Michigan basketball opened the Mike Boynton era with a win, 84-68 over Oakland. The Wolverines didn't cover the spread, but they also didn't have Moustapha Thiam.
The result might not have been that much different if he were out there. He will be needed on Friday, though, against UConn.
Boynton has always been known for having strong defensive teams. That showed up on Monday night. The offense has some kinks to work out, but it was game one. Here are three takeaways from Michigan's first game of the 2026-27 season.
Defense did all of the things
It wasn't a perfect performance by any means. The Wolverines allowed Oakland to shoot 30 free throws. Michigan basketball allowed 21 offensive rebounds.
However, the Golden Grizzlies only had five assists on 20 field goals. They shot 31.7 percent from the field and just 23 percent from 3-point range. In the second half, Oakland was 1 of 15 from beyond the arc.
J.P. Estrella was called for five fouls in 21 minutes. He will need to watch that moving forward. Quinn Costello got four in 20. Part of that was just being overly aggressive. It allowed Oakland to score more points than it should have. Even so, the Grizzlies needed 22 free throws to score 67 points.
Michigan switched a lot of screens, on the ball and off the ball. That worked well, and what's encouraging is that the defense/rebounding will be even better with Thiam back in the lineup.
Estrella exceeded expectations
Let's not get carried away and say Estrella is going to be the next first-round pick for Michigan basketball in the frontcourt, but the 6-foot-11 transfer from Tennessee scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Estrella was an effective low-post scorer last season. He plays solid defense, even if he isn't a dynamic shot blocker, and he does fine switching onto guards; at least he did in this game.
Estrella showed more offensive awareness in this game, plus his five offensive rebounds show how good he is on that end of the floor. The big man made 7 of 8 shots inside the arc, and looked better than advertised in his first game in Ann Arbor.
3-point shooting was a struggle
Michigan had some rough moments shooting the ball last season, too, in the early going. The Wolverines got good looks from 3-point range on Monday; they just couldn't make them.
Quinn Costello hit three times from deep, but needed 10 attempts. Elliot Cadeau was 0-for-4. Oscar Goodman was 0-for-5. Trey McKenney made 3-for-6. He and Kenny Noland, who was 1-for-2, were the only players on the Michigan basketball team to shoot 50 percent for better from deep.
McKenney also pulled down four rebounds. It was inexplicable how some of the shots were missed. First-game jitters and rust will likely explain some of it, although this team shouldn't be as good from the perimeter this season unless Roddy Gayle, who scored 17 points, suddenly becomes a 35 percent shooter.
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