Tuesday night's game between the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines and the Villanova Wildcats at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was practically over before the first half buzzer even sounded. By halftime, Michigan basketball was already enjoying a 30-point lead.
The second half was a much more even battle, with Villanova even outscoring Dusty May's squad by two points, 38-36, but that barely moved the needle, as the Wolverines came away with an 89-61 win to preserve their unbeaten record and improve it to 9-0 overall.
Despite the lopsided nature of the contest in favor of his team, May sounded far from satisfied.
“Are we marveling at the performance tonight? No, we know we’ve got to get a lot better,” May told reporters in the postgame press conference (via Zach Shaw of 247 Sports).
Michigan had a stretch of 15 straight points in the first half and went to the locker room at the half after a blazing stretch of 12 unanswered points. The Wolverines took the fight out of Villanova early and did just enough the rest of the way to maintain a huge and ultimately insurmountable lead.
Junior guard Elliot Cadeau led the way for Michigan basketball with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor, including four 3-pointers, while junior big man Aday Mara punished the Wildcats inside on his way to an 11-point night to go with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Michigan made a living in the shaded area, where the Wolverines outscored the Wildcats, 46-10.
The Wolverines, who recently crushed then-No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs, will shoot for their 10th win in the 2025-26 college basketball season and second in Big Ten play on Saturday, when they square off against the Maryland Terrapins at Elliot Cadeau in College Park, Maryland.
