The Michigan Wolverines defeated the Toledo Rockets in the Maize and Blue’s second and final exhibition game, 96-92, before they start regular season play on Monday, November 4th against Cleveland State.
In Michigan’s first matchup in Crisler Center, Friday night’s game won’t count towards the official record, but it was interesting to see how the six transfers, two freshmen and two returners matched up against a classic man-to-man defense in Toledo while finding chemistry amongst the brand new roster.
Here are some thoughts on Michigan’s second exhibition game with the regular season up next.
Michigan gets off to a slow start
In the Wolverines’ first exhibition game against Oakland on Sunday, Michigan had no trouble shooting the basketball, taking a 24-12 lead early in the contest and holding an 8-12 point lead for most of the first half before blowing the Grizzlies out in the second, winning by 44 points. On Friday, however, finding the bottom of the basket wasn’t as easy for Michigan early on. The Wolverines started the game shooting 1-for-8 from the field and 0-for-4 from the three-point line. It wasn’t until head coach Dusty May switched up the lineup, putting in returning players Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter, who led an 8-0 run to take the lead back for the Wolverines after the 15-minute mark.
L.J. Cason shows off the freshman firepower
Freshman guard L.J. Cason had been gaining a lot of attention throughout the summer, primarily from May. The Florida native had a mediocre 3-for-8 showing in his first game with the Wolverines on Sunday, but he exploded in the first half against Toledo. Off of the bench, Cason made an immediate impact, making two straight three-pointers and then adding two layups to put the Wolverines ahead, 22-20 and scoring 10 of Michigan’s last 12 points. A few minutes later, Toledo battled back to come within three, yet Cason hit another clutch triple to stay perfect from the field. The freshman finished with 18 points on six straight field goals (4-of-4 from three) in just the first half.
Cason was a little quieter in the second, getting limited minutes after Toledo’s Javan Simmons fell on Cason’s head, coming down from a dunk at the end of the first half. Still, Cason converted on 6-for-7 from the field, and he finished with 20 points in the game.
The Wolverines showcased a 10-man rotation
May told the media during Michigan’s Pro Day that he would consistently showcase a nine-man rotation, and it was on display once again on Friday night. The Wolverines started Tre Donaldson, Rubin Jones, Roddy Gayle Jr., Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin for the second straight game, but quickly turned to Sam Walters, Cason, Phat Phat Brooks, Burnett and Tschetter within the first 10 minutes of the game.
Notably, in addition to Cason’s 18 first-half bench points, the rest of the backups combined for 33 points off of the bench in the first half, and 13 bench points in the second. Tschetter finished with 12, Walters drained two threes and Burnett contributed with seven as well. The Wolverines should be able to compete with any team in the country if its nine- or 10-man rotation can contribute effectively.
Michigan bent but didn’t break
While the game didn’t count in the record books, Michigan fans were on the edge of their seats for the final six minutes of the matchup, as the Wolverines blew a 14-point lead and allowed Toledo to come within four points in multiple instances. The Rockets went on a 15-3 run to bring the game within four points at the 13-minute mark, a 10-2 run with 5:18 left to bring it back within four, and an 8-0 run to come within one as the Wolverines went 0-for-6 under three minutes remaining. Nonetheless, Gayle Jr. and Goldin made tough buckets to pull ahead by four, and Gayle hit a clutch three with 1:40 left to set the margin to six. Tre Donaldson made his first basket with 0:37 seconds to go, and the Wolverines would go onto win a close one.
Some bonus takeaways and general notes:
- While Michigan’s offense took a few minutes to settle in, May’s high-tempo, physical defense was on full display throughout the matchup with Toledo. The Wolverines forced four steals in the first six minutes and scored 14 points off of 10 turnovers in the first half. The second half was no different — while the Rockets put together a few long runs, Michigan continued to force turnovers, keeping the distance between Toledo and the hometown team.
- May wants to shoot threes, and the Wolverines let it fly from deep for the second time in as many games. After going 15-for-35 against Oakland from behind the arc, Michigan was similarly efficient, converting 9-for-22 from the three-point-line against the Rockets, all from five players. The team can pull away from teams in close contests with the long ball while controlling possessions and tempo if it wants to go down low to the big guys, Goldin and Wolf. Sam Walters finished with two threes behind the arc, Cason buried four and Burnett got into the mix as well. There are many sharpshooters on the Wolverines’ squad.
- Michigan guard Tre Donaldson was one of the biggest additions of the offseason, making his way from SEC’s Auburn to the Midwest. Donaldson is expected to be one of the Wolverines’ leading scorers, but he was cold on the floor against Toledo. The Tallahassee native went 1-for-8 from the field in 29 minutes, but he dished out five assists as the team’s starting point guard. The Wolverines won without him, but Donaldson will be an integral part of Michigan’s offense this season.
- The Wolverines greatly improved at the free-throw line on Friday night, following up a 9-for-18 performance against Oakland with a 23-for-27 night (85.2 percent) at the Charity Stripe in Crisler.
- Michigan has now scored 92 and 96 points in its first two games of May’s career, a large increase from the Wolverines’ 72.9 points per game in 2023.
