Another game, another blowout. Same old, same old for the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines, who throttled the Villanova Wildcats, 89-61, on Tuesday night at Crisler Center.
The days of consistent dominance ended when Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright retired in April 2022. After a tumultuous three-year Kyle Neptune tenure where Nova didn’t make the NCAA Tournament once, Kevin Willard controversially left Maryland to take over at Villanova after the Terrapins lost in the Sweet Sixteen. Willard has the Wildcats
ranked 35th in KenPom, with Villanova’s lone loss coming into this game coming at the hands of a good BYU team by just five points.
Michigan is ranked No. 1 in every poll/statistical ranking in the country except the AP Poll, and they looked like it against Villanova. In the words of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Michigan straight up opened a can of whoop ass, dominating in every facet of the game yet again.
It’s easy to forget that just two years ago, this program had an 8-24 record. Michigan surpassed that win total on Tuesday, nine days into the month of December, and Dusty May has this team playing some of the best basketball we’ve seen at Crisler Center in a LONG time.
Here are a few takeaways from another dominant win.
Elliot leads the way
Elliot Cadeau got off to an impressive start, pushing the pace and dishing two assists while scoring seven points in the first five-and-a-half game minutes. He got up to 10 points on his second three-pointer to give Michigan a 24-9 lead midway through the first half.
Cadeau has settled into a facilitator role for this team, but he was in his bag to start this one and finished with 18 points — a season high — and dishing four assists. He doesn’t need to be a shoot-first guy on this team chock-full of scoring options, but a different player steps every game for this squad, and it was his turn in this game.
Good defense leads to first-half dominance
Michigan proved worthy of its No. 1 defense ranking on KenPom early in this game, forcing two turnovers as the Wildcats only made two of their first eight shots. At one point, Duke Brennan tried to put back a layup, and Aday Mara nearly caught the ball before it reached its apex, like he was playing against his nephew in the driveway.
Good defense helped the Wolverines go on a 16-1 run over a 2:49 span that started around the halfway mark of the first half, with that run helping Michigan balloon its lead from 23-15 to 39-16 before Kevin Willard’s team could even process it. Had it not been for 15 first-half points from Devin Askew, Michigan could have been up by 40.
The first-half lead got as high as 30 points, as the Wildcats shot just 28 percent from the field. Take out a good first half from Askew, and the Wildcats made just three of its 16 other shots.
The Wolverines were so dominant defensively in the first half that the second half was essentially all garbage time. Michigan simply didn’t let Villanova get comfortable.
This team thrives in transition
Michigan dictated the pace of this game entirely, forcing Villanova to play fast by pushing the ball up the court, including full-court passes by Cadeau and Roddy Gayle Jr. Michigan playing with pace led to plays like this dunk from Lendeborg, which got the crowd rowdy, the loudest I’ve heard them this season.
Michigan got nine fast-break points in this one, largely because of its swarming defense. Life is easier in college basketball when you get stops, and according to KenPom, Michigan is quite literally the best team in the country at doing that.
Up Next
As dominant as the Wolverines have looked, you can’t overlook any Big Ten team on the road. Michigan heads to College Park to take on Maryland on Saturday, Dec. 13 (8 p.m., FOX).
