Mike Boynton Jr. pumped his left fist once, then again.
The Wolverines were stuck in the mud early but found life with a two-man game between Elliot Cadeau and J.P Estrella as the duo helped flip the game in the first half as Michigan knocked off the Golden Eagles, 84-70, for the first signature victory of Boynton’s Michigan tenure on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
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Down seven midway through the first half, Michigan’s 29-8 run spanned a 10-minute stretch from the end of the first half to the beginning of the second half, as Boynton’s team built a 14-point lead just two minutes after coming out of the break behind consecutive 3s from Estrella, Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau and simply poured it on from there.
Moustapha Thiam hit three straight free throws, Quinn Costello drilled a pair of 3s, then Cadeau and Estrella chipped in back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to 21 with 12:19 to play.
By the time that run was over, Michigan had gone on a 43-14 romp in less than 20 minutes to go up 22. Marquette made one final push, a 15-2 burst of its own in less than four minutes to get within nine, 60-51, with 7:14 to play, but a Thiam putback stopped the bleeding and U-M held on the rest of the way.
Estrella continues to shine for U-M, scoring a team-high 18 points and grabbing eight boards. Thiam narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a team-high 12 boards while Cadeau did a bit of everything with 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, most of which came in the second half.
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Costello added 15 (of U-M’s 18) points off the bench.
Colin Porter paced Shaka Smart’s team with 21 points and Adrien Stevens added 16. Meanwhile, standout point guard Nigel James Jr. was completely shutdown, going 0-for-11 from the field with just one assist and four turnovers.
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It was over when …
Michigan, which made just two 3s in the first half, opened the first two minutes of the second half with three consecutive 3s to go up 14. Marquette would never get inside of nine again.
Player of the game: J.P. Estrella
Through three games, the Tennessee transfer has been U-M’s most consistent and best player. He entered Wednesday averaging a double-double and leaves with the same.
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He had six straight points to spark a 13-0 run when U-M took control in the first half. It started with an offensive board and putback, before he threw down consecutive slams to get U-M back within one and bring the crowd to life.
He said earlier this year offensive rebounding was his “superpower” and it doesn’t seem like an exaggeration as he grabbed four of his eight boards on the offensive end, which led to U-M winning the rebounding battle, 45-33, and having an edge in second-chance points 13-4.
He opened the second half with a 3 from the corner to give Michigan its first double-digit lead of the day, flashing his expanded game and frequently ran the floor and got easy points in the paint, including on a three-quarters court pass from McKenney.
Michigan Wolverines forward J.P. Estrella (13) dunks in the first half against the Marquette Golden Eagles at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026.
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Last year’s top advantage came in the paint and U-M was back at its bruising ways on Wednesday. Not only did the Wolverines win the battle on the glass by 12 but frequently got into the paint, outscoring Marquette, 36-33, in and around the basket.
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Michigan was 16-for-25 on layups and free throws compared to going 16-for-38 on all other shots.
Trending down: 3-point shooting (outside of Costello)
Michigan entered the contest making just 22.6% of its 3-pointers, No. 335 (out of 365 teams) in the country, which was the third-worst mark of any Power Four team ahead of only Miami and Maryland.
U-M struggled early, making 2 of 11 3s before the break — both by Costello. Boynton’s team certainly heated up a bit in the second half U-M and finished 11-for-27 (40.7%) from 3 but Costello did most of the heavy lifting.
He made 5 of 6 tries while all other Wolverines went 6-for-21 (28.6%) – a number that was lifted by McKenney and Cadeau making three straight in the final 5:47.
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Overall the number was very solid but Costello (who is as pure a shooter as it gets) will need more help down the line. It bodes well that Michigan was able to overcome yet another relatively poor shooting night from the rest of the team and it’s worth monitoring that McKenney (who admittedly shot well in the first two games) and Cadeau are shooting a combined 33.3% from long range this season.
Up next …
The Wolverines have their next game on Sunday when they host William & Mary, before hitting the road for another test against a Big East foe – Villanova on a “neutral” court in Philadelphia at Xfinity Mobile Arena, home of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan frontcourt powers Wolverines to 84-70 win over Marquette
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