Wolverines Mount Late Rally Against Lithuania’s National B Team
8/24/2026 2:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Michigan erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit and tied the game twice in the final five minutes before falling 82-77 to Lithuania's National B Team.
» Elliot Cadeau finished with a team-high 19 points, eight assists and three steals after scoring or assisting on U-M's first 16 points.
» J.P. Estrella added 17 points and seven rebounds, while Brandon McCoy Jr. scored 15.
» Oscar Goodman scored six straight points to spark Michigan's fourth-quarter comeback.
UTENA, Lithuania -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team rallied to tie the game late, but Lithuania's National B Team answered with six straight points to hold off the Wolverines, 82-77, on Monday (Aug. 24) at Utenos daugiafunkcis sporto centras.
Elliot Cadeau led Michigan with 19 points, eight assists and three steals, while J.P. Estrella added 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Brandon McCoy Jr. finished with 15 points, five rebounds and four steals, and Oscar Goodman had 10 points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot. The Wolverines grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, scored 17 second-chance points and finished with 18 assists and 11 steals.
Michigan was without Trey McKenney, Moustapha Thiam and Ricky Liburd, who were held out as a precaution. Jalen Reed and Lincoln Cosby remained sidelined as they continued their rehab.
Michigan jumped out to a 26-14 lead before Lithuania closed the first quarter with seven straight points. Cadeau scored or assisted on Michigan's first 16 points, helping the Wolverines build their 12-point advantage. U-M pushed the lead back to eight early in the second, but Lithuania answered with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 33.
From there, the teams traded the lead before Cadeau's third three-pointer put Michigan back in front. McCoy then provided a late spark, knocking down back-to-back threes and coming away with steals on consecutive possessions, converting the second into a dunk for a 47-43 U-M advantage. Lithuania answered with a three-point play with 29 seconds remaining, but Michigan carried a 47-46 lead into halftime.
Estrella opened the second half with a turnaround jumper, but Lithuania answered with 12 straight points to take a 58-49 advantage. The Wolverines went more than three minutes without scoring before Estrella ended the drought with a layup. Quinn Costello later connected from deep, and Estrella followed with a dunk off a Cadeau steal to pull Michigan within 62-57. Lithuania scored the final two points of the quarter and carried a 64-57 lead into the fourth.
Michigan fell behind by eight points early in the final period before Goodman sparked the Wolverines' comeback. He scored six straight U-M points, converting a three-point play before connecting from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 67-65 with 6:52 remaining.
Joseph Hartman followed with three baskets as Michigan continued to chip away. His turnaround jumper tied the game at 73 with 4:14 left, and Cadeau pulled the Wolverines even again, 75-75, on a jumper with 2:08 remaining.
Lithuania answered with six straight points, and three Michigan turnovers in the final two minutes kept the Wolverines from completing the comeback.
The Wolverines will wrap up their European trip Thursday (Aug. 27) in Croatia against Mega SUPERBET, a young Serbian professional club with a strong track record of developing NBA talent. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET).
Quotes
Michigan Head Coach Mike Boynton Jr. ... on Lithuania's National B Team
"Certainly, anytime you take the floor to play, you want to win. We've talked all along about this just being a growth opportunity for our guys. Again, our guys are getting unbelievable experience in this environment against really true road competition. We're seeing really, really good segments of basketball, and now we've just got to find a way for this group to sustain it. Obviously, once we get more of our bodies healthy and back on the court, we feel like this team will be exactly where we thought it could be."
Elliot Cadeau ... on Lithuania's National B Team
"It was a great learning opportunity. To be able to play a really close game and have it come down to the last couple of plays, I think we learned a lot from it. It was a lot of fun, and we'll just work on the things we need to in practice."
J.P. Estrella ... on Lithuania's National B Team
"It was a good learning experience for us. This whole Lithuania trip has been really good, just learning about our team. We've got some things that we've got to clean up, but we were also talking about it in the locker room. You can see how good we can be, and we can see how much we can improve. We've got to take what we learned over to Croatia, play those games, get excited again and get this thing rolling."
