The Michigan Wolverines are going into Christmas with no losses in their stockings after beating La Salle, 102-50, on Sunday at Crisler Center. Notably, Michigan has now scored more than 100 points in more than half of its games, including five of the last six.
This was one of the few buy games on Michigan’s schedule, with the 4-8 Explorers ranked No. 262 on KenPom entering this game, easily the lowest-ranked opponent on Michigan’s schedule this season.
La Salle kept it competitive in the first half,
but Michigan’s depth and size was too much to handle. Combine that with Michigan shooting 50 percent from three (including 60 percent in the first half) and the Wolverines weren’t losing this game.
Here are six takeaways.
A sleepy start, and the bench wakes Michigan up
As my editor Kyle Yost broke down in the preview for this game, these sleepy buy games with most students home for the holidays are prime chances for upsets. Michigan fans know that as well as anyone after losses to CMU in 2022-23 and McNeese in 2023-24.
The Wolverines got off to a relatively slow start, as La Salle had a 10-9 lead five minutes into the game and fought on the glass, grabbing momentum tin the early goings. The Explorers had all the energy early on.
Dusty May took action quickly, unloading his bench a tad quicker than usual. Energy from Roddy Gayle Jr., Trey McKenney (team-high 17 points) and L.J. Cason (13 points) helped Michigan go on a 13-2 run and get a 22-12 lead with 11:30 left in the first half. McKenney and Cason kept scoring to extend the lead quickly with their dominance on the perimeter.
Shoutout to the bench for helping Michigan jump out to a big lead, a lead that Michigan continued to build on.
Elliot Cadeau leads the way again
Much like Michigan’s last home game vs Villanova, Elliot Cadeau led the way scoring-wise. He has back-to-back threes in the first half to help Michigan expand its lead to 37-19, and had an even more impressive play after that, somehow getting this reverse layup to go.
Cadeau finished with 14 points and three assists, being the straw that stirred Michigan’s drink offensively. He has always been a good passer and driver, but his improved three-point stroke has been impressive this season, as he has expanded his offensive repertoire in a hurry.
He is really in an ideal situation for himself, with all the size and three-point shooting Michigan puts around him. It’s not surprising Cadeau is having a career year so far in Ann Arbor.
Gayle thrives in transition off turnovers
As La Salle got off to that good start, Michigan got into this one by getting the ball up the floor with a few players finding Gayle in transition.
He kept drawing fouls by putting his head down and driving to the rim, getting the Explorers in foul trouble early. Gayle (six points) helped make Michigan’s slow start a distant memory. And the biggest reason why he was able to get the ball so much in transition was Michigan forcing turnovers; La Salle turned the ball over 18 times, and Michigan turned that into 28 points.
Per the Peacock broadcast, the Wolverines lead the Big Ten in transition points, a big reason why so many of these games have been blowouts. A historically great defense has led to turnovers and easy buckets more often than not.
When in doubt, pound it inside
Tim McCormick, on the call for Peacock, shared in the huddle the observation May had in a timeout — La Salle wasn’t switching on screens. This meant Michigan’s roll men had open windows, and the Wolverines took advantage.
Michigan kept pounding the ball inside, dominating in points in the paint (38-20) and finding Aday Mara (14 points, 10 rebounds) a lot on the inside. Michigan slowly but surely kept pouring in baskets inside to put this one out of reach.
La Salle makes a mark on the boards
Part of the reason La Salle kept it competitive for a while was it was challenging the Wolverines on the glass, something few teams have been able to do.
La Salle grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the first half, including six in the first nine minutes, and had more total rebounds than the Wolverines for more than half the game. Rebounding is more of a hustle stat than anything, and the Wolverines didn’t come out with the energy to dominate on the boards as they usually do.
Michigan was better on the boards as the game went along; hopefully that flat rebounding start is a blip on the radar and not a concern that continues into the New Year.
A quick note on sellouts
One thing I have to give Michigan fans credit for is showing up for this game. These type of games — ones during winter break against bad opponents — are typically played in half-full arenas. But this was yet another sell-out, even with the Detroit Lions kicking off in a must-win game about 20 minutes after this game tipped off.
It’s one of the many reminders of how far this program has come. Just two years ago, I covered games where maybe 40 percent of the seats were filled. Flash forward to today, and every seat is filled, the crowd is engaged and it’s a fun atmosphere.
That speaks to the strength of Michigan’s game staff and ticketing department, and it speaks to the belief this fanbase has in this team. Most importantly, it proves the Wolverines are playing must-see basketball.
Up Next
Michigan is off for a bit with winter break, as the Wolverines return to the Crisler Center on Monday, Dec. 29 vs McNeese (7 p.m. on B1G+) for their final game of 2025.
