Michigan basketball got a real workout Friday night, and it came from a familiar face.
Justin Joyner brought his Oregon State team back to Ann Arbor for the Wolverines’ second exhibition game of the season, and Michigan had to grind through a 98-93 win in a game that stayed tight down the stretch. The Beavers made life uncomfortable with size, shot-making and enough resistance to keep the Wolverines honest until the final minutes.
That was by design, at least in part. Joyner spent two years in Ann Arbor as an assistant, so he knows Michigan’s staff and returning players well. He also showed up with a roster built to cause problems on the interior, featuring three seven-footers in Peteris Pinnis (7-foot-2), Dennis Evans (7-foot) and Xavion Staton (7-foot-1).
Michigan spent much of the first half in control, building a double-digit cushion before Oregon State answered with tough threes and trimmed the margin to three at halftime. The second half swung back and forth, but when Michigan needed a bucket late, Elliot Cadeau kept finding ways to deliver.
For all the scoreline drama, it still had the feel of what these October games are supposed to be: a chance to see what works, what doesn’t, and what still needs sharpening before the games start counting.
There were stretches where Michigan’s transition defense slipped, the offense lost its rhythm and the Wolverines settled for a few too many threes. Still, they generated plenty of open looks and knocked down a healthy share of them.
They also took decent care of the ball, finishing with just seven turnovers, including four in the first half. Chemistry is clearly still a work in progress, which makes sense for a mid-October exhibition against a team projected to land in the middle of the Pac-12.
Cadeau was the difference-maker when Michigan needed someone to grab the wheel. After a quiet first half, he took over after the break, scoring eight of the Wolverines’ first 14 points.
He had a hand in every Michigan basket in the opening five minutes of the second half. As Oregon State piled up seven fouls in the first eight minutes after halftime and sent Michigan into the bonus, Cadeau kept attacking.
He drilled a deep three, set up Thiam for a pair of alley-oops and repeatedly finished around taller defenders late to help Michigan put the game away. Cadeau finished with 27 points, while Trey McKenney added 18.
Moustapha Thiam may have been the most complete force on the floor for Michigan. The Cincinnati transfer posted 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and he had a first-half stretch that changed the game.
He hit a three, handed out three assists and flashed the kind of footwork that can make a defense look stuck in mud. One of those assists was a behind-the-back feed to a cutting Trey McKenney.
Another was a full-court strike to Joseph Hartman in transition that looked straight out of the Kevin Love playbook. Thiam finished off a 13-0 Michigan run with his second made three, helping push the Wolverines to a 37-25 lead over a four-minute stretch late in the half.
He also anchored the defense. Thiam protected the rim and forced Oregon State into tough mid-range looks. If he keeps doing that while also producing on offense, he looks every bit like Michigan’s best player.
The Beavers had their own offensive headliners. DeShawn Gory got rolling early, scoring 10 points in the first eight minutes as Michigan struggled to slow him down.
Legend Smiley - an early contender for best name on any team Michigan faces - stayed hot from deep, hitting three of his first five three-point tries. Those two combined for 23 of Oregon State’s 42 first-half points, and they kept the Beavers hanging around in the second half as well.
Gory and Smiley finished with 37 points together, while Michigan managed to limit the rest of the roster.
Kenny Noland also gave the Wolverines a useful lift off the bench. With McKenney and Cadeau in foul trouble, he helped steady the offense in the first half.
He worked well in pick-and-roll with Thiam, defended the ball solidly and showed a crafty feel in the lane. He’s not going to win with straight-line speed, but he uses his footwork well and knows how to snake around defenders.
Noland ended with six points and three assists, and he may have been Michigan’s best bench player on the night.
Joyner’s group clearly has enough size and enough shooting to make things interesting. Michigan will see one more exhibition before the regular season begins, heading two-and-a-half hours west to play Houston at Van Andel Arena on Sunday, Oct.
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