After an eventful offseason in which the Michigan basketball team replaced its entire coaching staff, brought in 11 new players and established a completely new identity, the Wolverines made their first public appearance of the 2024-25 season in an exhibition game against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
Michigan, featuring a balanced offensive scoring attack, dominated from start to finish. The 92-48 victory won't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but Dusty May's squad sure passed the eye test on Sunday night.
In the early going, May's offensive plan of attack was to work inside. Michigan's first six points came in the paint, and Vlad Goldin was a key piece early on with four points.
After establishing its presence in the paint, Michigan opened up the floor with elite ball movement. Sam Walters and Nimari Burnett combined for three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to extend Michigan's lead to seven points with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half.
Freshman guard L.J. Cason, who earned a lot of hype coming into the season, got into the 3-point barrage two possessions later.
By the end of the first half, eight Wolverines had scored at least three points. Michigan shot 60 percent from the floor and 53.3 percent from beyond the arc in the first half to take a 48-26 lead over the Golden Grizzlies.
In the second half, May didn't call off the wolves. Interested in learning how his team of newcomers adjust to a completely new team, May stuck with what appears to be the typical rotations.
At the under-8 media timeout in the second half, freshman guard Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks checked into the game for his first action as a Wolverine. Late in the second half, Brooks recorded his first points as a Wolverine.
Cason and Burnett each added a 3-pointers late to stretch Michigan's lead to nearly 50. At that point, May inserted the walk-ons. The Wolverines will play one more exhibition game against Toledo on Friday, Oct. 25 at Crisler Center before the regular season begins.
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