Michigan basketball has found itself in a situation of sudden change, and it’s having to cope with it right as the most important part of the season is fast approaching: the postseason.
The Wolverines lost reserve point guard LJ Cason for the season due to an ACL tear he suffered last Friday at Illinois. Thus, the maize and blue have to look for help from other players, particularly at the guard position.
On Thursday, at Iowa, one player stepped up to provide a small spark with Cason out, and it came from none other than reserve guard Roddy Gayle Jr.
Last year, Gayle began the year as a starter, but was relegated to the bench midway through. He struggled mightily until March, when he started to really come alive. In Iowa City, Gayle wasn’t as electric as Cason had been over the past month, but he provided a spark nonetheless. With six points and a few defensive plays that essentially saved and won the game for the Wolverines, Gayle proved that he can be a player that the maize and blue rely upon again.
Dusty May shared more after the game.
“Yeah, in my mind, it was three key defensive plays,” May said. “He had the block, then he came up with the loose ball. But that’s our guys, they just stay ready. Different guys step up every night. And when you look at the contributions from our group, there’s nights when I wish we would have gotten Morez more shots, and you wish Yax would have gotten more shots. And the guys never complain. They never roll their eyes when the play’s not for them. They trust each other. They trust the staff. And their ability to simply give to the group and support each other and stay ready is why we were able to go through this road slate unbeaten.”
With Iowa down two and the ball with under a minute to go, the Hawkeyes drove the basket and found themselves in perfect position for a layup to tie the game and truly put pressure on the Wolverines. Yet Gayle was there, making a huge block and appearing to get the ball back for the maize and blue. Yet, on the inbound, Morez Johnson Jr. was called for traveling as he tried to collect the pass from the baseline, and Iowa still had life. The Hawkeyes found themselves in a familiar position, now with 20-some seconds remaining. But Gayle then knocked the ball loose, making their job that much harder.
That’s to go along with three straight layups he had earlier in the game, at a time when points were at a premium and even layups weren’t going down (the Wolverines were 50% from under the basket in the game, going 10-for-20).
May is impressed with how his team stuck together. Iowa is a good team, but not a great one. In the three ranked in-conference road games that the Wolverines had, they won each by double digits — an impressive feat. Yet, Iowa gave Michigan all it could handle, and yet, it emerged victorious.
“It shows that they’re really connected and they have each other’s backs. Because you don’t go into the environments that we went into this year and win if you don’t have great poise, you don’t have great togetherness, and you’re able to have great emotional regulation,” May said. “You’re frustrated because of this, the crowd’s going against you. And to be able to get yourself back to neutral and centered is a skill that our guys have improved on greatly, and they continue to. And when they don’t, I think they do a great job of the five guys on the floor of getting whoever’s not, whoever’s starting to splinter or become too emotional, they get them back reeled in. And we just keep playing. We just get to the next thing.”
Michigan has little time to collect itself, as the regular season is set to end on Sunday with rival Michigan State coming to Crisler Center.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Roddy Gayle Jr steps up for Michigan after Cason injury
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
