Michigan basketball may open next season the way it ended the last one − in a matchup with UConn.
According to reports, the Wolverines and Huskies are in the process of finalizing a matchup to meet on Friday, Nov. 6 at TD Garden (home of the Boston Celtics) in Boston. The two met in the national championship game last month in the final game of the year in Indianapolis; U-M won 69-63 to claim the program’s second title in its history.
It was the third time UConn played for the national championship in the past four seasons.
The game was a bit of a slugfest, with the Wolverines making just 2 of 15 3-pointers, none of which were bigger than Trey McKenney’s late-game 3 to put the Wolverines up nine with less than two minutes to play. McKenney is one of three expected key contributors back from last year’s team, along with Elliot Cadeau and injured guard L.J. Cason, who is on the mend from ACL surgery.
The Wolverines will have a new-look roster this time around, having added a trio of key transfer players in J.P. Estrella (Tennessee), Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati) and Jalen Reed (LSU). U-M also has an impressive incoming freshman class, led by five-star Brandon McCoy, McDonald’s All-American Quinn Costello, Joseph Hartmann, Malachi Brown, Lincoln Cosby and Marcus Moller.
Returnees Oscar Goodman and Ricky Liburd are expected to be in the rotation, as well.
UConn has five returners from last year’s team in Solo Ball, Silas Demary Jr., Braylon Mullins, Jacob Ross and Jayden Ross under coach Dan Hurley. The Huskies also added four transfer portal players in Oskar Giltay (Stanford), Najai Hines (Seton Hall), Nikolas Khamenia (Duke) and Nils Machowski (UCF, Wofford) and freshmen Junior County and Colben Landrew.
Michigan had two exhibitions ahead of the 2025-26 season against Cincinnati and St. John’s, both in October, before it opened the regular season against Oakland on Nov. 3. It will likely be the second game of the season and an early test for a new-look U-M squad.
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 basketball finalizing rematch with UConn in Boston
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
