Dug McDaniel, Will Tschetter shred YSU in Michigan basketball's 92-62 victory
If last season was a learning experience every night for Dug McDaniel, a freshman elevated into Michigan basketball’s starting point guard role in early December after an injury to Jaelin Llewellyn, then this season may be the equivalent of graduate courses. McDaniel took over for the Wolverines in the first half in Ann Arbor as U-M trounced Youngstown State, 92-62, at Crisler Center.
McDaniel finished with 16 points (on 6-for-13 shooting), three rebounds and four assists. His early playmaking energized fellow U-M holdovers Terrance Williams II, who finished with 13 points, and Will Tschetter, who had a career-high 20 ponts, including four 3-pointers on four tries. Newcomer Olivier Nkamhoua followed up his 25-point maize-and-blue debut Tuesday with 17 points Friday, continuing to fill up the stat sheet with 10 rebounds and four assists for Michigan (2-0).
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Nkamhoua’s fellow transfers, Nimari Burnett (Alabama) and Tray Jackson (Seton Hall), didn’t fare as well in the first half; they combined to go 0-for-5 before the break. Jackson finally got on the board in the second half, with his first basket a little more than seven minutes into the period. But it hardly mattered; by the time the Detroit native scored, the Wolverines were already up by 33. Jacckson finished with six points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
Next up, the Wolverines head to New York to face St. John’s, which hired Rick Pitino away from Iona during the offseason, in the Gavitt Games between the Big Ten and Big East at 7 p.m. Monday at Madison Square Garden.
A quick start
Terrance Williams II got the Wolverines started with a jumper 31 seconds in. U-M committed turnovers on three straight possessions, however, to keep the Penguins in it. But McDaniel snapped the streak with a nice feed to Tarris Reed Jr., who slammed it home for a 4-0 lead. Williams hit a 3-pointer and Reed followed with a layup for a 9-2 U-M lead less than five minutes in.
The Wolverines and Penguins remained close until YSU went cold over the final four minutes of the first half, missing its final five shots before intermission. U-M had no such issues, finishing the half on a 13-0 run for a 46-23 lead after 20 minutes.
Michigan’s defense didn’t let Youngstown State run its offense in the paint or beyond the arc; the Penguins hit just nine of 30 shots (30%) from the floor and just three of 14 (21.4%) 3s in the first half while committing nine turnovers.
Putting it away
The Wolverines started strong in the second half, as well, getting out to a 13-5 run over the first four minutes. Nkamhoua continued to punish the Penguins with six points, two rebounds and two assists during the run.
Michigan kept scoring and YSU kept missing shots as the Wolverines doubled up the Penguins, 72-36, with 10:56 remaining. At that point, the Penguins had made just five of 18 (27.8%) shots, with the bulk coming (4-for-15) inside the arc.
Tschetter took over after intermission, hitting all five of his shots from the floor, including two 3s, for 12 points, nearly doubling his career high for a game in just the second half against the Penguins.
Horizon men
Cincinnati 93, Detroit Mercy 61: The visiting Titans had almost no answers for the Bearcats in a first half in which they gave up 60 points. Jayden Stone hit four 3-pointers for UDM (0-2) but shot just 9-for-20 from the floor en route to a team-high 25 points. The Titans will go for their first win of the 2023-24 season with a visit to Oxford, Mississippi, to face Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Tuesday. UDM continues its road run with a visit to Ohio University on Nov. 18 before finally hosting Eastern Michigan on Nov. 21.
Illinois 64, Oakland 53: The Golden Grizzlies’ run through the Big Ten resulted in an 0-2 start, but Trey Townsend looked ready for Horizon League play; the junior led OU with 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting as the Golden Grizzlies ran out of fizz in Champaign after tying the Illini with 7:32 remaining before Illinois finished on a 16-5 run. Jack Gohlke, the Hillsdale transfer whose 3-pointer knotted it, finished with six points on 2-for-5 shooting. Next up, the Golden Grizzlies host Bowling Green at the O’rena at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Horizon women
Detroit Mercy 83, Chicago State 48: For the second straight game, the Titans used a scorching start to roll over their opponent, as UDM scored 25 points in the first 10 minutes while holding Chicago State to just 10. Myonna Hooper needed just 21 minutes to score a team-high 15 points off the bench for the Titans, thanks to three 3-pointers. Imani McNeal and Amaya Burch contributed 11 points apiece in UDM’s first 2-0 start since the 2010-2011 season. The Titans hit the road for an evening tilt with Butler in Indianapolis at 5 p.m. Sunday before visiting Michigan State on Thursday.
MAC women
Georgia State 71, Western Michigan 58: The visiting Broncos blew an eight-point halftime lead in Atlanta as part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Kaitlyn Zarycki led WMU (0-2) with 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting and Maggie Stutelberg added 16 points thanks to five 3-pointers, one shy of her own program record. Next up, the Broncos will go for win No. 2 at Youngstown State in Ohio at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball stays hot with 92-62 win over Youngstown State
