EVANSTON, IL − For anyone who thought Michigan basketball was going to cakewalk to a Big Ten title, think again.
The Wolverines built their Big Ten lead to two games with an 87-75 win over a feisty Northwestern team at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 11, but it was far from pretty, especially early.
Michigan trailed by as many as 16 in the second half, but erupted over the final 14 minutes, including a stretch of 11 consecutive made shots, to avert disaster in front of a majority Michigan crowd on the road.
Michigan didn't take the lead in the second half until a Trey McKenney 3-pointer with 7:12 left, then a Yaxel Lendeborg layup two possessions later gave Michigan the lead for good.
Much of the credit for the comeback goes to L.J. Cason, who had perhaps the best game of his collegiate tenure, scoring a career-high 18 points, which included nine in a stretch of less than four minutes. Lendeborg also recorded his second consecutive double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, Aday Mara filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, seven boards and a career-high seven assists, Morez Johnson Jr. added 12 points and nine boards and McKenney scored 12.
It was far from a masterpiece, but the Wolverines ultimately found a way to win, which is what this team has done all year.
Jayden Reid scored 20 for Northwestern, Nick Martinelli added 18 and Arrinten Page had 11 as the upset bid fell short.
The Wolverines (23-1, 12-1 in Big Ten), who were serenaded with "Lets Go Blue" chants in the closing seconds, survived what would’ve been a catastrophic loss and now look to continue their march to a Big Ten title on Saturday, Feb. 14, against UCLA at Crisler Center.
What the heck was that first half?
The Wolverines went up 5-0 in less than a minute, but then Northwestern went crazy.
The Cats ripped off a 29-12 run over the next eight minutes behind Martinelli and Jayden Reid, who scored 15 of their first 17 points in the game. Michigan had the game tied, 17-17, then went really cold, going more than five minutes without a bucket.
The Wolverines looked disjointed all half. There were uncharacteristic turnovers, like when Cadeau inbounded to L.J. Cason after a made Northwestern bucket, but he wasn’t ready and it went straight out of bounds. Or when Cadeau threw a cross-court pass to Lendeborg and it sailed way out of bounds over his head. Or when Mara was trapped in the corner, couldn’t find an outlet and double-dribbled.
Michigan also didn’t get any transition game going, scoring no fast-break points, as the bench also got outscored in an ugly half that Michigan lost, 44-35.
How did Michigan win?
The comeback began slow and methodically, but really changed when a foul on Mara was flipped to a hook-and-hold on Northwestern. Mara missed both freebies, but Lendeborg hit a layup to get within nine with 12:12 to play.
After an NU miss, U-M got its first transition points of the game, a corner 3 from McKenney. The rally continued as Michigan found its groove on both ends, with a lob from Cason to Johnson capping a 11-0 run to get within two, 60-58.
On the next trip, Morez Johnson came away with a steal, which led to an L.J. Cason runout that ended in a pair of free throws. After Johnson came away with a swat on the next possession, he sprinted the floor and caught a lob from Cason to cap an 11-0 run and get within two, 60-58.
Northwestern built its lead back to seven before Michigan took over for good.
Cason made a 3 and a pair of free throws before McKenney’s 3 gave U-M the lead. Lendeborg then tied the game with a free throw and took the lead with a layup before a pair of McKenney free throws and a Cason lob to Mara for the slam made it 75-69.
Northwestern suddenly looked stunned as Michigan made 11 straight field goals to build an 11-point lead with less than three minutes to play.
The Wildcats made just one of 13 3-pointers and shot just 30.8% from the floor after the break. Cason played a season-high 15 minutes in the second half and helped U-M flip this game and avoid catastrophe.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball score in crazy comeback win vs Northwestern