No. 6 Michigan returns to the Fort Worth, Texas, area for the first time in a dozen years as it visits TCU on Friday night.
The Wolverines (2-0), fresh off an 85-84 overtime victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday, are the highest-ranked nonconference team to visit the Horned Frogs (2-1) since No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 1, 2003 when TCU was a member of Conference USA.
Michigan last played in Tarrant County during the 2013 NCAA Tournament, defeating Kansas in the Sweet 16 and Florida in the Elite Eight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The stakes aren’t quite as high this time around as the programs close out a home-and-home series. Michigan won 76-64 last year in Ann Arbor.
This season, Michigan boasts one of the most talented rosters in the country and is looking to stack another early victory over a Power Four program.
The Wolverines didn’t play the prettiest game against Wake Forest as they went just 4 of 25 from 3-point range. But they found a way to win the game that was played in Detroit.
Aday Mara finished with a team-leading 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks. Elliot Cadeau added 17 points, highlighted by the game-winning free throw late in OT.
Yaxel Lendeborg, a preseason All-America forward, was limited to nine points. But, as coach Dusty May said afterward, Lendeborg is “gonna play much better than he did tonight.” He averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds a game last season at UAB.
Overall, May said his Wolverines are still figuring things out.
“We still don’t know our best defensive lineups, our best offensive lineups, our best in between,” May said. “So this is a work in progress. But for us to come out of this game against a really good basketball team, that I think is an NCAA tournament team … for us to find a way to win is a compliment to our guys and their ability to just stay the course when the game got ugly.”
TCU is also a work in progress.
The Frogs fell to New Orleans in the season opener before rebounding with victories over Saint Francis and Lamar. But Michigan will provide the stiffest test to date for a team that hopes to return to March Madness after snapping a string of three straight berths last season.
Jayden Pierre, a Providence transfer, emerged for TCU in Monday’s 78-65 win over Lamar. He scored 13 of his team-leading 18 points in the second half. David Punch has been the Frogs’ most consistent player in the young season, averaging 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon liked seeing his team find its defensive rhythm in the second half against the Cardinals as it pulled away.
“Defensively in the second half we held them to 31%. We learned from some mistakes in the first half,” Dixon said. “We had our best defensive team in down the stretch when we made the run, and that was good to see.”
