The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 63 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL run of its own, thanks to a second tri- ple from point guard Elliot Cadeau and a jumper from freshman guard Trey McKenney. I t wa s 29 -19 a t t h a t p o i n t , a n d though the Spartans would cut it to 8, Michigan went on a tear to push the edge to 42-26 at the break. MSU guard Jeremy Fears Jr. gave the Spartans their first lead of the sec- ond half on a layup at 7:27, making it 57-55 Spartans. A three-pointer from grad forward Will Tschetter gave U-M a 60-59 lead with 6:39 remaining, and the Wolverines got another triple from Cadeau to go up 69-63 with 3:08 to go. Michigan flexed its muscle down the stretch with a 6-0 run to take a 75-65 lead with 1:07 remaining, made most of its free throws, and left with the huge victory. Yaxel Lendeborg scored 26 and Cadeau 17 in the win, one May said they "expected" to pull off. "These guys have been in these en- vironments," he said. "These Big Ten guys have — [center] Aday Mara, Morez Johnson [Jr.], Elliot played at Cameron [Indoor Stadium at Duke when he was at North Carolina]. They've been in these environments before, so we didn't talk too much about it. And they were aware." And, like their coach, unfazed. They led for nearly 37 minutes and owned the last four minutes of each half to pull out the huge win. "This team in our locker room was 0-0 [against MSU]. We're not talking about what the past teams have done," May said. "Obviously, this is impor- tant for our fans, but for us, this was more about winning a Big Ten game on the road and staying in a hunt, because we've got a very challenging schedule coming up." MICHIGAN RESPONDS AFTER WIN AT MSU WITH SOME MORE GREAT BASKETBALL M i c h i ga n p l aye rs i n s i s te d t h ey weren't going to take anything for granted after the victory at MSU, and the coaches saw to it they remain fo- cused. May spoke after the game of what it would take to keep a leg up on the rest of the Big Ten before the Wol- verines faced the Nittany Lions Feb. 5. "Staying healthy, staying together, just playing well at the right times, timely shooting," May said. "These teams are really, really good. And I heard a coach say it the other day that it's not who you play, it's when you play them. With the ebbs and flows of the season, where you catch them in their sched- ule and your schedule, those things all matter. "You just keep getting to the next thing, understanding all 18 teams in our league have really good players. If you think you can take a night off in our league, then you're going to be disap- pointed and probably be playing from behind the rest of the year." Michigan grad wing Nimari Burnett went off for 31 points, going 7-for-10 from three-point range, in the win over the Nittany Lions, while Johnson, Mc- Kenney, and sophomore guard L.J. Ca- son added 12 each. It was the Mara show in Columbus, meanwhile, when the Wolverines took the fight to the Buckeyes from the be- ginning in capturing an 82-61 win that was never really in doubt. The 7-foot-3 center scored 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and Lendeborg added 14 points and 14 rebounds in the rout that improved Michigan to 12-1 in confer- ence play with seven games remaining. The defense was stifling, holding OSU to 36.4 percent shooting and mak- ing it such that it would take a monu- mental offensive collapse to lose. The U-M offense averaged 1.3 points per possession, too, despite only managing 7-for-18 on layups, and was starting to click again. When that happens, there probably isn't a better team in the country. "We're taking better shots, getting better movement," May said. "The spacing's improving. I've been frus- trated at times this year with our spac- ing and our ball movement, and now we're settling into what we're looking for. The guys are finding another level of connection in playing with each other. And when you do that, you're in the flow. You're cutting, you're in motion, you're able to rebound the ball. "When you have the size, strength and athleticism we have, if those things are happening and taking place, you're going to be in position a lot. It's a testa- ment to them." The Wolverines were set to face Northwestern on the road Feb. 11 before returning home for a Feb. 14 game with UCLA. U-M MAKES BIG TEN HISTORY IN BLOWOUT OF PENN STATE U-M beat the brakes off Penn State on Feb. 5 in Ann Arbor, grabbing a 110- 69 victory in front of their home crowd and delivering a bit of revenge after a close call in Happy Valley in a 74-72 win on Jan. 6. The whipping was its seventh victory this season of 40 or more points, which is a Big Ten record. More than that, it was a chance for ❱ 2025-26 U-M Men's Basketball Schedule (22-1 overall, 12-1 B1G) Date Opponent Result/Time (TV) Oct. 17 CINCINNATI (exh.) L, 100-98 Oct. 25 at St. John's (exh.) W, 96-94 (OT) Nov. 3 OAKLAND W, 121-78 Nov. 11 vs. Wake Forest* W, 85-84 (OT) Nov. 14 at TCU W, 67-63 Nov. 19 MIDDLE TENNESSEE W, 86-61 Nov. 24 vs. San Diego State^ W, 94-54 Nov. 25 vs. Auburn^ W, 102-72 Nov. 26 vs. Gonzaga^ W, 101-61 Dec. 6 RUTGERS W, 101-60 Dec. 9 VILLANOVA W, 89-61 Dec. 13 at Maryland W, 101-83 Dec. 21 LA SALLE W, 102-50 Dec. 29 MCNEESE W, 112-71 Jan. 2 USC W, 96-66 Jan. 6 at Penn State W, 74-72 Jan. 10 WISCONSIN L, 91-88 Jan. 14 at Washington W, 82-72 Jan. 17 at Oregon W, 81-71 Jan. 20 INDIANA W, 86-72 Jan. 23 OHIO STATE W, 74-62 Jan. 27 NEBRASKA W, 75-72 Jan. 30 at Michigan State W, 83-71 Feb. 5 PENN STATE W, 110-69 Feb. 8 at Ohio State W, 82-61 Feb. 11 at Northwestern 8:30 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 14 UCLA 12:45 p.m. (CBS) Feb. 17 at Purdue 6:30 p.m. (Peacock) Feb. 21 vs. Duke# 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) Feb. 24 MINNESOTA 8:30 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 27 at Illinois 8 p.m. (FOX) Mar. 5 at Iowa 8 p.m. (Peacock) Mar. 8 MICHIGAN STATE 4:30 p.m. (CBS) Mar. 10-15 Big Ten Tournament$ TBA All times Eastern * Wolverine-Deacon Challenge at Detroit ^ truTV Players Era Championship at Las Vegas # Duel in The District at Washington, D.C. $ at Chicago