Michigan basketball goes cold on 3s, weathers Penn State upset bid

It wasn't what we've come to expect from Michigan basketball, but coach Dusty May's group did enough – barely – to earn a Big Ten road win.

The Wolverines opened with a rare deficit – down by six less than five minutes into the game – then ripped off a 24-9 run to storm ahead. Penn State, down as much as 15 in the second half, clawed back to make it a one-point game, but No. 1 Michigan (14-0, 4-0 Big Ten) had the answers to win at Bryce Jordan Center, 74-72, to remain unbeaten on Tuesday, Jan. 6.

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A 63-48 lead turned into a 63-60 game after Penn State scored 12 straight in just over three minutes. Michigan responded with a quick 8-3 burst, then Roddy Gayle Jr. had a key offensive rebound and putback to go up eight.

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Penn State responded again, when Ivan Juric grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked out to Melih Tunca who made it 73-70 with 1:53 left. After an Elliot Cadeau turnover, Eli Rice made two free throws with 1:04 to play to make it a one-point game.

Penn State had the ball with 20 seconds left to take the lead when Freddie Dilione V missed a mid-range jumper and Aday Mara pulled down the rebound. The Nittany Lions instantly fouled the U-M big. He missed the first but connected on the second to make it 74-72 with 15.1 left. After a timeout, Dilione held the ball until the final seconds, opting for a deep fade-away 3-pointer Nimari Burnett. It hit off the back iron.

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The reason U-M even had a lead to work with was because L.J. Cason provided a major spark off the bench early, tying a career high with 14 points, from every level of the floor. Burnett and Trey McKenney each added 12 and Yaxel Lendeborg, who was listed as questionable due to a pulled left calf suffered Friday, scored just 10 to go with seven boards and four assists in 27 minutes.

It was always going to be a tough task for Penn State, but it became even tougher when Kayden Mingo – one of two freshmen in Division I ball this season to lead team in points, assists rebounds and steals – was ruled out pregame for Penn State.

Juric proved to be a problem for Mara to contend with on the perimeter, scoring a career-high 20 points to pace Penn State and kept Mike Rhoades' team in it the whole way. Dilione scored 17 and Josh Reed added 13 points and 10 boards.

Next up, Michigan returns home to host Wisconsin (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) on Saturday (1 p.m., CBS).

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Falling apart in the second half

On Tuesday, Penn State had made it 40-36 when U-M got some work done on the boards.

Elliot Cadeau got an offensive rebound on one possession then finished it off with a layup, Morez Johnson Jr. got an offensive board on the next and kicked out to Burnett for a 3, then Gayle grabbed an offensive board on a third-straight possession and was fouled before he hit two free throws to go up 47-36.

That was the beginning of a 13-4 run, which gave U-M a 13-point lead. Michigan's lead ballooned to 15 when McKenney scored five straight, but Penn State put together a 12-0 run (just the second run of at least 10 points U-M has given up all year) to get within 63-60 with 7:13 to play.

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Mara responded with a reverse dunk, Penn State had a few empty possessions in a row and Lendeborg made two free throws to go back up seven and get some breathing room. It could've been a larger lead, but Mara missed two front ends of one-and-one free throws – he entered play as a 40.7% free throw shooter.

Michigan led by eight with 3:08 left when Penn State went on a 7-0 run. The Nittany Lions had two shots to tie or take the lead, but missed both.

L.J. Cason provides the spark

Cason, a sophomore, has quietly put together a very productive last month, scoring in double figures in four of his past five games.

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It started with a lob for a slam to Mara, then Cason hit a pair from the stripe before he banged home a 3 from the left wing. A few trips later, he finished an layup through contact for a three-point play to put U-M up five – all seven points came on the fastbreak, one of the places Michigan truly dominated Penn State, 19-1.

He wasn't done, adding a slashing layup to go up nine, before he remained active on another possession, got open on a back-cut and finished a reverse layup to push Michigan's lead out to 10.

In the final minute of the first half, he drilled a key 3-pointer to close the scoring, after PSU had clawed back within six. Cason didn't score in the second half, but made his mark early.

Rare sloppiness

Even in another lopsided victory, Michigan wasn't as crisp or overwhelming as usual. The Wolverines turned the ball over six times in the first 10 minutes – tat included a strip of Mara, Burnett throwing the ball off Johnson's face, Cason chucking a kickout pass wide of McKenney and Gayle throwing the ball out of bounds and losing his handle on a later possession – but they didn't give it away the rest of the first half.

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In a rare turn of events, Michigan also didn't get much work done on the boards. The Wolverines allowed nine offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes which led to 10 second-chance points for the Nittany Lions and was a major reason U-M only led 40-31 at the break.

Penn State won the rebounding margin 43-37 (including 15-7 on the offensive glass), had more second-chance points (22-10), had a 12-10 edge in turnovers, more points off those giveaways (17-8) and hung with U-M in the paint – only getting outscored there, 34-26.

Tuesday was Michigan's first win by single digits in 53 days – but Big Ten battles often pop up unexpectedly. U-M got a reminder of that on Tuesday.

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball barely escapes massive upset by Penn State, 74-72