Roddy Gayle Jr. and Trey McKenney Score 17 Each as No. 16 Michigan Opens Title Defense, Boynton Era With 84-68 Win Over Oakland

The trophy is still shiny, the coach is new and most of the title team is gone. What has not changed at Crisler Center is the result on opening night. No. 16 Michigan began its national title defense and the Mike Boynton Jr. era with an 84-68 win over Oakland on Monday, behind 17 points apiece from Roddy Gayle Jr. and Trey McKenney.

J.P. Estrella, a transfer from Tennessee, added 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and freshman Quinn Costello came off the bench to score 13. Michigan has now won 24 straight season openers, a streak that dates to 2002-03, and improved to 10-1 all time against Oakland, including 8-0 in Ann Arbor.

It was not always comfortable. Oakland grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, won the overall glass 44-42 and pulled within seven midway through the second half. But Michigan's speed and size inside eventually told the story, and the Golden Grizzlies never got back to single digits after one final Wolverine push.

A New Era, a Familiar Feeling

The backdrop to this game was bigger than the game itself. Michigan won its second national championship last April, its first since 1989, beating UConn 69-63 in the title game. Then the architect left. Dusty May took the Dallas Mavericks job, and Boynton was promoted from assistant to head coach. The roster turned over too, with Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson all going in the first round of the NBA draft.

Boynton's path back to the big chair is a story of its own. The former Oklahoma State coach was let go two years ago after seven seasons in Stillwater, and Monday was Boynton's first regular-season win as a head coach since Feb. 21, 2024, when the Cowboys won 80-76 at Cincinnati. That is a long wait, and it ended in front of 11,050 fans who showed up to see what the Wolverines look like without Dusty May.

A First Half With Some Teeth

Oakland did not come to Ann Arbor to admire the decorations. The game featured a tie and six lead changes, and Michigan was only up 21-19 with 7:53 left in the first half.

The Wolverines finally found a gear with an 8-0 run, capped by an Estrella basket, to go up 29-19 with 6:22 to go. Oakland answered right back, using a 10-5 burst to cut it to 34-29 and then 40-36. Michigan closed the half with a 7-0 run to take a 47-36 lead into the break.

Estrella was the first-half story. The big man had 13 points and eight rebounds before intermission, and Michigan's frontcourt was punishing Oakland around the rim. Nassim Mashhour kept the Golden Grizzlies afloat with 14 first-half points.

Turning Point: The Answer After the Run

Costello set the tone early in the second half, knocking down two threes to stretch the lead to 14. Michigan pushed it to 62-47 with 11:44 to play and looked ready to coast.

Instead, Oakland made one more charge. The Golden Grizzlies ripped off an 8-0 run, and a Warren Marshall IV basket made it 62-55 with 8:34 left. Crisler got quiet. A defending champion losing its opener to a Horizon League team would have been the story of the night across the country.

Michigan responded the way good teams do. The Wolverines scored the next nine points, with a Gayle basket in the middle of it, and it was 71-55 with 6:10 left. That was the ballgame. Oakland never got back within single digits.

The defense in the second half was the real difference. Oakland shot 8-of-36 after the break, a brutal 22.2 percent, and finished the night 20-of-63 (31.7 percent) and 6-of-26 from three. Michigan forced 15 turnovers, collected 10 steals and turned those mistakes into 15 points.

Gayle, McKenney and the Newcomers

Gayle, back for a fifth season after joining the wave of college players challenging the NCAA's eligibility rules, was efficient and steady. Gayle scored 17 on 7-of-11 shooting with no turnovers in 25 minutes, and all seven of those field goals came inside the arc.

McKenney, one of the returning guards from the title team and a Naismith Trophy preseason watch list pick, played a team-high 35 minutes and scored 17 on 5-of-12 shooting, 3-of-6 from three and 4-of-4 at the line. McKenney and Costello combined for six of Michigan's seven made threes.

Estrella's line, 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting with 12 rebounds and five offensive boards, is exactly what Michigan needs from a frontcourt that lost three first-round picks. The only blemish was foul trouble: Estrella fouled out with about five minutes left. Jalen Reed helped fill the gap with six points and eight rebounds, six of them offensive, in 17 minutes.

Costello's debut was a fun one. The freshman's first college points came on a three, and Costello finished 3-of-10 from deep in 21 minutes. Oscar Goodman made a first career start after appearing in 16 games last season. Elliot Cadeau, the other Naismith watch list guard, struggled shooting at 1-of-5 for seven points, but handed out six assists and had four steals, though also five turnovers.

The Numbers That Matter

Michigan won this game in two places: the paint and the open floor. The Wolverines outscored Oakland 48-24 in the paint and 19-0 on the fast break. Oakland did not score a single transition point all night, which says a lot about Michigan's floor balance and how quickly the Wolverines got back.

The three-point shooting was rough. Michigan went 7-of-34 from deep, 20.6 percent, and that is not a recipe that works against UConn. Ricky Liburd went 0-for-5, all but one of those from three. Inside the arc, the Wolverines were excellent at 24-of-37.

The rebounding battle is also worth watching. Oakland's 21 offensive rebounds led to 17 second-chance points, though Michigan countered with 23 of its own. Chris Fields Jr. had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Oakland, getting to the line 12 times, and Ryder Bradley scored 12 off the bench. Mashhour finished with 16 after a hot first half, and the Golden Grizzlies made 22 of 30 free throws, which kept them in range for longer than their 31.7 percent shooting deserved. Michigan was also without former Cincinnati center Moustapha Thiam, who missed the game with an illness, which thinned out the rotation inside.

What It Means

This was a win, not a statement, and that is fine. Michigan lost a lot from a championship team, dropped an exhibition to No. 10 Houston last month and is breaking in a new head coach. A 16-point win over a scrappy mid-major with the bench and the frontcourt rotation still being sorted out is a reasonable first step.

The real measuring stick is immediate. Michigan meets No. 4 UConn on Friday night in Boston, a rematch of last April's national championship game. After that, the Wolverines face Marquette on Nov. 11 before heading to the Players Era event later in the month. Oakland heads west to play at Stanford on Friday.

The Take

Boynton got the first one, and the Wolverines showed enough to believe the floor is high. Gayle and McKenney give Michigan proven scoring, Estrella looks like a real interior piece, and the defense took Oakland apart in the second half. But 7-of-34 from three and 21 Oakland offensive rebounds are the kind of numbers that UConn will make Michigan pay for. The title defense is officially on. Friday will tell us how serious it is.

Read the official box score (opens in a new tab) and the Michigan Athletics recap (opens in a new tab) for the full numbers.

Sources: Michigan Athletics, ESPN, Associated Press, Field Level Media. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Michigan Photography.