Michigan basketball holds off Toledo, 96-92, in exhibition for Dusty May's home debut

Michigan basketball holds off Toledo, 96-92, in exhibition for Dusty May’s home debut

Posted by Admin October 26, 2024 Basketball

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The Michigan basketball freshman point guard crossed over, stepped back and let it fly.

It was a heat-check 3-pointer from LJ Cason and sure enough, it fell through the net, much like most everything else the 18-year-old threw up in the first half of his Crisler Center debut, a 96-92 exhibition victory for the Wolverines over Toledo. Cason made all six of his field goal attempts in the first half, including all four 3-pointers and both of his free throws.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that,” Cason smiled of calling it a heat check. “Reading the defense, just reading what came to me, not forcing it and that’s what it gave me.”

When he finally missed, at the 13:18 mark in the second half, it seemed like it wouldn’t matter, as Michigan was in control. But Toledo wouldn’t go quietly. The Rockets, down as much as 16 in the second half, got within three at the under-4-minute timeout.

Isaiah Adams’ turnaround bucket over Danny Wolf cut the lead to one, but a Roddy Gayle Jr. three-point play gave U-M some breathing room. Adams, one of five Rockets in double figures, hit a basket to get them back within two, but Vlad Goldin responded with a layup of his own.

It wasn’t until Gayle hit a 3-pointer with 1:39 play that Wolverines fans finally could breathe easy. Gayle and Cason ended up with a game-high 20 points apiece, with five Wolverines scoring at least 11.

“I do feel like we generated really good looks,” head coach Dusty May said postgame. “I’m not sure if the ball moved, or there were as many paint-touch kick-outs as we would’ve liked, but when you evaluate the shot. … I think we’re going to be pleased with our shots.

“Scoring 96, winning the rebounding margin by nine, turning it over 15 times is too many for us. But again, it’s early, season hasn’t began yet, so for us to walk out of here with a win and also some things we learned about our team helps.”

It was the final tuneup before the regular season begins on Nov. 4 against Cleveland State (8 p.m., Big Ten Network).

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A clean start

Friday was a generally impressive showing from May’s group in his first time coaching at Crisler Center. In the first half, Michigan led 14-4 in points off turnovers, had a 37-15 edge in bench points and forced 10 Rocket turnovers, seven of which came via steals.

The Wolverines shot 18-for-34 (52.9%) from the floor and made seven of 14 3-pointers before halftime; each of Michigan’s 50 first-half points came on the three highest-efficiency outcomes, with nary a midrange jumper to be found: 3-pointers (21 points), points in the paint (22) and free throws (seven). U-M finished the game with every point coming from one of those spots.

Michigan opened slowly, making just two of nine from the floor and one of five 3-pointers before the first timeout. Toledo, meanwhile, was 4-for-4 to open but had four early turnovers for an 8-5 lead.

Michigan heated up thanks to its only returners who dressed, Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter. The duo made a long 3 and a three-point play, respectively, to get the transition going. Tschetter ran the floor well in transition as he finished with 12 points and tied the team lead for seven rebounds, but the first half belonged to Cason.

The former Florida Atlantic commit, who followed his coach to Ann Arbor, drilled a deep 3 to give U-M its first lead at 13-10, then a few moments later, hit another from in front of the logo.

“His confidence, his ability to make 3’s off the bounce … he’s done that pretty consistently,” May said. “Got a lot to learn as a freshman, but great moxie, great confidence but I think it’s fairly obviously he’s a difference-maker when he checks in.”

Soon after, the freshman flashed his athleticism, using a screen to blow by a defender for a layup on the right side of the rim on one possession, then taking his defender off the dribble for a finger roll on the other side on the next possession. In all, he scored 10 points in less than four minutes to give Michigan a 22-20 lead.

The freshman wasn’t done there. After Toledo went on a 7-2 run to get back within three, Cason hit a long 3 from the right wing after crossing over his defender, then forced a steal on the other end.

Three possessions later, he made the heat-check 3-pointer to put Michigan up nine, before scoring a pair of free throws to end the half with 18 points.

“Not at all,” Cason said when asked if he expected this of his debut. “Most freshmen don’t play, so just trying to come in here and learn every day. Playing against Roddy, learning from a veteran, just going day by day.”

Close it out

May’s group appeared poised to run away early in the second half, as Tschetter finished an easy layup in the paint to balloon Michigan’s lead to a game-high 16 with 15:40 to play.

That’s when Adams hit a tough turnaround on the baseline and Seth Hubbard made a transition layup off a Gayle turnover and drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key on consecutive possessions. Toledo had five players score in double figures led by Javan Simmons with 21, followed by Hubbard (16), Adams (15), Sonny Wilson (14) and Sam Lewis (13).

After another U-M miss, Toledo got the ball to Jaylan Owuniga in the corner; he drilled a 3 to cap a 10-0 run in 85 seconds and force a timeout from May.

“There were a couple questionable decisions, but I do think the pace we’re playing at, our players didn’t play like this in the past,” May said. “Now they’re in a game environment and (Toledo) went on a run. I probably could’ve helped them with a timeout, but I wanted to see how they’d respond.

“We were getting point blank shots, they just weren’t dropping tonight. So is it time to set off the alarms? No, it’s just time to clean up a few things. … We’re not in practice protecting our egos, we’re going after the things we were exposed in and we’re going to get better at them.”

The Rockets even got within four points when Lewis hit a 3-pointer, but an three-point putback by Goldin (13 points, six rebounds) on the next possession helped get U-M up 64-57.

U-M would go up 71-59 with a transition lob from Wolf (nine points and six rebounds) to Sam Walters (11 points), but after consecutive layups from Wolf and Goldin, U-M went cold from the floor. May’s team didn’t make a basket for more than four minutes, missing six straight as Toledo ripped off a 15-4 run.

“Got to be better down the stretch,” Gayle said. “When we’ve got a lead like that, we’ve got to capitalize on that .. .rather than let them work their way back.”

The Rockets got within one in the final minutes, before Michigan pulled away thanks to Gayle’s 3 and some late free throws, finishing 23-for-27 overall and 16-for-19 from the line in the second half.