Morez Johnson Jr. makes ‘visible and invisible’ plays in 22-point performance against Rutgers

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After watching the No. 3 Michigan men’s basketball team drub Rutgers to open the Big Ten season, Wolverines coach Dusty May spent about two and a half minutes talking about sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. — significantly longer than any other player.

Yet, May could have gone on for longer.

“How much time do we have?” May said when asked to speak to Johnson’s game. “I can go until the hockey game starts talking about Rez, if you want me to, man. I, we, his teammates, we really appreciate that guy.”

With another 22-point performance against the Scarlet Knights, Johnson continues to score at a rate just behind projected first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg. Johnson now averages 14.3 poitns per game compared to Lendeborg’s 15.8. 

Johnson’s 22 included his first two makes, on two attempts, from range this season. Late in the first half, as junior guard Elliot Cadeau drove to the basket, Johnson’s defender dropped into the paint. Likely to that defender’s surprise, Cadeau found Johnson behind the arc.

“For him to knock down the threes, it’s a testament of his work,” May said. “As you could see when he raised up into it. I don’t think there was anyone thinking, ‘Oh, don’t do it.’ We’ve seen him shoot in practice, and as long as he’s shooting step-in threes, I think everyone’s confident.”

As May showed with center Vlad Goldin last year, he wants his team to be able to shoot one through five. Johnson obviously won’t be a high-volume guy, but that play was exactly where May wants Johnson to convert, especially with all the added benefits.

“And both times, Elliot put pressure on the rim, on the paint, and drew the five,” May said. “So it wasn’t as if he had to make a split-second decision. And I think that if teams have to be a little more skittish towards helping at the rim, then Elliot’s going to get more layups, and Yax is going to get more layups, as you saw in the second half. So there’s a chain reaction.”