Michigan closes out year with 112-71 romp over McNeese State

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Dec 29, 2025

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wolverines closed out the 2025 portion of their schedule with a bang.

Another 100-point game. Another dominant performance. Another rout in front of a packed home crowd.

With the frontcourt trio of Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara leading the way, second-ranked Michigan overwhelmed McNeese State on Monday and cruised to a 112-71 win at Crisler Center.

Johnson had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Lendeborg had 16 points and eight boards, and Mara had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for Michigan (12-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which topped the century mark for the seventh time this season and recorded its sixth straight win at home by at least 25 points.

Like every opponent who has stepped into Crisler Center this season, the Wolverines didn’t provide much hospitality or hope. They led by 31 points at halftime and never let up against McNeese State (10-3), a team that made the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.

Michigan roared out of the break and opened the second half on a 16-0 run that featured several highlight plays. During one, Lendeborg came away with a steal, saved the ball from going out of bounds and whipped a pass to Johnson for a fast-break dunk. On another, Mara grabbed a rebound and heaved an outlet pass from one end of the court to the other that ended with an and-1 dunk from Lendeborg.

The Wolverines’ lead ballooned to 76-29 with 16:49 to play, as the Cowboys couldn’t come up with answers, couldn’t stop the bleeding and couldn’t muster much of anything on offense.

Mara provided another highlight, this time on defense when he had a chase-down block and swatted a fast-break layup attempt by McNeese State’s Carl Cherenfant off the glass. Mara, though, received a technical foul for taunting Cherenfant after the play.

Michigan’s lead continued to grow, even after it started going deeper into its bench. Freshman Winters Grady made two free throws to make it 92-40 with 9:01 to go. Roughly three minutes later, the Wolverines topped the 100-point mark for the sixth time in seven games when Nimari Burnett threw down a dunk. McNeese State never got closer than 39 points the rest of the way.

Trey McKenney scored 13, Burnett added 12 and Roddy Gayle Jr. added 10 for Michigan, which shot 58.7% from the field, finished 31 for 45 on free throws and outscored McNeese State 54-20 in the paint.

Garwey Dual scored 15 and Larry Johnson 14 for McNeese State, which shot 29.5% from the field, went 8 for 34 from deep and finished with six assists.

The Cowboys pulled off a stunning 87-76 upset when they made the trip to Crisler Center two years ago to the date. On Monday, it was the Wolverines who put on a stunning display.

Michigan jumped out to a double-digit lead four minutes into the game. Lendeborg made an and-1 reverse layup. Johnson soared in for an offensive putback and scored a one-handed finish at the rim off a lob pass from Mara. Johnson and Lendeborg combined for 12 points as Michigan had no trouble handling McNeese State’s press and finishing inside to take a 15-5 lead.

A baseline drive and reverse layup by Lendeborg ignited a 7-0 burst that ended with L.J. Cason turning a steal into a fast-break layup for Gayle to make it 22-7 at the 13:37 mark.

The Cowboys threatened to cut it to single digits momentarily before Michigan made McNeese State pay for its defensive aggression and began to pull away with a bunch of trips to the free-throw line.

The Wolverines went into the bonus with 9:49 left in the half and made seven free throws during an 11-2 spurt that widened the margin. The lone bucket came on a corner 3-pointer from Lendeborg that capped the run and gave Michigan a 38-18 lead.

Michigan even had a possession where it shot six free throws — but made only two of them. It all started when McNeese State’s Peitok Machar was given a flagrant foul after an official review for pulling Mara from behind in the post. Mara missed both free throws, but McNeese State coach Bill Armstrong was hit with a technical foul for arguing after Mara’s second miss. Then after Gayle split those two free throws, Mara drew another foul and split his two free throws.

Following that sequence, Michigan ripped off an 18-4 run over the final 4:32 that featured seven more free throws — capping a 20-for-27 effort at the stripe in the half — and entered the break with a 60-29 lead.

The Wolverines will dive back into Big Ten play after the new year and will wrap up their nonconference slate with a Feb. 21 showdown against Duke in Washington, D.C.