With national title aspirations, Michigan basketball needed an early-season eye opener

In Year 2 of the Dusty May era, Michigan came into the 2025-26 season with high expectations. There were some analysts who even picked the Wolverines to win the national title, with Yaxel Lendeborg and Dusty May winning national awards.

The Wolverines have started the season on somewhat of a rollercoaster, despite a 2-0 start. Michigan looked unstoppable for the first game and a half of the season. The Wolverines crushed a good Oakland team and looked the part in the first half against Wake Forest on Tuesday night, before everything went wrong.

Michigan shot 1-of-13 from 3 in the second half against the Demon Deacons, and the Wolverines allowed Wake Forest to rally and take the lead. But Michigan would ultimately fight back, force the game to overtime, and win by one in OT.

Michigan is just two games into the young season, but this was exactly what the Wolverines needed to happen. Michigan is full of experienced players, with a deep bench, where on any given night, someone could have a career game.

But this is college basketball and Michigan will get everyone's best on every night. The Wolverines were a double-digit favorite over Wake Forest, and the Demon Deacons came to play. An undersized team took Michigan to the brink, but despite a poor 3-point shooting effort, head coach Dusty May was pleased with how his team battled back.

"Yeah, absolutely. We're gonna make 19 [3s] next game," May joked after the game. "I'm gonna flip this around and do something different. Hopefully that wasn't me that did that announcer jinx. But yeah, we played with a lot of heart, toughness, and togetherness. And people, you bring these guys in, you bring these guys in, and everyone comes from different directions.

"We still don't know our best defensive lineups, our best offensive lineups, our best in between. And so this is a work in progress. But for us to come out of this game against a really good basketball team, that I think is an NCAA tournament team, same thing I said last year. For us to find a way to win is a compliment to our guys and their ability to just stay the course when the game got ugly."

Michigan has won two games without its best player doing what he's capable of

If there is a silver lining to Michigan's early-season wins, it's that Yaxel Lendeborg has yet to play like Yaxel Lendeborg. The preseason All-American was banged up in Game 1 against Oakland and 4-of-12 from the field against Wake Forest, scoring nine points in the game.

Lendeborg, along with other newcomers, has to get used to Michigan's fast-paced offense under coach May. But another silver lining is how well Aday Mara has come along. In the Wolverines' first two games, the UCLA transfer appears to be the best player on the court.

Not only was his 18 points, 13 rebounds, and six assist stat-line impressive, but he affected the game in other ways. His big-bodied presence underneath was too much for Wake Forest to handle late in the game, and Mara looks very impressive two games in.

"Yeah, absolutely," May said of Mara hindering Wake Forest underneath. "And I'm gonna give Aday credit, the two exhibitions and the first game. He struggled guarding on the perimeter. The opposition Spigs had their way with us. I don't think he played the first one, the last couple games, whatever the case. And even in practice, he struggled in that regard. And the staff has challenged him, and I thought he did an A plus job, without looking at the film, an A plus job of contesting threes.

"He blocked a couple of them. He defended the drives. And Spillers, man, he's quick, he's got some game. And so he cut them off, he used his size, his length, and challenged the shots. And Spillers is a borderline all-league guy, could be an all-ACC guy. And so for him to be able to sit down and keep his body in front of him, that's very, very refreshing going forward. But I didn't think he could play that much. I mean, he's capable of a lot, and I still, he's just scratching the surface, man.

"Obviously, his stat line is impressive, but he made so many more invisible plays and changed so many shots. Now, some of our guards have to do a better job of getting in the fight when he tips the ball to go in and clean it up. I think we were anticipating that we were gonna turn those into leak out dunks. And so just another reason we have to change some habits and practice better. But I'm very proud of our guys for simply staying together and not getting rattled."

Michigan can now focus on its next game -- Friday night at TCU -- and know it can't take any game for granted moving forward. Every team is going to bring their A-game against a potential national title contender.

Michigan has won two games without its best player doing what he's capable of

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