5 Takeaways From Michigan Basketball’s Win Vs Middle Tennessee

After two tight games last week away from Crisler Center, the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines took care of business back at home against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 86-61.

This is one of the only bye games on Michigan’s schedule. Middle Tennessee entered this game ranked 149th on KenPom and was picked to finish fourth in Conference USA. Head coach Nicholas McDevitt has been leading the Blue Raiders since 2019, highlighted by a 26-win season in 2022. The Blue Raiders last made the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17, upsetting five-seed Minnesota. They also upset two-seed Michigan State in the 2015-16 tournament.

Like almost every 13-seed hoping to pull off an upset in March, Middle Tennessee hung around in that first half with good defense and solid three-point shooting. But Michigan woke up in the second half and used an early second-half run to turn this game into the blowout it should have been from the start.

Here are five takeaways from the victory.

Lendeborg is at his best when he’s going to the rim

Yaxel Lendeborg posted a new season-high by scoring 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds and three assists. It was his second double-double of the season, with his point total being six points away from topping his career high.

Lendeborg took over in the second half when he made an effort to get into the lane and finish around the cup. He utilized his size well, backing down when he needed to and finishing through contact.

Combine that with his solid passing ability, and Michigan’s offense dominated in the final 20 minutes.

Lendeborg’s talent is obvious, but in the first three games, I thought he settled for too many threes. He’s at his best going downhill inside the arc, breaking down the defense and finishing around the rim. He was the best player on the court on Wednesday, especially when he was driving to the basket.

A tale of two halves

Aside from a run I’ll touch on in the next takeaway, that was not a very good first half for the Wolverines. Middle Tennessee played really aggressive defense, and while Michigan only turned the ball over seven times, the Wolverines shot just 21 percent from three. They were good in the paint, but the Wolverines didn’t get there enough early.

Defensively, I liked Michigan’s on-ball defense, but the Blue Raiders kept finding open shooters. The Wolverines were good around the rim, but Middle Tennessee got the best of them everywhere else.

Michigan came out of halftime on a tear, opening the half on an 11-2 run to turn a six-point game into a 15-point game. It was the jolt this team needed, with Morez Johnson Jr. (nine points and seven rebounds) accounting for five points in that run.

The Wolverines continued to get the ball in the paint — they bested Middle Tennessee in paint points, 50-12 — and got the lead up when Lendeborg took over. He and Mara pounded the ball inside to help get the lead up to 21, and the Wolverines never looked back.

You’d hope Michigan would start out better in buy games like this, but it played well enough in the second half to make up for it.

A real nice half for L.J.

One positive from that first half — those 11 minutes from L.J. Cason (eight points, plus/minus of +11) gave Michigan a boost and helped him bust out of a relatively slow start to the season.

Cason showed off his speed off the dribble, blowing by defenders. He finished with eight points in that first half, and May have been Michigan’s best player in those 20 game minutes.

It wasn’t just his scoring, though. Cason played EXCELLENT on-ball defense, smothering Middle Tennessee ball handlers like he was the barbecue sauce on the brisket served in the media dinner section. His energy provided a clear spark Michigan was lacking early on, with Middle Tennessee playing great defense and knocking down 7-of-20 threes in that first half to keep within striking defense.

It speaks to the depth on this roster that Cason can come off the bench and give the team minutes like that. Props to the sophomore guard, who continues to show promising flashes with the ball in his hands.

Trey and L.J. bring a spark off the bench

After a slow start — Middle Tennessee led at the first media timeout after hitting three threes and playing sound defense — Trey McKenney and Cason brought the energy this team needed.

McKenney battled for an offensive rebound and passed it out to Lendeborg for a corner three before hitting a three of his own a few minutes later. And Cason provided good full-court ball pressure and scored two lay-ups in transition, the second of which of a crafty steal.

I like how Dusty May and his staff have utilized the duo as a bench duo. They were a big reason why Michigan took an 18-9 lead after Michigan went on an 11-0 run over 3:47 after that bad start.

Aday Mara rules, but Michigan’s defense needs some work

A wild stat I saw in a recent piece by C.J. Moore from The Athletic ($) — before this game, opponents were shooting 10-of-51 on shots that Aday Mara contested. In other words, in Michigan’s first three games, opponents were shooting less than 20 percent (19.6) when Mara got a hand up on a shot. Small sample size, of course, but that’s a damn good start to the year defensively for the UCLA transfer.

Michigan protected the rim well in this one, but it felt like rotations were a step slow early on, which led to some wide open looks that Middle Tennessee knocked down. That defense was much better in the second half, but there were some concerning possessions in the first half.

Perhaps this was just a sleepy start against a team that Michigan underestimated a bit, but aside from buckets around the rim, that team defense still has room for improvement.

Up Next

Michigan isn’t back in action until next week, with the Wolverines set to play three games in three days in Las Vegas for the Players Era Championship. You may want to stock up caffeine now.

Tip times

• San Diego State (Monday, Nov. 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET on truTV)
• Auburn (Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT)
• Third game TBD (The Wolverines will play on Wednesday, Nov. 26 if they finish in the top four of the 18 teams. The top four will be determined by record, point differential, points scored and points allowed. The third place game is set for 7 p.m. ET, with the championship to follow at 9:30 p.m. ET.

If Michigan isn’t in the top four after those two games, it will play at a TBD tip-off time on Thanksgiving.