Michigan keeps rolling, turns Villanova into latest blowout victim

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Dec 9, 2025

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For Michigan basketball, the beatings and blowouts go on.

The second-ranked Wolverines added to their path of destruction and continued their absurd tear by destroying Villanova, 89-61, Tuesday in front of a sold-out Crisler Center.

Elliot Cadeau led the latest slaughter with 18 points and Aday Mara added 11 points and eight rebounds for Michigan (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten), which had eight players score at least seven points en route to its sixth consecutive win by at least 25 points.

Much like Michigan’s recent contests, the Wolverines seemingly broke their opponent’s spirit by halftime and turned the second half into a mere formality. This time, Michigan used runs of 11-0, 15-0 and 12-0 in the first half to build a mountainous 30-point lead.

Michigan continued to extend the margin, with Morez Johnson Jr. dunking an alley-oop pass from Mara and Mara throwing down a put-back dunk without barely jumping to make it 61-27 with 16:33 to play.

Another run — a string of eight unanswered points that featured three free throws and an and-1 layup by Mara — saw Michigan’s advantage swell to 36 points with 10:28 to go.

The fact that the Wolverines shot below 40% from the field after halftime, finished 9 for 33 from 3-point range and went 14 for 25 at the free-throw line hardly mattered, as the Wildcats (7-2) never got closer than 28 points the entire second half.

Devin Askew scored 18 — with 15 coming in the first half — Chris Jeffrey 12 and Acaden Lewis 11 for Villanova, which shot 33.9% from the field and 10 for 37 from deep. The Wildcats were outscored 46-10 in the paint and were held to seven second-chance points on six offensive boards, well below their average of 15.6 offensive rebounds per game that ranked third in the nation.

Cadeau got the ball rolling early as the Wolverines jumped all over the Wildcats and wasted little time seizing control. He knocked down a deep 3-pointer. He hit Yaxel Lendeborg on an outlet pass that led to free throws. He dumped off a pass to Mara for a two-handed jam before scoring on a driving layup to cap a string of seven unanswered points during a 21-5 burst.

But Cadeau wasn’t done. He knocked down a mid-range jumper and found Johnson in the post for an and-1 layup. After Johnson missed the ensuing free throw and the ball went out on Villanova, Cadeau fed Nimari Burnett on a corner 3-pointer on an out-of-bounds play to make it 17-7 at the 14:27 mark.

Lendeborg provided the highlight during the early flurry. He stole a pass near midcourt and threw down a windmill dunk in transition before Cadeau canned another 3-pointer to make it 24-9 with 12:17 left in the half.

Villanova cut the deficit to eight on a 7-0 run from Askew, who was the Wildcats’ lone source of offense in the first half, before the Wolverines rattled off another big spurt with contributions coming from everywhere.

Trey McKenney buried a 3-pointer. L.J. Cason scored back-to-back layups, one coming after a contested catch in transition and the other on a shot he flipped up while falling to the court. Will Tschetter converted a four-point play after being fouled on a 3-pointer. A 15-0 run in the span of three minutes pushed Michigan’s margin to 39-16.

Things only continued to get worse for the Wildcats, who kept launching one missed 3-pointer after another and couldn’t slow down the Wolverines. Michigan held Villanova scoreless over the final 6:32, closed the half on a 12-0 run and took a 53-23 advantage into the break.