The Michigan Wolverines did not have their best stuff going for them for most of Tuesday night’s matchup against No. 5 Nebraska. Down by as many as nine points in the second half, it appeared the Cornhuskers were the better team (even without their best player) and were on their way to upsetting Michigan.
But with eight minutes left, the momentum shifted after head coach Dusty May put a pair of bench players — true freshman Trey McKenney and senior Will Tschetter — on the court with starters Aday
Mara, Nimari Burnett and Elliot Cadaeu.
Tschetter went down the court and drained a three-pointer to bring Michigan within five points. Two possessions later, McKenney took a contested three, got fouled, made all three free throws and brought Michigan within two possessions. Just 30 seconds later, it was Tschetter’s turn to get to the free throw line, draining both shots and bringing Michigan within two.
Those three minutes were not led by Yaxel Lendeborg, Cadaeu or Mara — it was the bench guys that led the Wolverines to victory.
“Trey’s poise, I thought his three free throws were probably the biggest points of the game,” May said after the game. “(Pryce) Sandfort just missed a free throw. We were down eight, we were in a funk, we were in a fog. Elliot made a nice pass to Trey, he jumped up aggressively. Luckily we were able to get the foul on that play, whoever got under his feet a little bit. He knocks down three of those, and you can almost see that sense of belief. Now we’re getting stops, our defense is on now, let’s find a way.”
Minutes are hard to come by on this squad. Nine different players have played in 19 or more games for the Wolverines this season, with seven averaging nearly 20 minutes per contest. With that many contributors on a top-ranked team, you better make the time count when you are on the court.
Tschetter is the perfect example of this. As the only remaining player from Michigan’s 2021 team, he has not averaged more than 18 minutes of playing time in each of the last four seasons. While he could have transferred elsewhere for more playing time, he elected to stick with May and the Wolverines, and his contributions are widely acknowledged as the glue that holds the team together.
“Obviously, Will is an emotional leader, and it’s the same thing for him where like all of our guys, he deserves more minutes than he’s played, and I’m sure he would trade those minutes for winning versus playing a little bit more on a losing team,” May told the media on Monday. “… But the way he played against Ohio State in the first half is what he has to bring to the table. He’s a floor spacer, he’s a threat, but whenever he’s really connecting our defense with his voice, whenever he’s getting smashed up in transition with his voice, whenever he’s crashing the glass and getting into extra possessions, it gives us another gear. He’s incredibly valuable to the flow of the game for us.”
Tschetter had seven points in 15 minutes, not missing a shot from the field. Those four minutes late in the second half brought a new energy on the floor, which paved the way for the exciting finale.
“I feel like (our bench guys) have been a little more confident in their shooting and have been able to take the ball in their own hands when they’ve had to play more minutes,” May said. “We just don’t want them to feel like they have to come in the game and shoot and score to stay in the game, and we tell them repeatedly that how you play the game is much more important than your stat line as far as if you want more minutes, or if you want a little bit bigger role, or you wanna be in a closing time. It’s how you play … there are invisible plays, so it’s just coming in and doing whatever the team needs at that moment.”
While Tschetter was making the invisible plays to keep Michigan alive, McKenney started to make visible plays that lifted the Wolverines to victory. With a minute-and-a-half remaining and the game tied at 72, Cadeau put the ball in McKenney’s hands in the left corner. Instead of taking a heavily contested three, the freshman drove down the baseline, absorbed immense contact and got the shot to fall, giving Michigan its first lead since the score was 3-2.
“Oh, that was everything, man,” Morez Johnson Jr. said of McKenney’s shot. “I felt super excited. I mean, obviously for the team because it’s like we’re up two in a tough environment, a tough game, but mostly for him just being super confident and ready to impact the game at any time.”
McKenney followed up his teammates comments with a humble answer of the big moment.
“That’s really what you come here for, to play in those platform games and play against these really good teams in the Big Ten,” McKenney said. “This is the best conference in America, so coming here, this is what I wanted to do.”
The Wolverines have a ton of talent, and instead of getting complacent in their roles, each player has shown up on a different night to keep their team in contention for a national championship. As May said, it’s not about stats — it’s showing up in big moments and gaining the trust and confidence from your teammates to lead the squad to victory. That is what McKenney and Tschetter bring to the table, and that is what makes this team special.
