ANN ARBOR — The Michigan Wolverines closed out the 2025 portion of their schedule with a bang.
Another 100-point game. Another dominant performance. Another rout in front of a packed home crowd.
With the frontcourt trio of Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara leading the way, second-ranked Michigan overwhelmed McNeese State on Monday and cruised to a 112-71 win at Crisler Center.
Johnson Jr. had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Lendeborg had 16 points and eight boards, and Mara had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for Michigan (12-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which topped the century mark for the seventh time this season and dismantled another nonconference opponent.
“I want to compliment our guys. To play the way they did against a real quality McNeese team and program is a good sign going forward,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “I thought we were incredibly unselfish on both sides of the ball.
“I thought we played really good basketball for 32 minutes against a team that we really respect.”
Like every foe who has stepped into Crisler Center this season, the Wolverines didn’t provide much hospitality or hope. They led by 31 points at halftime and never let up against McNeese State (10-3), a team that made the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.
Michigan roared out of the break and opened the second half on a 16-0 flurry that featured several highlight plays. During one, Lendeborg came away with a steal, saved the ball from going out of bounds and whipped a pass to Johnson for a fast-break dunk. On another, Mara grabbed a rebound and heaved an outlet pass from one end of the court to the other to Lendeborg, who threw down an and-1 dunk.
The Wolverines’ lead ballooned to 76-29 with 16:49 to play, as the Cowboys simply had no answers on either end to prevent the avalanche that came crashing down on them.
“We talk about not getting complacent every day. I think we do a good job of holding each other accountable, not letting each other get complacent, and keeping that hunger,” Johnson said. “If we get complacent, we won’t be able to do what we want to do at the end of the year. … I think that plays a big part in our runs.”
The margin continued to grow, even after Michigan went deeper into its bench. Winters Grady made two free throws to give the Wolverines their largest lead, 92-40, with 9:01 to go. Roughly three minutes later, they topped the 100-point mark for the sixth time in seven games when Nimari Burnett threw down a dunk. McNeese State never got closer than 39 points the rest of the way.
Trey McKenney scored 13, Burnett 12 and Roddy Gayle Jr. 10 for Michigan, which shot 58.7% from the field, outscored McNeese State 54-20 in the paint, and set season highs with 31 made free throws on 45 attempts.
Garwey Dual scored 15 and Larry Johnson 14 for McNeese State, which shot a season-low 29.5% from the field and finished 8-for-34 from deep.
“Our ability to guard one-on-one, how active we were in the gaps to support each other, and then how well we covered each other’s back as far as flying around (was impressive),” May said. “And when there were mistakes made, there was multiple efforts to get it fixed.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well. I thought we missed a lot of really good looks that we typically make. We’ve got to bang in shots if we want to play at our highest level.”
The Cowboys pulled off a stunning upset when they made the trip to Crisler Center two years ago. On Monday, it was the Wolverines who put on a stunning display.
Michigan jumped out to a double-digit lead four minutes into the game. Lendeborg made an and-1 reverse layup. Johnson soared in for an offensive putback and scored a one-handed finish at the rim off a lob pass from Mara. Michigan had no trouble handling McNeese State’s press and scoring inside as it grabbed a 15-5 lead.
After a baseline drive and reverse layup by Lendeborg sparked a 7-0 burst that made it a 15-point game, the Cowboys briefly threatened to cut it to single digits. But Michigan made the McNeese State pay for its aggressiveness on defense and created more separation with a bunch of trips to the free-throw line.
The Wolverines went into the bonus with 9:49 left in the half and made seven free throws during an 11-2 spurt. The lone bucket came on a corner 3-pointer from Lendeborg that capped the run and gave Michigan a 38-18 advantage.
Michigan even had a possession where it shot six free throws — two due to a flagrant foul McNeese State’s Peitok Machar committed on Mara, two on a technical foul assessed to McNeese State coach Bill Armstrong for arguing with an official and two on another foul drawn by Mara — but made only two of them.
Following that sequence, Michigan ripped off an 18-4 run over the final 4:32 that featured seven more free throws, entered the break with a 60-29 lead and continued its tear through the nonconference slate, with Big Ten play set to resume after the new year.
“I’d be lying if I said that we, as a group, felt like we would have this margin because we know how difficult that is and we have such respect for the teams we played,” May said. “But we can come at you in waves. There’s not much drop-off with any rotation.
“I think our guys’ commitment to defending and rebounding is why we’ve been able to separate and make the spurts that we have. … Once our guys decided to go for that top spot (in defensive efficiency) and try to be the absolute best, our projections looked a little bit different. As long as we don’t change, we’ll be in position to win a lot of games if we continue to defend like we are.”