11/12/2026 12:03:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
00:00:00 Brian Boesch
It's November in college basketball.
00:00:02 Brian Boesch
At this point, many teams are still trying to get a feel for their clubs, what the potential is, what their strengths and weaknesses are.
00:00:10 Brian Boesch
For Michigan entering Wednesday night, I believe they were still trying to be in a position to get a feel for the team.
00:00:17 Brian Boesch
From the late coaching change to inconsistent availability in the summer and fall from an injury standpoint, with the Brandon McCoy Jr. injury over the summer trip being the most pivotal aspect of it, to an unfortunately timed illness for Moustapha Thiam last week in the short term.
00:00:34 Brian Boesch
For the first time, what you saw on Wednesday night is what you'll likely get this season, barring injury or NCAA-sponsored success in the courtroom impacting Roddy Gayle Jr. or Kenny Noland.
00:00:46 Brian Boesch
Now, moving forward, we can get a handle for what this team can become.
00:00:51 Brian Boesch
And don't get me wrong, other teams can and will get better just because you are now eligible to get that feel for your club doesn't mean that you're the only team that can really start to soar.
00:01:02 Brian Boesch
But Michigan is just now, in my opinion, ripe for the type of improvement that has the full foundation at its disposal.
00:01:10 Brian Boesch
And while there's plenty to work on, this was a tremendous first step.
00:01:14 Brian Boesch
First, you see that two-way potential for Thiam, who was sorely missed against Oakland and far from 100% against UConn.
00:01:21 Brian Boesch
He said he was about 60% for that game.
00:01:25 Brian Boesch
You saw what this team can get going offensively when the outside shot is falling and likely the 2 for 11 first half will get a little bit closer to the 9 of 16 second half.
00:01:35 Brian Boesch
They'll meet in the middle more times than not.
00:01:38 Brian Boesch
Elliot Cadeau, what a brilliant performance.
00:01:40 Brian Boesch
17 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
00:01:43 Brian Boesch
Quinn Costello continues to show that he is an NBA level shooter.
00:01:47 Brian Boesch
We could go on and on and there were things that certainly Michigan can probably depend more upon.
00:01:53 Brian Boesch
Trey McKenney probably won't have many
00:01:55 Brian Boesch
games where he starts shooting as poorly as he did, but he had kind of the back-to-back dagger, those two threes at the same spot on the floor that really ended this thing.
00:02:06 Brian Boesch
But this was an important step for Michigan for several reasons.
00:02:09 Brian Boesch
Of course, first to build upon this foundation, that fully formed one from a roster standpoint.
00:02:16 Brian Boesch
But also this was the only non-conference game at home for Michigan that will resonate come selection Sunday.
00:02:21 Brian Boesch
I think Marquette has a chance to be a pretty darn good ball club and certainly their reigning Big East freshman of the year, Nigel James Jr., won't go scoreless much, if at all, again this season.
00:02:32 Brian Boesch
We're a long way from talking about NCAA tournament resumes and all of that, but as you look ahead, neutral site games dot this schedule moving forward.
00:02:41 Brian Boesch
There's a road test at Villanova coming up in a week and a half.
00:02:45 Brian Boesch
This was a chance, the lone chance in non-conference play with a home crowd behind you to pick up a win that will be pretty darn close to front and center on your NCAA tournament resume.
00:02:57 Brian Boesch
The foundational part is important.
00:02:58 Brian Boesch
Don't get me wrong.
00:02:59 Brian Boesch
That's the more important piece to this.
00:03:01 Brian Boesch
But Michigan, taking care of business at home against a good team.
00:03:06 Brian Boesch
That was great.
00:03:07 Brian Boesch
And the fans got a full glimpse of what this team could become for the first time.
00:03:13 Brian Boesch
We have guests aplenty to break down Michigan's 14-point win over Marquette from Wednesday night.
00:03:19 Brian Boesch
Let's break it down right here on Defend the Block.
[music builds]
00:03:21 Jeff Laurence
We're talking Michigan basketball.
00:03:23 Jeff Laurence
Welcome to Defend the Block, where we'll take you inside the basketball programs with interviews, analysis, and so much more.
00:03:31 Jeff Laurence
Now here's your host, Brian Boesch.
00:03:35 Brian Boesch
A 49 point second half.
00:03:38 Brian Boesch
I mentioned the 56% shooting 9 of 16 from deep after halftime.
00:03:43 Brian Boesch
And J.P. Estrella and Moustapha Thiam, two guys who have done a ton of practicing with one another against one another over the summer and into the fall.
00:03:53 Brian Boesch
But this was one of their first junctures.
00:03:55 Brian Boesch
Remember, Thiam went down in the first quarter of the first game out in Lithuania back over the summer.
00:04:04 Brian Boesch
And then of course, Cham
00:04:05 Brian Boesch
was not himself against UConn and did not play against Oakland.
00:04:10 Brian Boesch
So seeing those two work off one another, see what they contribute, I mean those guys combined for 27 points and 20 rebounds in 58 minutes of action.
00:04:20 Brian Boesch
That'll play.
00:04:21 Brian Boesch
And Michigan will not have and probably never will have again the type of upside and the type of just raw talent that they had in that front court last year of Yaks, Adai, and Mahrez were learning that in the NBA here over the first month or so of the NBA season.
00:04:39 Brian Boesch
But what Cham
00:04:40 Brian Boesch
and Estrella can provide allows for more flexibility and I think more of what Elliot Kiddo truly wants to be.
00:04:49 Brian Boesch
EC can score 17 points and he's going to have to score 17 plus points at times this season.
00:04:54 Brian Boesch
But having the type of four and five men that Estrella and Thiam can be and what they showed on Wednesday, that unlocks so much because I've remained steadfast.
00:05:04 Brian Boesch
This starting lineup
00:05:06 Brian Boesch
can be elite in college basketball.
00:05:08 Brian Boesch
It can be one of the best in college basketball.
00:05:10 Brian Boesch
As we'll talk about with a few guests here moving forward, the bench still needs to be refined.
00:05:15 Brian Boesch
Right now, Quinn Costello is the one guy who has a locked in, truly impactful role for long periods of time.
00:05:23 Brian Boesch
I think we know what Kenny Noland's responsibilities will be.
00:05:27 Brian Boesch
And guys like Ricky Liburd and Oscar Goodman and Jalen Reed, we'll see how they come along.
00:05:32 Brian Boesch
But a good, solid foundational win for Michigan, they get it done over Marquette 84 to 70.
00:05:38 Brian Boesch
Those are some of my thoughts.
00:05:40 Brian Boesch
Let's bring in the national champion.
00:05:42 Brian Boesch
He was back with us on Wednesday night.
00:05:43 Brian Boesch
Terry Mills caught up with Rob Joyce.
00:05:45 Rob Joyce
Terry, I know Marquette eventually scored 70 points.
00:05:47 Rob Joyce
Let's talk about the defense though.
00:05:48 Rob Joyce
Marquette started both halves, 2 of 10 shooting.
00:05:51 Rob Joyce
There was a lot, I mean their best player didn't have a point tonight.
00:05:54 Rob Joyce
Nigel James Jr.
00:05:55 Rob Joyce
was 0 for 11.
00:05:56 Rob Joyce
It seems that especially with Thiam down there, that defense came to play really from the opening tip.
00:06:01 Terry Mills
They did.
00:06:02 Terry Mills
And you know, it was kind of one of those all gas, no breaks, if you will.
00:06:05 Terry Mills
I mean, Michigan was really dialed in defensively.
00:06:09 Terry Mills
I think that's the type of team that we're going to be going forward because Coach Boynton is a defensive minded coach and that's where he expects his players to play and it was on display here today.
00:06:20 Rob Joyce
They're coming off a loss on Friday.
00:06:22 Rob Joyce
Marquette, after really doing nothing for what the opening 8, 9 minutes in a flash, they go on a run.
00:06:26 Rob Joyce
You wonder, okay, Michigan's down 7.
00:06:28 Rob Joyce
How are they going to respond?
00:06:30 Rob Joyce
Well, they scored 20 of the last 25 of the first half.
00:06:32 Rob Joyce
They come out of halftime with their hair on fire from three-point range.
00:06:35 Rob Joyce
That was quite the response for this team.
00:06:38 Terry Mills
Yes, it was.
00:06:38 Terry Mills
I mean, coaches always talk about coming in the second half about how important those first 5 minutes of the second half is in a ball game of this magnitude.
00:06:49 Terry Mills
You want to be the first one to throw the first punch, hit them in the mouth first, and let's see how they respond.
00:06:53 Terry Mills
And Michigan just never really let up.
00:06:56 Terry Mills
I mean,
00:06:57 Terry Mills
You got to understand the way that the Golden Eagles play.
00:07:00 Terry Mills
They're going to press, they're going to get after you.
00:07:02 Terry Mills
They're never going to be out of a ball game.
00:07:04 Terry Mills
So Michigan has a few things they need to brush up on, but I love the way they responded after a loss to UConn.
00:07:11 Rob Joyce
Well, Akeem Miskdeen at halftime said J.P. Estrella, wow.
00:07:15 Rob Joyce
Would you like to elaborate a little further, 18 points, 8 rebounds.
00:07:18 Terry Mills
Yeah, while I was right because the way he set the tone in this ball game, he's not a player that you pretty much run plays for or call his numbers.
00:07:27 Terry Mills
He gets a lot of his off the glass.
00:07:29 Terry Mills
He scraps.
00:07:30 Terry Mills
He's just that blue collar worker.
00:07:31 Terry Mills
I mean, he gets a lot on pick and roll actions, but I tell you what, he's the heart of this team, if you ask me.
00:07:40 Terry Mills
I said during the broadcast that he was the steal of the portal, in my opinion.
00:07:46 Terry Mills
And I said that before.
00:07:48 Terry Mills
Coach said, wow, just to let you know that J.P. is, he's the real deal.
00:07:54 Rob Joyce
Elliot Cadeau with a triple-double, 17, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, but how about Trey?
00:07:58 Rob Joyce
He's had a tough shooting night.
00:07:59 Rob Joyce
He was 6-17, had a tough first half against UConn, but his ability to do a lot of different things.
00:08:04 Rob Joyce
He had five rebounds, he had four assists, and then towards the end, seeing him make some unselfish plays, that shot starts to go, and him affecting the game in other ways is nice to see.
00:08:12 Terry Mills
Yeah, well, he's a winner, and I always say that he's going to get it going no matter what.
00:08:18 Terry Mills
You've seen that explosion he had in the second half against UConn, only having two points at halftime.
00:08:24 Terry Mills
bouncing back with 20 in the second half.
00:08:26 Terry Mills
And it's just a matter of time.
00:08:28 Terry Mills
I mean, you can't keep him off the floor because he does so many other things to affect the ball game.
00:08:33 Terry Mills
Just his leadership alone, he's a winner, as I said.
00:08:37 Terry Mills
I have no doubt that he'll get it going and he did down the stretch.
00:08:41 Rob Joyce
Absolutely.
00:08:41 Rob Joyce
Good stuff, Terry.
00:08:42 Rob Joyce
We'll talk Sunday for William & Mary.
00:08:43 Terry Mills
Thanks a lot.
00:08:44 Brian Boesch
To our post-game interviews, we start with the head coach, Mike Boynton Junior.
00:08:48 Brian Boesch
Start with the three-point shooting.
00:08:50 Brian Boesch
Two of 11 from the three-point line in the first half and that had been a struggle in the first two games.
00:08:55 Brian Boesch
Nine of 16 in the second half.
00:08:57 Brian Boesch
Was anything particular or were your shots just falling?
00:09:00 Mike Boynton Jr.
I just think part of this is, you know, giving guys some grace to
00:09:04 Mike Boynton Jr.
over the course of time, finding rhythm.
00:09:06 Mike Boynton Jr.
And tonight our guys stuck with the game plan of playing fast and continuing to hunt what we grade as A-shots.
00:09:12 Mike Boynton Jr.
We took a lot of really good shots in the first half.
00:09:14 Mike Boynton Jr.
They didn't go.
00:09:15 Mike Boynton Jr.
And the thought is, well, we should stop shooting.
00:09:17 Mike Boynton Jr.
Well, that's the strength of our team.
00:09:19 Mike Boynton Jr.
And so we got to get Quinn good shots.
00:09:20 Mike Boynton Jr.
We got to get Trey good shots.
00:09:21 Mike Boynton Jr.
And the more we find good rhythm over the course of the season, it'll play out exactly the way we want.
00:09:25 Mike Boynton Jr.
And we'll shoot the ball more like we did in the second half tonight than we did in the first half.
00:09:30 Brian Boesch
Yeah, obviously the three-point shooting the story in the second half.
00:09:32 Brian Boesch
The first half, you guys were able to grind out a
00:09:34 Brian Boesch
20 to 5 finish.
00:09:35 Brian Boesch
What stood out in that final four or five minutes?
00:09:38 Mike Boynton Jr.
Just our relentlessness defensively.
00:09:40 Mike Boynton Jr.
We have very few scout report breakdowns.
00:09:43 Mike Boynton Jr.
I throw our bigs dominated the defensive backboard, which gave us a tremendous opportunity to get out and get in transition and get some easy baskets, even though our shots weren't falling.
00:09:51 Brian Boesch
Akeem Miskdeen told Terry Mills at halftime.
00:09:53 Brian Boesch
J.P. Estrella, wow.
00:09:55 Brian Boesch
I know that's an eloquent answer there from Akeem.
00:09:57 Brian Boesch
What else did you see from JP?
00:09:59 Brian Boesch
A third straight game where he was arguably the best player on the floor.
00:10:03 Mike Boynton Jr.
Yeah, just that.
00:10:03 Mike Boynton Jr.
His consistency.
00:10:04 Mike Boynton Jr.
He's the same guy every single day, which gives you great confidence that you know exactly what you're getting from one spot on the floor.
00:10:11 Mike Boynton Jr.
And we can get more guys like that where you can expect the rebound and the communication defensively, the playmaking like Elliot was tonight, the better you feel like your team can perform on a consistent basis.
00:10:23 Brian Boesch
Moustapha told me pregame, he said he was about 60% for UConn, not all there.
00:10:27 Brian Boesch
And there were a few shots I'm sure he'd like to have back, but nine points, 12 rebounds, several blocks.
00:10:31 Brian Boesch
It seemed like he had his fingerprints on this game.
00:10:35 Brian Boesch
How did he impact it so much?
00:10:36 Mike Boynton Jr.
Yeah, Moustapha's a guy who can truly change the game without scoring.
00:10:40 Mike Boynton Jr.
And there's very few guys like that.
00:10:42 Mike Boynton Jr.
But his defensive intensity from the start of the game, really throughout, gave us a real presence at the rim and it made them second guess their shot opportunities at the basket.
00:10:53 Mike Boynton Jr.
Certainly similar but different than what we had last year.
00:10:56 Mike Boynton Jr.
But you felt like you had somebody that could really, really, make it difficult for the other team to score easy baskets.
00:11:02 Mike Boynton Jr.
And Moustapha provided that for us tonight.
00:11:04 Brian Boesch
Seems like you guys defensively made it hard on them.
00:11:06 Brian Boesch
Porter had a few long threes.
00:11:08 Brian Boesch
You have to kind of tip your cap there.
00:11:09 Brian Boesch
But Nigel James Jr., 0 for 11, did not score.
00:11:13 Brian Boesch
What was critical in slowing him down?
00:11:15 Mike Boynton Jr.
Yeah, we talked about as a group, we've got to start playing better against the other team's top players.
00:11:20 Mike Boynton Jr.
We struggled with that in our first couple games.
00:11:23 Mike Boynton Jr.
namely Silas and Braylon Mullins in our last game.
00:11:25 Mike Boynton Jr.
And I think our guards took it personal that they wanted to win that matchup collectively, and tonight they certainly did.
00:11:31 Brian Boesch
Lastly, the crowd, we saw you fist pump a few times.
00:11:34 Brian Boesch
What was the atmosphere like tonight?
00:11:35 Mike Boynton Jr.
It was awesome.
00:11:37 Mike Boynton Jr.
When you have a team that has high expectations, you need a supportive fan base to rally around you when you're not necessarily playing your best.
00:11:45 Mike Boynton Jr.
And our response from our team losing the other night, along with the fans' energy in the building, gave us an opportunity to play the way we played today.
00:11:52 Brian Boesch
Appreciate you, coach. Congrats.
00:11:53 Mike Boynton Jr.
Thank you.
00:11:55 Brian Boesch
Two players to chat with.
00:11:56 Brian Boesch
First, here is leading scorer, J.P. Estrella.
00:11:59 Brian Boesch
You and Moustapha haven't played a ton together against opponents.
00:12:02 Brian Boesch
What was it like here tonight?
00:12:03 J.P. Estrella
Yeah, no, I felt good.
00:12:04 J.P. Estrella
I mean, me and Moose been practicing.
00:12:05 J.P. Estrella
We each other the whole summer.
00:12:06 J.P. Estrella
It's finally good to finally get a lot of minutes together and really just get the thing rolling between us two.
00:12:11 Brian Boesch
What changed late first half into the early second half?
00:12:13 Brian Boesch
You guys started or finished the first half 20 to 5 and then you guys really pulled away in the start of the second half.
00:12:19 J.P. Estrella
Yeah, I mean, we just had a good run.
00:12:20 J.P. Estrella
That's something we've been talking about and I feel like it's something that's going to keep translating every single game.
00:12:24 Brian Boesch
For this defense, there were waves where we saw the dominance they could provide.
00:12:28 Brian Boesch
What was key when you guys were really humming defensively?
00:12:30 J.P. Estrella
We were just talking A lot.
00:12:31 J.P. Estrella
We were doing a really good job in our switches, doing a really good job in our ball screen coverages, and just doing a good job cleaning up the glass when they were missing shots.
00:12:37 Brian Boesch
Quinn was five of six from three.
00:12:39 Brian Boesch
When he's going like that, what does that unlock for everybody else?
00:12:42 J.P. Estrella
A ton of stuff.
00:12:42 J.P. Estrella
I mean, he's known to be one of the best shooters.
00:12:44 J.P. Estrella
I've seen it.
00:12:45 J.P. Estrella
He's one of the best shooters in the country.
00:12:47 J.P. Estrella
He shows that.
00:12:47 J.P. Estrella
I'm glad he's finally starting to make his shots because I know he's ready for it to start falling.
00:12:52 J.P. Estrella
We're super happy for him to keep this thing going.
00:12:53 J.P. Estrella
And when he makes those shots, he makes our job easier.
00:12:55 J.P. Estrella
Don't got to rebound much.
00:12:57 Brian Boesch
And lastly, Elliot, he wears his emotions on his sleeve.
00:13:00 Brian Boesch
I know he's got some bumps and bruises, but he was so good finding you guys.
00:13:04 Brian Boesch
How did he elevate everybody?
00:13:05 J.P. Estrella
Yeah, I mean, he sees the best point guard in the country, no doubt about it.
00:13:08 J.P. Estrella
He just does such a good job of playmaking when he gets downhill and then when he gets downhill he gets a great job going on the rim and he's just a great leader for us and continue to do that every single game for us.
00:13:15 Brian Boesch
Congrats, buddy.
00:13:16 J.P. Estrella
Yes, sir.
00:13:16 J.P. Estrella
Thank you.
00:13:17 Brian Boesch
Now let's visit with Michigan sophomore Trey McKenney.
00:13:19 Brian Boesch
Let's start with the impact that the bigs had.
00:13:21 Brian Boesch
J.P. Estrella, one of your good buddies and Moustapha Thiam with outstanding performances.
00:13:26 Brian Boesch
How did they help you?
00:13:27 Brian Boesch
you guys tonight.
00:13:29 Trey McKenney
Yeah, man.
00:13:30 Trey McKenney
I think when our front court is that dominant in the paint and they're getting touches and affecting shots on defense and getting defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds and altering a lot of shots.
00:13:41 Trey McKenney
I mean, I feel like we're a really good ball club when they're involved and they have that type of impact on the game.
00:13:48 Trey McKenney
I think we'll be really good this year.
00:13:50 Brian Boesch
You guys were 2 of 11 from 3 in the first half, 9 of 16 in the second half.
00:13:54 Brian Boesch
Was there a big change or were shots just falling?
00:13:58 Trey McKenney
I felt like we were generating some good shots on offense during the first half.
00:14:03 Trey McKenney
Myself included, I think they just weren't falling in the second half.
00:14:06 Trey McKenney
They happened to fall.
00:14:08 Trey McKenney
At times, shots aren't going to fall, but when our paint presence is that dominant like it was tonight, then we'll be fine.
00:14:15 Brian Boesch
You again, you talked about early on the season adjusting to this new role, being at the very top of scouts.
00:14:22 Brian Boesch
How are you able to impact winning even when that shot's not falling?
00:14:26 Brian Boesch
How are you trying to focus on other elements of the game?
00:14:29 Trey McKenney
I think I improved tonight with just, you know, even when my shot wasn't falling, I was trying to make plays for others and trying to set others up on offense and, you know, just being more effective on defense as well.
00:14:40 Trey McKenney
But I think tonight I had a really good all-around game.
00:14:44 Brian Boesch
Lastly, you guys held James scoreless.
00:14:46 Brian Boesch
Obviously, a few other guys got theirs, but it seemed like that was a focal point.
00:14:50 Brian Boesch
Why were you guys so successful there?
00:14:52 Trey McKenney
Yeah, I mean, he's one of the best players in the Big East.
00:14:54 Trey McKenney
So if we couldn't contain him, then it was going to be a long night.
00:14:57 Trey McKenney
So we knew we had to step it up with listening to our scout and putting our scout on the floor and just trying to pay attention to that.
00:15:05 Trey McKenney
And I think our coaches did a really good job of just motivating us and helping us through that.
00:15:09 Brian Boesch
I appreciate it, man.
00:15:10 Brian Boesch
Congrats.
00:15:11 Trey McKenney
Thank you.
00:15:11 Brian Boesch
We had another YouTube stream on Wednesday night.
00:15:14 Brian Boesch
You can check the full conversation that former Wolverine Tim McCormick and I had.
00:15:19 Brian Boesch
But here is our conversation with Akeem Miskedine, one of the Wolverines assistants on the scout Wednesday night.
00:15:26 Brian Boesch
Great chat that Tim kicked off with Coach 'Keem.
00:15:29 Tim McCormick
I'm really curious.
00:15:31 Tim McCormick
I see that on the bench you're holding up a sign 15.
00:15:36 Tim McCormick
I assume that's
00:15:38 Tim McCormick
were switching pick and rolls one through five.
00:15:41 Tim McCormick
Is that accurate?
00:15:42 Akeem Miskdeen
Switching everything one through five.
00:15:44 Tim McCormick
Yeah, so that's something that was really encouraging to me because if J.P. and Quinn and Moustapha can cover guards, you guys are going to have a really good defense.
00:15:59 Akeem Miskdeen
It was very encouraging.
00:16:00 Akeem Miskdeen
One thing that we were concerned about was the guards driving baseline, potentially getting J.P. in trouble because he's switching and also getting Quinn in trouble because we're switching.
00:16:10 Akeem Miskdeen
But our guys did a good job of keeping off the baseline and we had a few wrinkles that disrupted Marquette tonight and it really helped us.
00:16:19 Tim McCormick
I really like Nigel James.
00:16:21 Tim McCormick
Did he just have
00:16:23 Tim McCormick
a once in a lifetime type night where he couldn't make anything.
00:16:27 Tim McCormick
He's 0 for 11 or what did you do defensively that just took him out?
00:16:33 Akeem Miskdeen
So they run the pistol action and we trapped the sideline.
00:16:37 Akeem Miskdeen
His first possession was a trap and we turned him over.
00:16:40 Akeem Miskdeen
So he had that in his head and that's their main action for him.
00:16:43 Akeem Miskdeen
Then I think Moose blocking a couple shots early.
00:16:46 Akeem Miskdeen
I think they made their team kind of timid at the rim.
00:16:49 Akeem Miskdeen
So credit to Moose and credit to our guys for sticking to the game plan.
00:16:53 Akeem Miskdeen
trapping the sidelines with Nigel James.
00:16:55 Tim McCormick
All right, Brian, back to your show.
00:16:57 Brian Boesch
Oh, no, you're part of it, man.
00:16:59 Brian Boesch
Come on.
00:16:59 Brian Boesch
I'm just I'm just riding, riding shotgun.
00:17:02 Brian Boesch
I'm loving it.
00:17:03 Brian Boesch
Yeah, last year, 26 of 32 games for James, he had 10 or more points scoreless in this ballgame.
00:17:09 Brian Boesch
I want to go back to halftime.
00:17:11 Brian Boesch
Akeem had the best quote of the night.
00:17:13 Brian Boesch
Terry Mills asked him about, I think it was just kind of overall thoughts of the first half and Akeem goes, J.P. Estrella, wow.
00:17:22 Brian Boesch
He's been phenomenal through three games, Akeem.
00:17:24 Brian Boesch
And I know in talking to you all and watching practices leading up through the season, the expectations were pretty high for JP.
00:17:31 Brian Boesch
But did you expect this quickly where he's basically averaging a double double?
00:17:37 Akeem Miskdeen
Yeah, because J.P. averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds at 18 minutes a game at Tennessee.
00:17:42 Akeem Miskdeen
So we just thought with his minutes doubling that those points would increase and the rebounds would increase.
00:17:48 Akeem Miskdeen
So we have high expectations for J.P.
00:17:51 Akeem Miskdeen
That's why we wanted to get him in the portal.
00:17:55 Tim McCormick
Yeah, and I also think the value of how hard he runs is that he occupies a guard that should be covering a trailer at the three-point line.
00:18:04 Tim McCormick
You guys are going to get a lot of wide open shots.
00:18:07 Tim McCormick
I can see Trey McKinney just, you know, making three or four threes a game just by J.P. running that hard.
00:18:14 Akeem Miskdeen
Yes, we call them invisible plays and J.P. makes the invisible play by running to the rim and he has a defense converting on him and they lose sight of guys like Trey and Quinn that are running to the corners.
00:18:28 Brian Boesch
Quinn was five of six from three.
00:18:32 Brian Boesch
Coach Boynton said a few days back, Quinn doesn't want to be known as a chucker, but I just asked this to Tim, this team is better when Quinn Costello is hunting threes, isn't it?
00:18:42 Akeem Miskdeen
Yes, And he doesn't want to be known as a checker, but we tell him like, and our team knows he has a green light and our team wants him to shoot.
00:18:48 Akeem Miskdeen
They get excited.
00:18:49 Akeem Miskdeen
I think it juices our team up when he makes threes.
00:18:51 Akeem Miskdeen
So when he has an open look, we ask him to shoot it.
00:18:54 Akeem Miskdeen
When he has someone running at him and they shot fake, you know, one bounce three, we ask him to shoot those.
00:18:59 Akeem Miskdeen
And our guys, as long as our team feel good about it, and they do, and everyone's going to feel good about it.
00:19:04 Tim McCormick
The 20 to 5 run, you had your big lineup.
00:19:08 Tim McCormick
And, but I think the biggest key was when you've got Trey McKenney and Quinn Costello on the court together, you know who had a big smile on his face is Elliot Cadeau because he knew he was going to get wherever he wants.
00:19:22 Tim McCormick
You could have drove a truck through the lane.
00:19:25 Tim McCormick
Like he had so much more space because the shooters were on the court.
00:19:30 Tim McCormick
And then J.P. makes a three also.
00:19:33 Tim McCormick
The spacing was the best I've seen this year.
00:19:36 Akeem Miskdeen
Yes.
00:19:37 Akeem Miskdeen
If you go back to Oakland and UConn, we had open looks.
00:19:40 Akeem Miskdeen
We've been missing it.
00:19:41 Akeem Miskdeen
Like Elliot can easily be averaging 10 to 12 assists.
00:19:45 Akeem Miskdeen
We miss a ton of open looks and those looks we make in practice.
00:19:48 Akeem Miskdeen
So we believe in those shots that those open shots that Quinn and Trey are taking.
00:19:53 Akeem Miskdeen
And a lot of people don't know this J.P. was a stretch 4 in high school.
00:19:56 Akeem Miskdeen
So we knew coming in what type of player he was and because we saw him in high school, he made threes in high school.
00:20:03 Akeem Miskdeen
So that definitely opens up the lane for Elliot to get downhill and to draw
00:20:07 Akeem Miskdeen
draw 2 as a kick it or to finish.
00:20:10 Tim McCormick
I have another question if I could.
00:20:15 Tim McCormick
The starters, phenomenal.
00:20:17 Tim McCormick
We're going to need some more bench production.
00:20:20 Tim McCormick
How do you generate that?
00:20:21 Tim McCormick
Because the starters are so good, it's hard to take them off the court.
00:20:24 Tim McCormick
I think you had 10 men play today.
00:20:29 Tim McCormick
Who's most likely going to be that bench spark?
00:20:33 Tim McCormick
And I keep pointing to Ricky Lyberg because I've seen him practice enough that I think he can really shoot the ball and his shots all over the place right now.
00:20:42 Tim McCormick
How do you get him wired to start knocking down shots?
00:20:47 Akeem Miskdeen
Just more reps.
00:20:48 Akeem Miskdeen
Sometimes we forget that Ricky, Oscar,
00:20:52 Akeem Miskdeen
This is their first time actually having a big time role for a team at this level, at this, we're trying to win and compete for championships.
00:21:00 Akeem Miskdeen
So just reps in the game, like they got to get more comfortable within the game.
00:21:04 Akeem Miskdeen
Kenny hasn't played against this type of competition every night.
00:21:07 Akeem Miskdeen
So he has to get reps.
00:21:08 Akeem Miskdeen
Like I remember talking to Kenny about the closeouts.
00:21:10 Akeem Miskdeen
He's like, yeah, the closeouts a little different.
00:21:12 Akeem Miskdeen
You know, closeout from the Ivy League and the Big East is different.
00:21:16 Akeem Miskdeen
Then J-Reed is still, you know, trying to get 100% healthy and he'll be backs, but he'll be back committed.
00:21:22 Akeem Miskdeen
And the only way they can get better is the reps in the game.
00:21:25 Akeem Miskdeen
So hopefully we can have more reps for them and hopefully they can gain more confidence with the reps.
00:21:31 Brian Boesch
Where did Moustapha's return impact things the most beyond just the obvious of him coming close to a double double?
00:21:38 Brian Boesch
Where on the periphery did his impact show up the most to you?
00:21:42 Akeem Miskdeen
I'll just say on the defensive end, I mean, Moustapha has a chance to be one of the best defensive bigs in the league.
00:21:48 Akeem Miskdeen
I mean, he had three blocks and what,
00:21:51 Akeem Miskdeen
12 rebounds, 11 defensive rebounds.
00:21:53 Akeem Miskdeen
So I think rebounding, you go back to our exhibition against Houston, we were out rebounding like it almost felt like every game we were out rebounding, even against Oakland, we didn't have them.
00:22:03 Akeem Miskdeen
I think rebounding and defending, he should be competing for defensive MVP in our league.
00:22:10 Tim McCormick
I had the privilege of playing with Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing.
00:22:16 Tim McCormick
And I always felt like when they were behind me, I didn't really worry as much on defense.
00:22:21 Tim McCormick
I could pressure the ball a little bit more.
00:22:24 Tim McCormick
I could maybe take a chance because I knew that they were behind me and it just gave me so much confidence.
00:22:30 Tim McCormick
And his rebound, he's very, very active.
00:22:33 Tim McCormick
I don't think his hands are great on the offensive end, but on the boards, very strong.
00:22:41 Akeem Miskdeen
Yes.
00:22:41 Akeem Miskdeen
I mean, that's what we, that's what we expect from him.
00:22:43 Akeem Miskdeen
We expect him to dominate the game defensively.
00:22:46 Akeem Miskdeen
Like our guys know that and he knows that and he needs to continue to do that.
00:22:50 Akeem Miskdeen
He needs to be the best five men, one of the best five men in the country on the defensive end.
00:22:56 Brian Boesch
Couple more here for assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen after Michigan knocks off Marquette 84 to 70.
00:23:03 Brian Boesch
We've talked about a lot of different players.
00:23:05 Brian Boesch
We haven't brought up Trey McKenney a ton.
00:23:08 Brian Boesch
We've seen him at times
00:23:10 Brian Boesch
have to impact the game without his shots falling?
00:23:13 Brian Boesch
Obviously, he had the two big ones from basically the same spot on the floor late in this ballgame.
00:23:17 Brian Boesch
But how have you seen him adjust to what is a different dynamic and how is he handling things?
00:23:24 Brian Boesch
It seems like he stays pretty even keel even when those shots aren't falling.
00:23:28 Akeem Miskdeen
Yeah, I mean, we're asking him to do other things.
00:23:30 Akeem Miskdeen
So now he went to go get 5 defensive rebounds.
00:23:34 Akeem Miskdeen
When your shot's not falling, you got to do other things.
00:23:37 Akeem Miskdeen
And the same thing like our bench, Trey has to get reps at the high major level being one of the guys.
00:23:42 Akeem Miskdeen
He has to get reps.
00:23:44 Akeem Miskdeen
So we've had three games.
00:23:45 Akeem Miskdeen
He had three games of reps.
00:23:46 Akeem Miskdeen
The more reps he get, the better he'll get at it.
00:23:48 Akeem Miskdeen
But in the meanwhile, while his shot not falling, he needs to rebound.
00:23:51 Akeem Miskdeen
He needs to make the extra pass that he did to Elliot Cadeau and it got Elliot going.
00:23:55 Akeem Miskdeen
So he needs to continue to do that stuff.
00:23:57 Akeem Miskdeen
And the game's going to reward him.
00:23:59 Akeem Miskdeen
The game's going like everything going for Trey tonight.
00:24:02 Akeem Miskdeen
You know, he dove on a loose ball and then squirted out of bounds.
00:24:04 Akeem Miskdeen
Like that stuff happens.
00:24:05 Akeem Miskdeen
That stuff happens.
00:24:06 Akeem Miskdeen
But the more he plays and the more this group plays together, the more comfortable he'll be and the more confident he'll get.
00:24:12 Brian Boesch
Yeah, I think Nigel James will experience that next game too, because he had a few.
00:24:16 Brian Boesch
I couldn't believe the one the one foul was called on the floor.
00:24:19 Brian Boesch
I thought he was going to finally get on the scorecard in the second half at the line and they flipped that.
00:24:24 Brian Boesch
But yeah, glad it didn't happen tonight.
00:24:26 Brian Boesch
Tim, any final questions for Akeem before we let him get going to back to more Washington basketball, I assume?
00:24:32 Tim McCormick
Yeah, I'm sure there's some
00:24:34 Tim McCormick
film on William and Mary that you're going to be watching tonight.
00:24:38 Tim McCormick
When you look at the defense, and I thought Trey's defense was really good, Silas Demery and Braylon Mullings lit up Michigan.
00:24:50 Tim McCormick
They were the best guards in that game.
00:24:53 Tim McCormick
And it's very important to be able to stop the opponent's best score.
00:24:58 Tim McCormick
What did you guys do to make it so tough defensively tonight for James?
00:25:05 Akeem Miskdeen
Coach Borden talked about that before the game.
00:25:07 Akeem Miskdeen
we can't allow the best player to dominate this game, just like you just said with Silas and Mullins who are really good.
00:25:15 Akeem Miskdeen
And our guys' mindset was that I heard EC echo that at halftime because he wasn't, James wasn't playing that good in the first half.
00:25:22 Akeem Miskdeen
EC like we, EC talked about how he couldn't get going.
00:25:25 Akeem Miskdeen
We can't let him get going.
00:25:26 Akeem Miskdeen
But we talked about it before.
00:25:28 Akeem Miskdeen
We trapped him on the sideline.
00:25:30 Akeem Miskdeen
I think our drop coverage messed him up and our just switching ball screen defenses of coverages made him uncomfortable.
00:25:36 Akeem Miskdeen
He wasn't, he didn't know what ball screen defense we were in.
00:25:40 Akeem Miskdeen
Sometimes we'll be in drop, sometimes we'll be in 15 and switch.
00:25:44 Akeem Miskdeen
So I think that messed him up a lot.
00:25:45 Akeem Miskdeen
He wasn't allowed to get comfortable.
00:25:49 Brian Boesch
Before we get out of here, let's listen back to some of the highlights.
00:25:52 Brian Boesch
In the full recap, we rejoin Rob Joyce.
00:25:55 Rob Joyce
It was a slog early on.
00:25:56 Rob Joyce
Michigan committed turnovers on its first three possessions, missed its first four shots.
00:26:00 Rob Joyce
Marquette, meanwhile, opened one for seven.
00:26:02 Rob Joyce
At the under-16 timeout, it was 4-2 Wolverines.
00:26:04 Rob Joyce
U of M held the Golden Eagles scoreless for 4 minutes.
00:26:07 Rob Joyce
Not much offense early on, as you might imagine from the score, but there was plenty of defense.
00:26:11 Brian Boesch
Marquette.
00:26:12 Brian Boesch
Slow things down with Michigan up 6-5.
00:26:14 Brian Boesch
Here's a downhill drive.
00:26:15 Brian Boesch
Park Ham, and it's again rejected by Moustapha Thiam, who swarms in and just throws it into the first row of seats to our right.
00:26:24 Rob Joyce
One of seven Michigan blocks, 3 by Moustapha Thiam.
00:26:27 Rob Joyce
Marquette started just 2 of 10 from the floor, allowed Michigan to take some time to find its offensive rhythm.
00:26:32 Rob Joyce
Eventually it would 13-11, the Michigan lead at the under 12 timeout.
00:26:35 Rob Joyce
Then around the midway point of the first half, game briefly flipped on its head after doing very little offensively for the 1st 10 minutes.
00:26:42 Rob Joyce
Marquette
00:26:42 Rob Joyce
got hot and got hot fast.
00:26:44 Brian Boesch
16-13 Marquette the lead, left wing, long three, Porter up and good.
00:26:50 Brian Boesch
Shot it at 36% last year, his second make.
00:26:54 Brian Boesch
The Liberty transfer from 26. Timeout Wolverines.
00:26:58 Rob Joyce
Runs of 8-0 and 12-2.
00:27:00 Rob Joyce
If you extend it further, the timeout led to a Michigan Oscar Goodman jam, but it was answered with a Golden Eagle 3.
00:27:06 Rob Joyce
Under 8 timeout, it was 22-17 Golden Eagles, and then Michigan countered in a big way.
00:27:12 Brian Boesch
Caddo right point, double team, slings one, Estrella, popped it to himself, feed Costello a three is a swish.
00:27:19 Brian Boesch
And the Wolverines have scored nine in a row.
00:27:22 Brian Boesch
They lead it 24-22.
00:27:24 Rob Joyce
It would turn out being 13 in a row to take a 28-22 lead before Marquette stopped the bleeding extended further from Michigan.
00:27:31 Rob Joyce
It was a 15 to 3 surge.
00:27:33 Rob Joyce
Maize and Blue would take a 30 to 27 lead into the final media timeout and then another blitz late in the half.
00:27:41 Terry Mills
That's something I would see that EC would pick up and all of a sudden he's putting it on someone else.
00:27:45 Brian Boesch
Low block left, Estrella hooks and scores another great dime from Cadeau.
00:27:49 Brian Boesch
Time out Marquette and a.
00:27:53 Rob Joyce
That was a separate 8-0 run.
00:27:55 Rob Joyce
Once Michigan went down 22-15 after that Marquette run, Wolverines would score 20 of the final 25 points of a half.
00:28:03 Rob Joyce
It was a stretch that spanned 8 minutes.
00:28:05 Rob Joyce
And at the break, Maize and Blue would lead 35-27.
00:28:08 Rob Joyce
One of the only real bugaboos you could have for that first half outside of that little Marquette blip for Michigan was a 2 for 11 showing from three-point range.
00:28:15 Rob Joyce
That changed early in the second half in tonight's Call the Game, brought to you by the experts at University of Michigan Health.
00:28:21 Brian Boesch
Low block left through, give it to a cutting layup.
00:28:24 Brian Boesch
It's no good there.
00:28:26 Brian Boesch
Low on the right by Parham, Michigan, the rebound.
00:28:28 Brian Boesch
Five on four Parham slow to get up, right pocket, Cadeau 3.
00:28:32 Brian Boesch
Oh yeah.
00:28:35 Brian Boesch
to start off the second half.
00:28:37 Brian Boesch
44-30 Michigan.
00:28:39 Rob Joyce
Tonight's call the game brought to you by Michigan Medicine.
00:28:41 Rob Joyce
There's a difference between an answer and a Michigan answer.
00:28:43 Rob Joyce
To find your Michigan answer, visit michigananswers.com.
00:28:46 Rob Joyce
Estrella, Trey McKenney and that kiddo tripled.
00:28:48 Rob Joyce
Wolverines made their first three out of the locker room.
00:28:51 Rob Joyce
Go up 1444 to 30.
00:28:53 Rob Joyce
Both teams would cool from there.
00:28:55 Rob Joyce
Favored Michigan with the margin.
00:28:57 Rob Joyce
In both halves, Marquette opened two of 10 shooting.
00:28:59 Rob Joyce
Then after a couple of quiet minutes, U of M started back up and started to pull away for good.
00:29:04 Brian Boesch
Plucks it away from Parham, despite giving up a few inches.
00:29:07 Brian Boesch
Left side, Costello, pump fake, shoots a three, rattles at home.
00:29:11 Brian Boesch
Michigan's fifth three since intermission, and the Wolverines swell the lead back to 17 at 53-36.
00:29:18 Brian Boesch
Left wing, here's Gayle, slips a pass on the bounce to Estrella, pivot fakes and scores.
00:29:25 Brian Boesch
57-36. Timeout Shaka Smart.
00:29:28 Brian Boesch
Marquette, Wolverines off blackjack 21.
00:29:32 Rob Joyce
7 unanswered from Michigan to go up 57-36.
00:29:35 Rob Joyce
Actually stay that way for a bit.
00:29:37 Rob Joyce
Both teams went into extended droughts.
00:29:38 Rob Joyce
Marquette in particular couldn't buy a bucket in the opening 10 minutes of the half.
00:29:41 Rob Joyce
It was 3 of 18 from the floor.
00:29:43 Rob Joyce
Did though have one more run in them right after that midway point.
00:29:47 Rob Joyce
Made a couple of threes, scored 8 in a row, made it a 58-44 game, under 8 timeouts, down to 11.
00:29:53 Rob Joyce
You wonder, could they mount a comeback bid?
00:29:56 Rob Joyce
Seemingly, yes, 7 minutes to go.
00:29:58 Rob Joyce
It's A single-digit game, 60 to 51 via a 7-0 Golden Eagle spurt, but the Wolverines' dynamic duo would hook up and bring back a little breathing room for the hosts.
00:30:07 Brian Boesch
Right side, Cadeau takes it right baseline, drives it on Porter, zings it left corner, shot fake, but can he got his man up, feeds over, Cadeau, sights the left wing three, shoots it and swishes it.
00:30:17 Brian Boesch
Cadeau, Plenty of time.
00:30:20 Brian Boesch
Hits a big one.
00:30:21 Brian Boesch
67-53.
00:30:23 Brian Boesch
Michigan 540 to play.
00:30:25 Rob Joyce
After providing the assist to Cadeau next possession, Trey McKenney would score himself.
00:30:28 Rob Joyce
It's back to a two touchdown game.
00:30:30 Rob Joyce
And every time Marquette would get a bucket that looked like it might bring him back in it, Michigan would answer two more times.
00:30:35 Rob Joyce
The Golden Eagles would pull to within 9, just couldn't get that key stop on the other end.
00:30:39 Rob Joyce
And the Wolverines would eventually be too much.
00:30:41 Brian Boesch
Shoots it up there.
00:30:42 Brian Boesch
No.
00:30:42 Brian Boesch
A little leaning shot from 4 left baseline.
00:30:45 Brian Boesch
Short rebound Costello.
00:30:46 Brian Boesch
Left wing McKenney.
00:30:47 Brian Boesch
Left wing free.
00:30:48 Brian Boesch
It's good.
00:30:50 Brian Boesch
There's a big triple from Trey.
00:30:52 Brian Boesch
His second and 10 tries.
00:30:54 Brian Boesch
78-64 Michigan.
00:30:56 Rob Joyce
Next trip down, he did another one.
00:30:58 Rob Joyce
Michigan went 9 for 16 from deep in the second half.
00:31:01 Rob Joyce
And the Wolverines 2-1 on the air.
00:31:03 Rob Joyce
84-70, the final over Marquette.
00:31:05 Brian Boesch
They'll face off with William and Mary on Sunday afternoon inside Crisler Center.
00:31:10 Brian Boesch
Excited for that.
00:31:11 Brian Boesch
All right, for everybody who joined us, I'm Brian Boesch.
00:31:14 Brian Boesch
Thanks as always for following along.
00:31:16 Brian Boesch
Michigan, a winner over Marquette.
00:31:19 Brian Boesch
Thanks for listening and Go Blue.
[music builds]
00:31:20 Jeff Laurence
Thanks for listening to today's edition of Defend the Block, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast Network, M Go Blue Podcasts.
00:31:29 Jeff Laurence
The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
