Michigan basketball smashes San Diego State in Players Era Festival
Michigan basketball score: 6 Wolverines scored in double figures as U-M opened the Players Era Festival tournament with a second-half spurt.
On Day 1 of the Players Era Festival tournament in Las Vegas, Michigan basketball hit a royal flush
The No. 6 Wolverines manhandled San Diego State on the glass, made 3-pointers and showed the grit and grind that the opposing Aztecs have become known for, running away with a 94-54 victory at Michelob Ultra Arena on Monday, Nov. 24.
Yaxel Lendeborg once again lived up to his preseason All-American billing, putting up 15 points as part of a balanced attack that featured six Wolverines scoring in double figures: Elliot Cadeau and Morez Johnson Jr. each had 13, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Nimari Burnett each scored 11 and Will Tschetter added 10.
Aday Mara, meanwhile, had seven points, a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks.
SDSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but it was all Wolverines from there as coach Dusty May's group surged with a 32-10 run to build a 17-point lead with 7:22 left in the first half. The Aztecs later cut the score to nine with back-to-back 3-pointers in 30 seconds, but Burnett answered with a 3 of his own.
Michigan opened up the second half with an 8-0 run, and it was basically over from there: A huge spurt from Gayle pushed the lead beyond 25, a flurry from Cadeau made it 30 and a spinning Lendeborg layup inflated it to 35. The backups checked in and it didn't stop - a Trey McKenney 3 gave the Wolverines a 42-point lead before the Aztecs narrowed it to a mere 30 in the end.
Beyond the scoreboard, Michigan dominated statistically, topping SDSU in rebounds (49-23), second-chance points (22-3) and points in the paint (38-12). The Wolverines (5-0) now have a quick turnaround with a matchup against No. 25 Auburn – the program that knocked U-M out of the 2025 NCAA Tournament (albeit with a new coach, Steven Pearl) – on Tuesday (8:30 p.m., TNT).
Daring defensively
Michigan set the tone for a dominant performance on defense, executing the May staple: Force the opponent into mid-range jumpers. It's a big reason the Aztecs shot just 27.4% (17-for-62) on the night.
San Diego State made just four of 25 jumpers outside the paint and weren't much better beyond the arc, hitting seven of 23. SDSU couldn't handle U-M's size down low, either, going just 2-for-9 on layups. The Wolverines had five blocks and came away with 11 steals
Everybody contributes
This was the well-rounded team U-M spoke of all offseason.
Lendeborg set the tone early, being physical with and-ones and knocking down shots. Then Burnett got the hot hand and drilled a few 3s and was aggressive on the glass with a season-high seven rebounds. Gayle had a heater in the second half, with seven straight points – a spurt matched by Cadeau when he hit a deep 3 to put the Wolverines up 33.
The Wolverines came in waves, as every player who saw more than 10 minutes of action had a plus-minus of at least plus-12.
Heart on display
The Wolverines made several plays to outgrind a team known for winning the scrappy battle. Early, Tschetter lunged for an offensive board off a Gayle miss. He missed the putback only for Mara to be in position to finish the putback.
A few minutes later, L.J. Cason dove on the ground to rescue a loose ball at midcourt and was fouled. Also in the first half, Burnett found himself on his back on defense; he then popped up, deflected a pass and Michigan came away with the ball and was off and running to set up a layup as part of a three-point play by Lendeborg.
Tschetter missed a 3 from the right wing, then ran after his own rebound for a layup and three-point play of his own to put the Wolverines up, 34-18.
It continued into the second half when Johnson hauled down an offensive rebound between two defenders then muscled his way to the bucket. On the next play, Gayle ran down a loose ball and flipped in a layup to start his best stretch, featuring a driving layup on the next possession, a steal on the inbounds pass and a three-point play to make it 66-39.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball slams San Diego State in Players Era opener
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