No. 6 Michigan passes first road test with 67-63 win over TCU

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Nov 14, 2025

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FORTH WORTH, Texas — For the second time this week, the Wolverines found themselves in a dogfight.

And once again, they found a way to pull it out.

No. 6 Michigan used a late second-half run to pull ahead before holding on late to pass its first true road test of the season with a 67-63 win over TCU at Schollmaier Arena on Friday.

Yaxel Lendeborg had 14 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Trey McKenney scored 11 and made two huge buckets during a pivotal 14-2 run for Michigan (3-0). The Wolverines beat TCU, 76-64, in Ann Arbor last season and overcame a season-high 22 turnovers Friday to sweep the home-and-home series.

Michigan escaped with an 85-84 overtime win Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena to complete a two-year neutral-site series with Wake Forest. Another escape act was needed against TCU.

After Michigan trailed by two at the break following a turnover-marred first half, the problem carried over into the second half. The Wolverines turned it over three times less than three minutes out of the break, one leading to a 3-pointer in transition the other way.

Despite the turnovers and empty possessions, Michigan managed to stay close and keep it a one-possession game until Lendeborg fouled TCU’s Jace Posey on a 3-point shot. A 3-pointer from Tanner Toolson followed and gave the Horned Frogs a 49-43 lead with 11:45 to go.

Michigan didn’t buckle and clawed back. Roddy Gayle Jr. (10 points) got downhill, made things happen and scored three times around the rim. Lendeborg soared in for an offensive put-back. McKenney had a three-point play and canned a second-chance 3-pointer. A 14-2 run put the Wolverines in front, 57-51, with 5:01 remaining.

Michigan had to stave off a late TCU push to close it out. Brock Harding made a fast-break layup while being fouled to cut the deficit to four. The Horned Frogs corralled the missed free throw and scored at the rim to make it 63-61 with 58 seconds to go.

An offensive foul by Elliot Cadeau gave TCU the chance to tie it or take the lead, but the Horned Frogs came up empty and Nimari Burnett and Lendeborg made four free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal it.

Harding finished with 15 points and Toolson scored 10 for TCU (2-2), which shot 37.1% from the field (23-for-62) and lost the rebounding battle by a 44-23 margin.

The Wolverines got off to a brutal start and struggled offensively throughout the first half, with turnovers plaguing them from the opening possession. They turned it over four times on their first six trips down the floor and had just one shot attempt in the first four minutes, with most of the giveaways on poor passes.

Things didn’t get much better. During one possession, Burnett and Morez Johnson Jr. each had a layup blocked, leading to a shot-clock violation. Soon after that, L.J. Cason turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions on a travel and losing the ball on a handoff near the sideline.

It all led to a roughly four-minute scoring drought during which TCU went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-4 lead with 14:02 left in the first half and nearly six minutes between made field goals, a stretch that ended when Gayle drove baseline and found Johnson for a dunk.

But even when Michigan was putting up shots, it wasn’t having much success. The Wolverines missed 10 of their first 12 field-goal attempts over the first 12 minutes and saw eight of their first 13 points come on free throws.

And the turnovers continued to be problematic. After Michigan cut the deficit to three, a pass by Cadeau was picked off and turned into a fast-break dunk the other way as TCU took a 21-13 lead at the 8:14 mark.

Despite all that, Michigan hung around until its offense finally started to get on track, making eight of its 10 first-half baskets over the final eight minutes. Burnett scored at the rim. Lendeborg scored twice in the paint. Cadeau capped a 10-0 burst with a 3-pointer to give Michigan a 23-21 lead and force a TCU timeout with 4:47 left in the half.

When halftime arrived, Michigan had more turnovers (11) than buckets (10) but only faced a 35-33 deficit.