At the Buzzer: Michigan 84, Oakland 68

Rapid reactions to Michigan’s 84-68 win over Oakland in season opener.

The Moment

With time running out on the first half, Elliot Cadeau pushed the pace and flipped a pass to Roddy Gayle Jr., who was cutting from the corner. Gayle threw down a monstrous alley-oop that ignited the crowd before halftime.

The play was exciting, but more importantly, it capped a 7-0 Wolverines run going into halftime. Michigan executed a two-for-one at the end of the half, stealing an extra possession and turning it into an exclamation point to build off of. It also showed the Wolverines’ ability to play with pace as a strength throughout the game, and running in transition was their most effective way of curtailing Oakland’s zone. The Wolverines outscored Oakland 19-0 in transition points.

The Cadeau-to-Gayle connection will be an important part of Michigan’s offense this season. Gayle’s eligibility situation kept him out of the first two exhibitions, but his two-handed jam was one of the first looks at what the duo has in store for this season, and it also provided the Wolverines a little extra juice as they headed to the locker room.

The Takeaway

Michigan’s frontcourt looked better as the game went on.

With Moustapha Thiam ruled out due to illness, the Wolverines were forced to start Oscar Goodman at the 5. While Goodman and the rest of the frontcourt started a little slow, Michigan figured its paint presence out by the end of the first half.

The Golden Grizzlies are a much smaller team than the Wolverines — their tallest player to record minutes was 6-foot-9 — and Michigan’s size began to lean on them as the game went on.

In limited minutes, Jalen Reed had eight boards and six points, and JP Estrella was effective on the offensive glass, finding soft spots in the Golden Grizzlies’ scheme.

Last season, the Wolverines benefited from Morez Johnson Jr. going 10-for-11 and dominating down low. While that same type of performance wasn’t replicated this season, Estrella gave his best effort with a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double.

The extra minutes from the Wolverines’ frontcourt are important reps for instances where Thiam is limited by foul trouble.

The Star

In lieu of Thiam’s absence, Estrella was the shining star on Michigan’s frontcourt on Monday. With Oakland’s zone’s inherent weakness down low, Estrella was called upon to take advantage.

Just a rebound shy of a double-double in the first half, Estrella found his footing early. He dominated the boards, finishing with 12 rebounds — 5 on the offensive glass. Estrella extended possessions with tip-outs, either setting up teammates for open looks from three or giving his guards a fresh shot clock to reset the offense.

Estrella also ran the floor incredibly well. After utilizing long, baseball-style passes to great success last year, Michigan looked to push the ball up the court to Estrella numerous times on Monday.

While Estrella fouled out late in the second half, his play was exceptional in the first.

The Stat

Throughout its first regular-season game and three exhibitions, Michigan made it clear its offense will be heavily predicated on the 3-ball this year: The Wolverines attempted at least 30 three-pointers in each game.

That trend continued against the Golden Grizzlies, but the volume didn’t translate into success. Shooting just 20% from deep on Monday, Michigan was largely ineffective from deep.

Sharpshooting Quinn Costello and Trey McKenney hit three 3-pointers each, but it wasn’t enough to offset the rest of the Wolverines’ woes from deep. The Wolverines finished the game 7-of-34 from deep, and Kenny Noland was the only other player to hit a three.

Michigan has proven its inclination to live and die by the three. But to be sustainable, it will need to either improve its success rate or find other ways to score.

Four Factors