The extreme high of winning the Big Ten championship in Illinois was interrupted on Saturday with a massive blow to the Michigan basketball team in the form of a season-ending injury to L.J. Cason.
The former three-star recruit who followed Dusty May to Michigan basketball was really coming into his own. Jon Rothstein of CBS called him the best backup point guard in college basketball.
During Big Ten play, Cason was shooting 44.6 percent from 3-point range. He was averaging 11.8 points per game in his last eight games. He also averaged nearly three assists per game duing that time.
Cason was becoming a star. Now, Michigan basketball will have to find a way to win without him. The good news is that there is still a solid 8-man rotation, with Roddy Gayle and Trey McKenney coming off the bench.
The bad news is that one of them will have to be the backup point guard. McKenney is another bona fide star. So it's not that he can't do it, but it's a big transition with two games left in the regular season.
The entire rotation will be different. Multiple players will have to absorb his 18 minutes per game, and here are three players who need to step up the most for Michigan to win it all.
Trey McKenney
McKenney has a similar statistical profile to Cason. Their minutes have been similar in conference play, but Trey was already 5th on the team in minutes during Big Ten play. His role will only increase.
And he will need to play more with the ball. Cason averaged two assists per game during league play. McKenney is averaging 0.5. The playmaking needs to increase. He will also have to handle the ball more, which means taking care of it and not turning it over.
Not many teams can turn to a five-star to play more minutes when there is an injury. McKenney's role has been trending up, so it wouldn't be shocking to see a big chunk of those minutes absorbed by having McKenney on the court more.
He could easily be the Wolverines' best player next season. He's one of the best players on the team already, so him playing more is a comforting thought.
Elliot Cadeau
Cadeau is second on the team during conference play with 26.9 minutes played per game. That number is going to go way up. There could be NCAA tournament games where he plays 35 minutes.
It will be imperative for Cadeau to avoid foul trouble. That could turn into a nightmare scenario for the Wolverines. McKenney should be fine handling the ball, but freshman point guards struggle all the time. It's a different beast.
Yaxel could take on more ball-handling and initiate more on offense. But Cadeau will have to play more, and he will be near his best if Michigan is going to win it all. That was always the case, but now there is no backup plan.
Roddy Gayle needs to get going
Gayle is a streaky player. We saw what he could do last season against Texas A&M in the NCAA tournament. He also averaged 13 points per game as a sophomore for Ohio State. Gayle is a better playmaker than he's given credit for. The shot has been off, but maybe more minutes will help activate his offense.
Gayle is scoring 5.6 points per game in Big Ten play, while shooting 40 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range. He's also averaging 1.4 assists. The 3-point percentage and the assist number will need to go up, and if the senior can be efficient, it could help Michigan go all the way.