It wasn’t pretty, but the Michigan men’s basketball team started off the 2026-27 season with a victory, defeating the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, 84-68.
Michigan opened the season against a familiar opponent in Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies, led by the longest tenured coach in sport in Greg Kampe, always runs a 2/3 zone, and were picked tofinish fourth in the Horizon League. Oakland is a decent mid-major team that always has a puncher’s chance to win their league and make the NCAA Tournament, but it’s
also a team Michigan should be handily.
The 2/3 zone gave Michigan problems early, but Michigan used a methodical run to jump out to a double-digit lead late in the first half. Michigan was sloppy with the ball coming out of the half as Oakland clamped down, and on a night when threes weren’t falling (7-of-34 from deep, 21 percent), U-M did just enough to on both ends to win.
It was far from perfect, but Michigan is 1-0. Here are the takeaways from the win.
Roddy Gayle thrives in the middle of the zone
Everyone who has played basketball knows that in order to beat a 2/3 zone, you have to get the ball into the middle of it. The high-post guy has to take care of the ball and make quick decisions, and when rotating into the teeth of it, Gayle thrived against that zone.
Gayle’s first three baskets came in the lane, including a push shot in the middle of the lane and a slithering finish around Oakland interior defenders. He ended the first half with an exclamation point, catching an Elliot Cadeau lob to help Michigan go into the half with an 11-point advantage.
This seems like an appropriate place to praise Cadeau, who showcased elite court vision with six assists in the win.
Gayle helped seal the win with a few key baskets late in this one. Gayle — whose offensive profile rooted in ball fakes, mid-range footwork and crafty finishes is a perfect counter to an aggressive zone defense — finished with a team-high 17 points (tied with McKenney) in this one. His experience and calmness in the lane helped Michigan’s offense settle in.
JP Estrella steps up with no Thiam, but gets into foul trouble
Big Ten Network reported on the pregame broadcast that 7-footer Moustapha Thiam, who is expected to play a big role for this team, was out with an illness.
Oscar Goodman took Thiam’s spot in the starting lineup, likely to keep Michigan’s normal bench rotation of Ricky Liburd, Quinn Costello, Kenny Noland and Jalen Reed intact. And with no Thiam, JP Estrella moved up to the 5 and played pretty well.
Estrella was tenacious on the boards, starting off a personal run of six Michigan points with a nifty hook shot off of an offensive rebound. He led the Wolverines at the half with 13 points and he ran the floor well, with Michigan heaving the ball up the floor to him to jumpstart the offense.
Estrella’s rim defense wasn’t perfect, but he altered a lot of Oakland layups. I didn’t like him getting handsy and picking up his second and third fouls a few minutes into the second half, forcing Michigan to play small for a while. He picked up his fourth midway through the second half, forcing Jalen Reed and Quinn Costello to hold down the fort. Estrella finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out when Michigan had a 16-point lead with 4:50 to play.
Overall, I thought Estrella had a good game despite being in foul trouble. His energy around the rim was evident, and he did a fine job playing Thiam’s role on defense.
Oakland defense speeds up Michigan early, but McKenney slows things down
Until the 7:29 mark of the second half, Quinn Costello was the only Michigan player to make a three, with the Wolverines rushing some open looks from deep in the pockets of the Oakland zone.
After a quiet start, McKenney helped break the dam, hitting two threes late in the first half, including a DEEP one with just over three minutes to play.
Oakland stayed in zone the whole game and trapped Michigan in the corners aggressively, which succeeded in taking the Wolverines out of their offensive flow.
The Wolverines looked a little panicky at the start of this game, rushing a few shots while the Golden Grizzlies defended well. Michigan missed seven of its first eight threes, which was a big reason why OU jumped out to an early lead.
U-M started to settle in midway through the first half, going on a 16-1 run over four minutes and change to go from down 18-13 to up 29-19. McKenney was a huge catalyst of that run, scoring six straight points off of a three and this TOUGH left-hand finish through the Oakland defenders.
The 2/3 zone gave Michigan trouble again in the second half, but Michigan still managed to pull away late and work the clock.
Quinn Costello brings a spark off the bench
The Wolverines didn’t get many contributions from deep, but Quinn Costello was the exception.
The first player off the bench, Costello hit three of his first five three-pointers, including two deep makes midway through the second half. He finished with 13 points, albeit he wasn’t super efficient (3-of-10 from three).
Costello’s quick trigger and deep range is going to make him a fan favorite, and Michigan certainly needed his offensive contributions tonight with Thiam out. I’d like to see him have a bit better shot selection, but that will come with time.
A bad start to the second half and unreliable rebounding
Michigan had a chance to extend its lead coming out of the break, and it squandered that chance by turning the ball over.
Michigan had twice as many turnovers (four) as points four minutes into the half, with the offensive not executing at the same level as it did at the end of the half.
The Wolverines got themselves a cushion, but with how the second half started, Michigan put itself on upset alert against a scrappy Oakland team that has always a puncher’s chance to win the Horizon League. And you never want to be on upset alert in this sport, especially not in the first week of the season.
Combine that with Michigan somehow losing the rebounding battle to a small Oakland team (44-42) and there’s plenty of room for improvement heading into the UConn game.
Up Next
Michigan heads east to Boston to take on No. 4 UConn in a National Championship rematch at TD Garden. That game tips off at 8 p.m. and you can stream it through TNT, TBS or HBO Max.
