Michigan
Villanova
Maize & Blue to Welcome Villanova for Tuesday Night Tilt
12/8/2025 1:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Promotions
• Holiday Game and Toy Drive
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The second-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (8-0) will start a home-and-home series with Villanova (7-1) at a sold-out Crisler Center on Tuesday (Dec. 9). The Wolverines are expected to close the series at Villanova next season. U-M's Holiday Game and Toy Drive will tipoff at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery on the broadcast call.
Notes
• Michigan's game vs. Villanova marks the annual Toy Drive benefiting the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital Toy Store, helping bring joy to young patients and families during the holiday season. Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate. Collection bins will be located at all Crisler Center entrances.
• The game begins a home-and-home series between Michigan and Villanova. The Wolverines are slated to make the trip to Finneran Pavilion next season. The battle in Ann Arbor is the seventh all-time meeting between the programs, with Villanova leading the series, 4-2. Five of the previous six have been played at neutral sites.
• Michigan and Villanova have met three times in the NCAA Tournament: 1985 First Round: Villanova won 59-55, en route to the Wildcats' title run, 2018 National Championship: Villanova won its third title after a 79-62 victory and 2022 Sweet 16: Villanova moved on to the Elite Eight after a 63-55 win.
• The Wolverines' 8-0 start is their best since 2020-21, when U-M began 11-0 en route to a Big Ten title and Elite Eight run.
• Michigan's 101-60 win over Rutgers marked the Wolverines' third straight 100-point performance, tying the program record for consecutive 100-point games and just the third instance in program history -- and the first time in 36 years (1989-90) that U-M has accomplished the feat.
• Elliot Cadeau has dished out 22 assists over his last two contests and boasts a 26:3 assist-to-turnover ratio across his last four games -- a dramatic turnaround after committing 14 turnovers in his first four outings.
• Aday Mara leads U-M with 23 blocks (2.88 bpg), ranking seventh nationally. He has at least one block in every game and multiple blocks in six. He also leads U-M with 9.0 rebounds per game. Mara has six games of eight-plus and a team-best four of 10-plus, including a career-best 13 vs. Wake Forest.
• Morez Johnson Jr. has two 20-plus point games this season. Most recently, he had 22 vs. Rutgers (9-for-11) and a career-best 24 in the opener vs. Oakland (10-for-11). He made the first two three-pointers of his career against Rutgers, after not attempting a triple before 2025-26. He is 2-for-4 for the season.
• Johnson has shot above 80 percent in each of his last three games. During this trio of games, he is 20-for-24 (83.3%). Overall, he leads the Big Ten, and ranks seventh nationally, with his season percentage of 68.7.
• Sixth man Roddy Gayle Jr. has continued to elevate his efficiency shooting. After a 50 percent clip shooting through the first four games, he has improved upon that, shooting 65.5 percent over the last four.
• Trey McKenney leads U-M with 18 threes while averaging 11.3 points per game.
• After starting his season 1-for-10 from deep (four games), L.J. Cason has found his range, going 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from long range in the last three.
