably need to figure out a way to imple- ment that. On any given night, we have to have a group. I think we have enough really good players. If it's not happening for you, you have to be willing to sacrifice your minutes that game because some- one else is playing well." Heading into a Nov. 19 game with Mid- dle Tennessee State, May made one thing clear. "We need more guys playing well," he said. "Our spacing has been very, very poor. If I had to say one thing other than decision-making on the turnovers [16 per game], our spacing has been the thing that I've been most disappointed in, at times." But there's plenty of time to get it right, and he seems confident they will … hopefully, sooner than later. ADAY MARA STILL 'JUST SCRATCHING THE SURFACE' Junior center Aday Mara was a force of nature in Michigan's 85-84 overtime victory against Wake Forest Nov. 11. He finished the night with 18 points, 14 re- bounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks and altered several more shots at the rim. He was plus-17 on the night in 37 minutes, and the Wolverines got everything they could have asked from him and more. So, how do you prepare for a 7-foot- 3, rim-protecting big man that does not even need to leave his feet to make an im- pact? "Get the badmintons out, I think. Any- body ever play badminton?" Wake For- est head coach Steve Forbes said after the game. "You don't. You can't emulate that in practice. You can't really tell how tall he is until you sit out there and you walk out there. That's why I didn't come out for warm-ups; I didn't want to see him. I stayed in the back. "I don't know. You can't. I mean, I've done that [with badminton racquets] in the past. I didn't do it this time. A long time ago, I think I was at A&M, and we played Syracuse in the tournament; they had the zone." Despite Michigan's size advantage, Wake Forest held up on the boards, only getting outrebounded 50-43 in the game and having a 24-19 advantage in the sec- ond half. The Deacons did their part, but Mara was too much for them to overcome. "Last year, they took advantage of our ball screen coverage and they had the personnel to do it," Michigan head coach Dusty May said after the game. "They had Efton Reid [III], and he was just wiping Vlad out. They didn't have the mass to wipe Aday out on his drops, and so his rim protection, I thought, was probably the difference in the game. Junior center Aday Mara combined for 30 points, 25 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in the Wolverines' first two games of the season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL