No. 2 Michigan (23-1, 13-1 B1G) rolled into Evanston on Wednesday night off an eight-game win streak, but for a substantial part of the evening, the Wolverines were on their heels against Northwestern
(10-15, 2-12 B1G).
The upset bid lived until about the 12:12 mark in the second half, when Dusty May’s squad began again to play like one of the best teams in the country, outscoring the ‘Cats 40-15 down the stretch in a 87-75 win.
L.J. Cason led an all-around scoring effort for Michigan with 18. Yaxel Lendeborg had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Aday Mara, Trey McKenney and Morez Johnson Jr. each had 12.
Nick Martinelli could not make a shot late in this one Wednesday, going 5-for-22 with 18 points in the loss. His 22.7 field-goal percentage was his second lowest of the 2025-26 season. Jayden Reid had a stupendous shooting night, leading the team with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He was a perfect 5-for-5 to end the first half. Arrinten Page
Eliot Cadeau started the scoring for No. 2 Michigan, canning a triple after the blue and maize won the opening tip. He followed that up with a lob to Aday Mara on the very next possession.
‘Cats captain Nick Martinelli hit his first shot of the contest from 15 feet out, which turned into a three-point play after a Nimari Burnett foul on the play. He then had an acrobatic dime to find Jayden Reid in the corner three just seconds later, and Reid connected to give Northwestern its first lead of the night. The USF transfer went back-to-back on his first two field goal attempts, knocking down a pull-up jumper right after.
After a three from Cadeau Northwestern took the lead back after Reid’s third straight make, this one also from three-point distance. The momentum continued to swing NU’s way after two free throws from Martinelli, an emphatic block from Arrinten Page and a swift layup from Angelo Ciaravino in transition.
The Wildcat-run was briefly halted by a full-court press from Michigan, which forced two consecutive turnovers. A layup from L.J. Cason in transition tied the score at 17.
Page kept Northwestern perfect from three with his first of the contest nearing the 12 minute mark, followed by West’s first make in two attempts. Tre Singleton connected with a three of his own to cap a 7-0 personal run that extended the Northwestern lead to double digits with nine minutes remaining in the contest.
Michigan shot a little better down the stretch in the first half, going 3-for-4 from the field after a three-minute long stretch without a field goal.
In the final two minutes and 10 seconds of first-half play, Jordan Clayton traded treys with Cadeau and Page found his sixth and seventh points of the night on a jumper soon after. Northwestern had Michigan on upset alert at halftime, leading 44-35.
Northwestern found themselves ahead in the big three scoring categories: field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage. Jayden Reid led the way with 12, with Martinelli right behind him with 11. Cadeau and Ledneborg were the Wolverines’ leading scorers with 9 and 8, respectively.
Northwestern’s perimeter defense was A1, holding Michigan to just 23.5% from deep in the first half.
Michigan’s shooting struggles continued into the second half as the Wolverines would miss five of their first six attempts from downtown. Four quick points from West had Northwestern up by 13 at the first media timeout, and a Page putback layup gave NU its largest lead of the game at 15. Ciaravino’s layup with 14:22 left made it 16.
Roddy Gayle Jr. tried to light a spark for Michigan with a slam. Johnson Jr. followed with a layup, and Chris Collins decided to burn a timeout as he saw five points rapidly chipped off the Northwestern lead.
A hook-and-hold against Tyler Kropp seemed to give Michigan some life with 11:17 left, but both of Mora’s foul shots clanked off the iron. Lendeborg picked up his big man with a deuce right after, and Trey Mckenney drilled a wide-open corner three. Two free-throws by Cason and an alley-oop from Johnson Jr. capped an 11-0 run from Michigan that cut Northwestern’s lead to just two.
Mora killed the run with a hard foul on Martinelli, which was upgraded to a flagrant one after review. Martinelli nailed both shots from the line, and Page got a hook shot to fall as well.
On the other end, Cason followed up with a quick layup for Michigan. He and Martinelli went to battle for the next two possessions, trading threes.
L.J. Cason made two huge free throws, and on Michigan’s next possession, it had an opportunity to take the lead. Mckenney delivered, canning a three to put the Wolverines up for the first time since the 16:24 mark of the first half. Jayden Reid snatched the lead back for Northwestern with another jumper.
West’s foul on Lendeborg sent him to the line with Michigan in the double bonus. He made one of his two, knotting things up at 69 apiece. He helped his squad regain the lead with a layup on his next shot attempt.
A loose ball foul on Ciaravino sent Mckenney to the line, and he made both of his shots. After a Mora dunk, Northwestern now found itself down two possessions with five minutes remaining.
Tyler Kropp knocked down a layup out of a Northwestern timeout, but Johnson Jr. found another dunk down low, drawing Martinelli’s fourth foul in the process. Mora found himself open for a second consecutive jam, pushing Michigan’s lead to nine.
A thunderous tomahawk slam from Lendeborg on the ensuing possession all-but sealed the Michigan comeback.
Northwestern wouldn’t get back within eight after the 2:24 mark despite leading by as many as 16 early in the second half. Michigan closed out a 87-75 win without much drama.
Following the loss, Northwestern travels southwest to Lincoln to face No. 7 Nebraska (21-3, 10-3 B1G) on Saturday at noon.
