The Wolverines closed out their preseason slate in nail-biting fashion on basketball’s grand stage.
Michigan cleaned up its act after a turnover-filled first half, dodged a bullet late and pulled out a 96-94 overtime victory over St. John’s on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The exhibition pitted two teams ranked in the top 10 entering the season. St. John’s, picked to repeat as Big East champs, is No. 5 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll and Michigan, picked to finish second in the Big Ten, is No. 7.
What unfolded was a tight battle that featured 19 lead changes and was a one-possession game much of the way until overtime, when each side ripped off a run before a wild finish.
The Wolverines scored the first eight points in the extra session. Morez Johnson Jr. scored five of those points, the last coming when he blocked a 3-point shot on one end and threw down a fast-break dunk on the other. Will Tschetter canned a 3-pointer. Michigan took its largest lead, 92-84, with 2:38 to go.
But just when it seemed like Michigan had seized control, St. John’s wiped out the deficit in a hurry. Lefteris Liotopoulos drained back-to-back 3-pointers and went on a personal 8-0 run to knot it at 92.
Johnson’s nonstop effort put Michigan back in front. He tipped out a missed shot for an offensive rebound and cashed in the second-chance opportunity with a bucket down low to make it 94-92.
The Wolverines hung on from there during a drama-filled final 45 seconds when St. John’s missed three free throws and a chance to win it. With Michigan up by one, Elliot Cadeau fouled Liotopoulos on a 3-point shot with 8.4 seconds to go. Liotopoulos made the first free throw but missed the next two.
Michigan corralled the rebound and Roddy Gayle Jr. (11 points) split two free throws with 1.3 seconds left before St. John’s last-second heave bounced off the backboard.
Yaxel Lendeborg had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead five double-digit scorers for Michigan, which shot 52.2% from the field (35-for-67) but had 22 turnovers. Tschetter added 10 points and Cadeau had nine points and nine assists before both fouled out in overtime.
Zuby Ejiofor scored 24 before fouling out to lead five double-digit scorers for St. John’s. The Red Storm scored 22 points off Michigan’s turnovers and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points.
The Wolverines led by seven early in the first half but found themselves down at the break, 35-34, largely due to 15 first-half turnovers. Michigan took better care of the ball in the second half but still found itself trailing until the final eight minutes.
The Wolverines got over the hump with a 12-4 spurt that started with a frantic sequence. After Lendeborg threw down a dunk off a nice feed from Aday Mara, Nimari Burnett blocked a shot that led to a Gayle fast-break layup and a 64-63 lead with 7:49 to play.
St. John’s quickly answered and pulled back in front twice, but each time Lendeborg countered with a bucket in transition. A 3-pointer from L.J. Cason capped the run and put Michigan up, 72-67, with 6:10 remaining.
St. John’s battled back behind Ejiofor, the preseason Big East player of the year. The Red Storm pulled even twice before they went up 77-76 on a 3-pointer by Joson Sanon (14 points).
The Wolverines regained the lead, 84-80, with 1:52 remaining when Cadeau found Mara for a dunk, but they couldn’t close it out. After Bryce Hopkins hit a floater following a turnover to knot it at 84, Michigan missed three shots around the rim in the final 40 seconds before Gayle came away with a steal on St. John’s final possession to force overtime.
Here are some observations from Michigan’s second and final preseason tune-up ahead of its Nov. 3 season opener against Oakland at Crisler Center:
▶ Johnson and Mara made their Michigan debuts after not playing in the first exhibition, a 100-98 loss to Cincinnati last week.
Mara was in the starting lineup, alongside Cadeau, Burnett, Gayle and Lendeborg. Johnson was the first player off the bench in both halves.
Johnson finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 22 minutes. Mara had 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes. Mara also dished out four assists, with several nice feeds that went to a cutting teammate for an easy basket.
▶ Just like the Cincinnati exhibition, most of Michigan’s turnovers came in the first half. And just like they did against the Bearcats, the Wolverines entered halftime against the Red Storm with more turnovers (15) than made baskets (12).
The giveaways came in all different forms, from poor passes and offensive fouls to traveling violations and unforced errors. And they seemed to come in bunches. During one four-possession span, Michigan turned it over three times. Then during another stretch late in the first half when St. John’s was pressing, Michigan turned it over on four straight trips down the floor.
By the end of it, four Wolverines turned it over at least three times: Burnett (three), Cason (four), Lendeborg (four) and Cadeau (five).
▶ After playing all 11 scholarship players who dressed in last week’s exhibition against Cincinnati, coach Dusty May rolled with a 10-man rotation against St. John’s.
Most notably, only two freshmen saw action against the Red Storm: Trey McKenney (14 minutes) and Winters Grady (two minutes). After being the first one off the bench against Cincinnati, McKenney was the fourth reserve to check in against St. John’s, after Johnson, Cason and Tschetter.
McKenney finished with four points and made a 3-pointer out of his five field goal attempts while Grady didn’t attempt a shot in his short stint.
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
@jamesbhawkins
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