Game recap: Michigan vanquishes Villanova in another blowout win

ANN ARBOR – The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines moved to 9-0 on the season with a 89-61 win over Villanova on Tuesday night at Crisler Center.

Junior point guard Elliot Cadeau led the team with 18 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Classmate and big man Aday Mara had 11 points and 8 rebounds. The focus now moves to Saturday’s game at Maryland (8 p.m., FOX).

Here is the blow-by-blow recap from the night’s events in Ann Arbor.

First half

Michigan, who started junior Elliot Cadeau, graduate Nimari Burnett, graduate Yaxel Lendeborg, sophomore Morez Johnson Jr. and junior Aday Mara, won the opening tip to get things going in Ann Arbor. Cadeau started the scoring for the Wolverines with a three-pointer at 19:39 to give the team an early 3-0 lead. By the time the under-16 timeout arrived (15:06), U-M had taken a 10-7 lead with 5 early points from Cadeau, along with an assist and a rebound. Lendeborg and Mara were also part of the early scoring run.

The Wolverines extended their lead with a 9-0 run out of the timeout, punctuated by a steal and fastbreak by Lendeborg to stretch the advantage to 19-7, forcing a Kevin Willard Villanova timeout with 14:10 to go in the half. A layup from senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. pushed the lead up to 21-7 with 13:40 remaining. Villanova punched back with a 9-3 run, trimming the lead to 24-16 at the under-12 timeout with 11:00 to go. Michigan foguht it off with a 5-0 run of its own on a paint bucket from Gayle and a triple from freshman guard Trey McKenney to go up 29-16, forcing another Villanova timeout with 10:14 remaining.

The run would eventually balloon out to a 15-0 blast after the under-8 media timeout (7:58), thanks to a four-point play from graduate forward Will Tschetter that gave Michigan a 39-16 lead. Michigan’s advantage would stand at 46-23 at the under-4 media timeout. The Wolverines held Villanova scoreless for the final 6:32, and pushed their advantage to 53-23 by the end of the first half.

Second half

Michigan got the scoring started in the second half with a lob from Mara to Johnson at the 19:20 mark. It would lead 61-33 at the first media timeout of the half with 15:07 to go. By the time the under-12 timeout came along, Michigan was back up 31 points at 66-35 with 11:55 to go.

The Wolverines would keep locking down on defense, even if the pace slowed down a bit offensively. Each team scored 20 points apiece since the opening of the second half, with Michigan holding onto its 73-43 advantage at the under-8 media timeout with 7:45 to go. From that point, Michigan went on a 10-4 run to push its lead to 83-47 with 4:43 to play, forcing a Willard timeout. It would still lead by that margin at the final media timeout with 3:54 to go.

Michigan played out the game with some of its younger pieces, including walk-on Howard Eisley Jr., before the final buzzer sounded. Villanova hit a triple right before the clock expired, becoming the first team in the last four Michigan games to lose by less than 30 points. However, the Wolverines would leave victorious with an 89-61 victory.

Michigan vs. Villanova box score, final stats