GRAND RAPIDS − The final result, an 83-66 exhibition loss to Houston, will not feel good for Michigan basketball fans.
While U-M coach Mike Boynton Jr. partially agrees − he too would have liked his team to not get outrebounded, miss 3-pointers and be dominated in the paint (with the Cougars nearly doubling the Wolverines on points there, 26-14) − but he's not mad about what happened Sunday, Oct. 25, at Van Andel Arena.
On the contrary, he believes his young team, still establishing its identity after last year's national championship and learning how to play together, learned a key lesson from facing Houston's culture under legendary coach Kelvin Sampson.
"I'm not sure we could have played somebody better today going into the season," Boynton
said. "Somebody that obviously we have a lot of respect for, but their style was going to expose some of the things that we need to address if we're going to give ourselves a chance to compete at the highest level.
"The thing that's most impressive to me is like no matter who's on the court, no matter what's going on in the game, they don't play any different. ... That's the sign of a great culture."
The styles are different − the No. 8 Cougars are a physical, screen-heavy team while the No. 20 Wolverines are free-flowing, 3-point focused and analytically driven − but Houston's consistency on the court and off, with six straight Sweet 16 runs and four straight top-10 finishes, is something U-M is trying to implement in Ann Arbor.
That's why this test was so important, even if Michigan didn't pass it. U-M's defense was shredded in the second half as Houston shot 54.8% with nine of its 17 makes in the paint. Dedan Thomas Jr. led the way with 25 points without a single 3.
Michigan tried various defenders on him, to no avail. He blew by Columbia transfer Kenny Noland before finishing a reverse layup around Tennessee transfer JP Estrella, took Noland off the bounce for a fadeaway floater, then ran and ran and ran, until he came off a screen and got just enough space from Elliot Cadeau to bury a midrange jumper.
"It's kind of hard to get a guy, come on, nine ball screens," Roddy Gayle Jr. said, partially in jest. "He's a terrific player. He loves getting to his left hand, using his body to create angles at the basket, and I just think that our gaps could have been a lot better, especially just allowing him to get into rhythm."
Gayle, meanwhile, was one of U-M's few bright spots. The fifth-year wing played in his first live action in months and said he's "still trying to get his legs."
It was hard to tell, given he scored a game-high 14 points.
What was troubling was his lack of support. Only one other player, Cadeau, even made three shots. Michigan shot just 34% from the floor. Michigan attempted nearly twice as many 3s (33) as 2s (17) and only made nine beyond the arc. It wasn't much better inside against Houston's ferocious frontcourt, with the Wolverines going 6-for-11 on dunks and layups.
One dunk in particular, early in the second half, led to a pivotal moment. LSU transfer Jalen Reed found a cutting Estrella for a slam to make it 40-38 with 15:47 remaining; about 30 seconds later, after a pair of Cougar free throws, Cadeau did the same on a pick and roll with Estrella to make it 44-40. But Estrella pointed at a nearby Houston defender after his flush and was assessed a technical − his fourth foul of the game.
Foul trouble has been a theme since this summer's exhibition games in Europe for both Estrella and Cadeau, who fouled out Sunday after just 22 minutes. After the Estrella technical foul, Houston ripped off a 16-4 spurt over the next 3:19 and U-M never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
"Not going to sound any alarms after a few exhibition games, but certainly be something that we'll look at as we get into the season because we'll need our best guys on court for a long time," Boynton said of the early trend."
Michigan simply never got in a rhythm. It hit back-to-back shots only twice all game and never made three in a row. While U-M gave Houston credit − Boynton said the Cougars will be picked to go deep into March − some of it was just an off day.
"I thought in the first half, for the most part, we got pretty good shots," Boynton said. "I thought maybe the 3s from our bigs weren't great; they were all pretty well heavily contested. But we got good looks, they didn't fall and some of that is Houston's physicality wears on you."
As the Wolverines learn how to win outside of the shadow of their national championship, Boynton has noted, they need to find their own identity. Sunday was a taste of that, virtually consequence-free.
"We wanted to test ourselves against somebody that was at that level," Boynton said. "That's as close to a Big Ten high-level opponent [as you can get], right? If they were in our league, they'd be picked at the very top, high up there. So we know what the bar is."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
For openers: Golden Grizzlies
Matchup: No. 20 Michigan (37-3 in 2025-26) vs. Oakland (16-16 in 2025-26); season opener.
Tipoff: 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2; Crisler Center, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WCSX-FM (94.7).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's big lesson from Houston: 'Know what the bar is'
