It’s never easy to win on the road in college basketball, and while the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines looked rattled at times and turned the ball over a whole lot, domination around the rim and on the boards helped lead to a tight 67-63 victory over the Horned Frogs.
This completes the home-and-home Michigan and TCU started last year, with Michigan winning in Ann Arbor, 76-64. TCU entered this game ranked 91st on KenPom — 35 spots behind Wake Forest — with the Horned Frogs picked to finish 10th in a deep Big 12 conference in the preseason poll. TCU got upset by New Orleans in the first game of the season before winning handily over Saint Francis and Lamar.
While TCU doesn’t seem as good as Wake Forest on paper, this is the first true road game for the Wolverines. TCU didn’t make anything easy with tough defense, but Michigan made enough plays down the stretch to make up for playing poorly offensively and pulled out another tight victory.
Here are five takeaways from the victory.
The Wolverines struggled in the half-court offensively against Wake Forest earlier this week, partially because of turnover issues. Those turnovers didn’t go away against TCU.
Michigan struggled to get into an offensive rhythm early, turning the ball over nine times in the first 11 minutes. The turnovers put stress on an offense that didn’t run smoothly in the Wake Forest win, with the Wolverines going just over five game minutes without a field goal mid-way through the first half. The turnover problems continued in the second half.
TCU deserves a lot of credit; the players moved their feet well, poked away the ball without fouling, and played the aggressive defense that Jamie Dixon teams are known for. Michigan can’t expect to win many games turning the ball over 22 times like it did on Friday night. It’s only mid-November, but Michigan’s got to nip these turnover issues in the bud.
With Yaxel Lendeborg (team-high 14 points) and Elliot Cadeau in foul trouble, the offense had to be shouldered by somebody, and Roddy Gayle Jr. answered the call.
Gayle moved without the ball beautifully and added 10 points, getting to the rim time and time again. He didn’t just contribute with scoring, either, with Gayle racking up six assists and showcasing great court vision in the half-court.
I do like how Michigan is utilizing Gayle as a sixth man, who comes in and uses his slashing ability to change up Michigan’s scoring strategy. He can provide a shot in the arm when needed, so hopefully he can be more consistent than he was last season.
Domination in the paint and on the boards
While the Wolverines didn’t take care of the ball well, they made up for it by scoring in the lane and using size to their advantage on the boards.
In the lane and around the rim, Michigan out-physicaled TCU, posting a huge advantage in points in the paint (36-26) and rebounds (44-23). Putting up a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds), Morez Johnson Jr.’s energy around the rim was a huge catalyst Michigan pulling this one out.
Props to Michigan for playing tough around the rim.
Good minutes off the bench from McKenney and Cason
With both Lendeborg and Cadeau on the bench for the final minutes of the first half with two fouls each, freshman Trey McKenney and sophomore L.J. Cason were called upon to initiate the offense.
McKenney hit big threes towards the end of both halves, finished a tough and-one to give Michigan a one-point lead with six minutes and change to play. He finished the game with 11 points and looked comfortable in a bigger offensive role while playing good on-ball defense. On a night where Michigan’s offense struggled, he stepped up big-time, especially in the second half.
While Cason struggled with TCU’s aggressive defense at first, the sophomore made up for it after making a deep three and scoring at the rim just before the first half buzzer sounded. After getting off to a slow start while treating an injury, it looks like the Florida native is starting to find his footing again.
Drawing fouls consistently
One positive note on Michigan’s offense: just like the Wake Forest win, I do like how much the Wolverines draw fouls.
Michigan went to the line a lot in that first half, making nine of its 12 free throws. Lendeborg and both of Michigan’s starting bigs did a great job drawing contact underneath. The Wolverines ended the game with 20 free throws and made 80 percent of them, including some key makes late from Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett.
Drawing a lot of fouls comes with the territory for a team with great size, but I like how the Wolvervines get to the line a lot because they drive to the rim.
The Wolverines aren’t in action again until this Wednesday, Nov. 19, as Michigan will host Middle Tennessee for one of the few buy games on the schedule. That game is set to tip-off at 6:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
