In last year's season opener, Michigan basketball breezed to a 121-78 victory over the Oakland Grizzlies. It was the first of nine times that Michigan broke the 100-point barrier. Monday night, they replicated that same feeling inside the Crisler Center with less fanfare. There were a lot of new faces to meet, and the Wolverines only won by half the margin that they did nearly 365 days ago.
The biggest difference was the absence of the best coach in Michigan basketball history. New head coach Mike Boynton Jr. lost to Oakland in Stillwater five years ago. One year later, he played the Grizzlies again and learned his lesson by beating them by 30. His leash in Ann Arbor will be much shorter if he struggles, and because of that troubling past at Oklahoma State.
Plenty of similarities between this season-opening win and last year's
Some similarities came full circle on Monday night in Crisler, though. JP Estrella notched a double-double, just like Aday Mara recorded to start his Wolverine career. Trey McKinney has to love playing Oakland because he has scored 38 points in two wins against the Grizzlies. He poured in 36 total points against the Buckeyes in three meetings last season, which was the most he has scored when playing against a single opponent.
Also of note, Yaxel Lendeborg came off the bench, sort of like Moustapha Thiam sitting out because of the flu. Coach Boynton proclaimed that he should be available on Friday night in Boston. Elliot Cadeau pitched in 20 assists in the two victories, but he's only scored 12 combined points in both matchups.
Other first impressions that arose from the Boynton debut included the audience getting to meet Quinn Costello. If Roddy Gayle is ruled ineligible, Costello is an option to step into the starting lineup and give opposing defenses fits with his sharp shooting. Some might even compare him to the Big Ten network's Nik Stauskas. He just has to stay out of foul trouble, moving along. In fact, Estrella fouled out in just 21 minutes.
Had Thiam played, Michigan basketball would have won this game by about 25 or 30. He's good for double digits almost every night. Another possibility would be Brandon McCoy if he were healthy. His presence would ease the loss of Gayle, if he is eventually ruled unable to participate.
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