Shorthanded Michigan basketball fell to Lithuania's reserve team, 82-77, one day after losing to the top squad.
The Wolverines were without projected starters Moustapha Thiam and Trey McKenney
on Monday, Aug. 24; they clawed back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game, but the comeback bid fell short in their second loss of their European trip with new coach Mike Boynton Jr.JP Estrella, who started at center, had a much better showing Monday after fouling out in 15 minutes of action. Against Lithuania's reserves, the a transfer from Tennessee put up 17 points and seven rebounds. Point guard Elliot Cadeau, who battled foul trouble for a second consecutive game, led U-M with 19 points and eight assists.
basketball youngsters standout vs Lithuania
"This whole Lithuania trip has been really good, just learning about our team," Estrella said in a postgame release. "We've got some things that we've got to clean up, but we were also talking about it in the locker room. You can see how good we can be, and we can see how much we can improve.
"We've got to take what we learned over to Croatia, play those games, get excited again and get this thing rolling."
Teachable moments for freshmen
It was another opportunity for U-M's freshmen, led by Brandon McCoy (15 points) and Quinn Costello (nine), to gain experience. Costello, however, took something of a step back: One day hitting five of 10 3-pointers, he made just three of 11.
That echoed Michigan's struggled as a team from 3, making 11 of 43 (25.6%) attempts. The Wolverines didn't shoot much better inside, making 11 of 22 dunks and layups and 17 of 33 2-pointers. In total, U-M shot 36% from the floor.
Michigan wasn't just down Thiam and McKenney, but also Ricky Liburd, who also "rested nagging injuries as a precaution," per the team. U-M went to Europe knowing it would be without Jalen Reed (Achilles) and Lincoln Cosby (ACL), with both coming off of significant injuries.
"We've talked all along about this just being a growth opportunity for our guys," Boynton said. "Our guys are getting unbelievable experience in this environment against really true road competition. We're seeing really, really good segments of basketball, and now we've just got to find a way for this group to sustain it.
"Once we get more of our bodies healthy and back on the court, we feel like this team will be exactly where we thought it could be."
Next up: A finale in Croatia
Michigan now heads to Croatia, where it will play its final game against Serbia’s Mega Superbet on Thursday, Aug. 27 (1 p.m.).
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: JP Estrella star turn not enough for shorthanded Michigan basketball
