Michigan basketball rings in new year with Bad Boys-style defense in win vs. USC on Detroit Pistons night

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 2-ranked Michigan Wolverines defeated the No. 24-ranked USC Trojans 96-66 to ring in the new year on Detroit Pistons night in Ann Arbor.

Big man Morez Johnson Jr. looked like he could have played on either the Bad Boys teams in the 1980s/90s or the “Going the work” squad who took down the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 season, as he was dominant vs. USC.

Johnson Jr. led all scorers with 29 points, but he was giving it to the Trojans in an assortment of ways, be it in the paint or beyond the arc.

The Wolverines forced 21 turnovers in the matchup while shooting 21.4% from three and 26/37 from the charity stripe in an ugly victory.

The matchup took place on Friday (Jan. 2) on Peacock as the men in maize advanced to 13-0 on the season in front of a sold-out crowd inside Crisler Center.

The matchup reunited Michigan with former Wolverines forward Terrance Williams II, who played four seasons in Ann Arbor and contributed to the 2021 Big Ten title and NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in 2021 and 2022.

This game marked the Wolverines’ fifth consecutive sellout at Crisler Arena, underscoring the team’s strong fan support.

The night was fitting, as both the Pistons and the Wolverines are the talk of the basketball world, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the sport.

Yaxel Lendeborg left the game with a bruised calf, and Nimari Burnett received stitches in his left eye in the matchup.

Head coach Dusty May said both guys were asking to go back into the game, but he and his staff decided to hold them out.

Michigan will travel to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, at 7 p.m.

POSTGAME SOUND COMING

1st half

Michigan won the tip, and Aday Mara got a putback jam to score the first points of the game.

Mara got a steal on the next possession and found Yaxel Lendeborg running the floor for a slam dunk to take a 4-0 lead.

After some sloppy play, Mara stopped an alley-op attempt, leading to a Morez Johnson Jr. reverse layup with an assist coming from Lendeborg.

Trojans head coach Eric Musselman got a technical for chirping at the referees following a no-call on one of his players.

Lendeborg went to the charity stripe for two free throws but split the pair to take a 7-0 lead.

Point guard Elliot Cadeau drew a charge on a Trojan’s two-on-one leading to an official’s timeout with 15:47 to play in the first half.

Guard Roddy Gayle Jr. entered the game and got called for a moving screen before L.J. Cason entered the game and turned the ball over, which was the team’s third of the game.

Lendeborg got a block on the next possession, leading to a foul on Gayle Jr.

Lendeborg cleaned the glass following a Trey McKenney three-point attempt and scored the bucket to take a 9-0 lead.

The Wolverines’ tough defense had the Trojans flustered early, as they nearly drew a five-second violation during an inbounds play with 13:43 to play.

After forcing an airball from the Trojans with the shot clock expiring, Mara got the rebound and threw a full-length pass to Gayle Jr., who got fouled under the basket.

Gayle Jr. made both before Ezra Ausar got fouled on a layup, going to the line for the three-point play.

Will Tschetter entered the game and hit a floater before Chad Baker-Mazara scored a four-point play to cut into a double-digit lead.

Cason found Gayle Jr. for a wide-open dunk before Baker-Mazara drilled a ontested three pointer to cut the deficit to five.

McKenney turned the ball over, leading to a media timeout with 10:47 to play.

The game started getting sloppy on both ends of the floor, as Michigan led 15-10. At that point in the half, two players accounted for the Trjoans’ 10 points, which was a positive sign.

The Trojans nearly turned the ball over again, but Kam Woods shot a wedge as the shot clock expired, giving them the ball back as the possession arrow was in their favor.

Following a ninth turnover by USC, Lendeborg drained a three-pointer before Ausar drained a contested floater.

Cadeau followed suit with a three-pointer of his own as Michigan took a 21-12 lead with 8:48 to play.

Following a miss, Mara had the ball snatched from him, and he drew his second foul of the game on the play as Ausar got hacked at the rim.

He split the pair.

Lendeborg found Johnson Jr. for a tough basket, but Jerry Easter II got an offensive rebound on the following possession and got the putback, leading to another media timeout with 7:42 to play.

Football head coach Kyle Whittingham made his official debut in Ann Arbor, speaking about physicality while introducing his staff.

Cadeau got called for a foul before Lendeborg got another block, leading to another Johnson Jr. contest layup to take a 10-point lead.

Gayle Jr. fouled Baker-Mazara, who got sent to the line for a one-in-one, making both pair as Michigan led 25-17 with under 6:30 to play.

Johnson Jr. got hacked and sent to the line for a one-in-one, but missed the first free throw as USC grabbed the rebound.

Michigan got hustle play from Cadeau, who grabbed the offensive recound but Lendeborg threw the ball out of bounds.

Easter II made a contested layup before Johnson Jr. got fouled on an and-one attempt, where he completed the three-point play.

Ausar scored again to cut the deficit to 28-21, but Johnson Jr. got fouled while going up for a monster jam.

Johnson Jr. missed the dunk but knocked down both free throws to take a 30-21 lead.

Cason got fouled while grabbing a defensive rebound and got sent to the line as USC was over the limit.

He made both as Michigan went up nine with 4:30 to play in the half.

Cason went one-on-five and got to the rim, but was expecting contact and missed the layup, leading to Lendeborg knocking the ball out of bounds.

A ball was deflected out of bounds and awarded to USC, but head coach Dusty May decided to challenge the play, leading to a media timeout with 4:04 to play in the half.

Former Wolverines’ sharpshooter and current Pistons forward Duncan Robinson was introduced to his former collegiate fans.

Michigan won the challenge, leading to a Cadeau floater to take a 13-point lead.

Jaden Brownell drained a three-pointer in the face of Lendeborg to cut the deficit back to 10.

Cadeau drew a foul while attacking the rim and went to the line where he split the pair with 3:09 to play in the half.

He cleaned the glass and found Cason for an easy layup.

Williams II scored his first bucket as an away player in Ann Arbor before Johnson Jr. scored a contested layup.

Cadeau found Johnson Jr. running down the lane with a no-look pass for a monster jam before Michigan got another turnover that led to the duo connecting on an alley-op dunk, leading to the Trojans timeout with 1:15 to play.

Easter II drew a foul and split the pair, but he got the rebound and made a floater to cut the deficit to 43-29.

Johnson Jr. was called for an offensive foul, and while stepping over the defender, he pushed him, prompting an official review.

Ausar got the call, as officials ruled it a dead-ball foul, and he made both, to the dismay of the fans.

Nimari Burnett stepped to the line and split the pair as they got the ball back in a weird turn of events.

Tschetter got fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 35.5 seconds remaining in the half.

He made all three as the lead went back to 16.

Michigan got its 12th turnover of the game, leading to a Burnett easy bunny, but he fumbled the ball.

In the process, he was fouled by Baker-Mazara for his fourth of the game.

Burnett made both as Michigan led 49-31 at the half.

2nd half

Michigan opened the half on defense, and USC missed open shots on its first two possessions.

Johnson Jr. drew the first foul of the half as he got hacked by two defenders while going up for a layup.

He went to the line and made both to take a 20-point lead.

Burnett was found by Lendeborg in the corner and missed, but Johnson Jr. got the offensive rebound and drew another foul.

He went to the line and hit both as the lead grew to 22.

Johnson Jr. got called for his second foul as Jacob Cofie went up on two defenders to draw the foul.

He went to the line and split the pair before Gayle Jr. turned the ball over.

On the other end, Lendeborg got another block and a near save, but the ball went out of bounds.

Michigan turned a defensive rebound into a fastbreak opportunity as Mara threw the lob to Gayle Jr., who lay in the bucket.

Ausar got aggressive and drew a foul on Lendeborg, going to the line to make both, cutting the 55-34 deficit.

Burnett got injured on defense as it looked like he got busted open as the defender elbowed him in the face, leading to an official’s timeout with 16:25 to play.

He went to the back to receive medical attention with trainers, holding multiple towels over the left side of his face.

Ausar split the pair for his 13th point of the game.

Michigan got its 14th turnover of the game on the next possession.

Brownell scored a bunny on the next possession folowed by Gayle Jr. lobbing the ball to Johnson Jr. for another dunk to push the lead back to 20.

Williams II got down in the paint for the contested bunny, but Cason followed suit with an uncontested three-pointer.

Michigan forced its 14th turnover of the game as it led 60-39 with under 14 minutes to play.

McKenney turned the ball over on the following possession.

Johnson Jr. knocked down a three-pointer to the amazement of the crowd, but Brownell countered with a three-pointer of his own.

Tschetter made a floater before Johnson Jr. picked up his third foul of the game, sending Ausar to the line.

Mara relieved Johnson Jr., who was a man amongst boys before Ausar missed both free throws.

Ausar got called for his third foul while defending an alley-op attempt from Cason to Mara, sending him to the line, where he split the pair.

Tschetter got called for a foul on Baker-Mazara, who flopped on the play as the crowd rained down with jeers.

Baker-Mazara split the pair.

Mara got the crowd jumping with his monster jam as he hung on the rim.

Baker-Mazara got into the paint for a contested layup as Michigan led 68-45 with 11 minutes to play.

McKenney got sent to the line to shoot two, making both to push the lead to 25.

Gayle Jr. got an interception and dished the rock to McKenney for the contested layup.

USC turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions before Mara got hammered at the rim on a lob attempt from Cason.

The turnover was USC’s 19th of the game.

Mara missed both free throws.

Brownell knocked down a jumper before Mara took a long-range two-pointer, which ricocheted off the rim into the hands of Gayle Jr., who got fouled on the put-back.

He went to the line and bricked the first and made the second as Michigan was 23-31 from the line while shooting 18.2% from beyond the arc.

Gayle Jr. made a putback after playing some stiffling defense. He followed up the miss by Cadeau as Michigan led by 28.

Cadeau turned the ball over, leading to an easy layup for Woods.

Gayle Jr. followed up with a three-pointer of his own, pushing the team’s percentage to 21.3% for the game.

Gayle Jr. fouled out with 7:10 to play, sending Brownell to the line where he made both as USC trailed 78-51.

Cadeau got called for a defensive foul to the dismay of the fans in attendance.

Ausar got sent to the line for a one-in-one, making both.

Cason found Tschetter for a contested three-pointer.

Jordan Marsh hit a three-pointer of his own before McKenney got to the rack for his sixth point of the game.

Brownell made a jumper of his own before Cadeau drew a foul on the other end, splitting the pair.

Gabe Dynes went to the line for a one-in-one and missed, leading to a Cadeau lob to Johnson Jr. for his 28th point of the game.

Brownell got a rebound and a putback before Cadeau found Johnson Jr. running down the lane as he got hacked with 3:22 to play.

Johnson Jr. split the pair but got subbed out as he scored a career high 29 points in the rout of USC.

Marsh fouled Cason on a fastbreak, sending him to the line, where he split the pair.

Winters Grady entered the game to get his first bucket of the night.

McKenney secured the 20th turnover of the night with a steal at the top of the key as Michigan went on to win 94-66 to improve to 13-0 on the season.