The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542067
JANUARY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 39 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Three Best Players 1. Graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg: The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder is unselfish but effi- cient, and this stat proves it: Lendeborg has the fourth-highest usage rate on the team (20.1 percent of possessions) but came out of the 101-83 win over Maryland Dec. 13 with the fourth-highest offensive rating in the country (150.7). In that game, he nearly had a triple-double with 29 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals — truly a do-it-all player. After a bit of a slow start in the first two games, Lendeborg has picked up KenPom MVP honors in five of the last eight, and took the college basketball world by storm with big performances in the Players Era Champion- ship, most especially wins over Auburn (17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Gonzaga (20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks). 2. Junior guard Elliot Cadeau: The en- gine of the Michigan Wolverines, the 6-1, 180-pounder allows the Wolverines to play with great pace, averaging 14.8 seconds per offensive possession (13th nationally) and have one of the highest assist rates in the country (62.8 percent of made buckets; 23rd). Cadeau himself assists on 37.3 percent of his teammates' made field goals while he's on the floor, the 22nd-best mark in the sport. Cadeau has gotten his three-point shot go- ing, connecting on 41.5 percent of his 41 attempts on the season, highlighted by a 4-of-8 afternoon in the 89-61 win over Villanova Dec. 9, and has scored in double figures five of the last seven contests while dishing out 13 (Gonzaga) and 10 (Maryland) assists in two of those. 3. Sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr.: The 6-9, 250-pounder is putting up 12.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, but it's not those numbers that stand out as much as his defensive presence. He has an 86.1 defensive rating, ranking in the 99th per- centile nationally, according to CBB Analytics. Johnson is not only an anchor down low but also able to switch on the outside, making him a weapon that gives the nation's No. 1 defense (per KenPom) tremendous upside. "By having [Aday] Mara or Morez Johnson in drop coverage, it means that the guards on the perimeter can be more aggressive, knowing they have great rim protection behind them," Joe Jackson wrote on the Feed The Post newsletter. "By being good in drop coverage, Mara and Johnson both simply force teams to take shots that aren't as efficient." Johnson has been awesome down low, making 68.9 percent of his two-point looks, and even hit a pair of threes in the 101-60 win over Rutgers, part of a 22-point performance. Key Moment The key moment of the early season that put the entire country on notice was the three-game stretch in Las Vegas for the Players Era Championship, with the Wolverines beating San Diego State by 40 (94-54), Auburn by 30 (102-72) and Gonzaga by 40 (101-61). That plus-110 scoring margin over three games gave the Wolverines mo- mentum after playing two close games earlier in the season, beating Wake Forest (85-84 in overtime) and TCU (67-63). Every imaginable number was elite in that span, with U-M shooting 66.3 percent on twos and 40 percent on threes, and opponents making 34.1 percent of their twos and 29 percent of their threes. Best Highlight Up 85-43 with less than nine minutes remaining in the 101-61 win over Gonzaga Nov. 26, junior guard Elliot Cadeau notched a steal and led the Wolverines' fast break, with Yaxel Lendeborg running the middle of the floor. Cadeau dropped off a bounce pass for Lend- eborg at the right elbow and he lifted up, cocked the ball down to his waist and up in reverse fashion — a LeBron James-style dunk — to put an exclamation point on the victory. Bold Prediction Michigan is projected to win every game during the regular season, with the lowest chance of a win being a 57-percent proposition at Purdue Feb. 17. However, we're not bold enough to pick — nor do we believe — that the Wolverines will go undefeated. However, we do believe that they'll enter February with an unblemished record, meaning they'll beat La Salle, McNeese State, USC, Penn State, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan State before then. — Clayton Sayfie Superlatives For U-M's Seven Games From Nov. 19 To Dec. 13 Junior guard Elliot Cadeau has emerged as the engine the makes the Wolverines go on offense. He is assisting on 37.3 percent of his teammates' made field goals while he's on the floor, the 22nd-best mark in the sport. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL