ANN ARBOR — Michigan’s health situation isn’t ideal entering Tuesday’s regular-season opener. The Wolverines entered Friday’s exhibition with some issues and had a couple of in-game scares.
The starting point guard and starting center left Michigan’s 92-45 win over Northwood at Crisler Center. The former, Dug McDaniel, hobbled off the court a few minutes into the second half after scoring at the time. A few plays earlier, he fell to the court after getting fouled on a layup (which he made) and seemed to be in discomfort.
He left the game after the second incident, but returned shortly after and played well. He finished 16 points (6 of 9 shooting) and three assists over 20 minutes.
“Dug is fine,” interim head coach Phil Martelli said after the game. “It had to do with the fact that he wore low-cut sneakers. That’s what I was told.” (Martelli noted that sneakers are not his thing; he joked about upgrading from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom in order to store all his Michigan-issues gear.)
Tarris Reed Jr., another sophomore, had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in just 11 minutes and left the game with 3:33 remaining in the first half. He did not start the second half — Michigan’s other four starters did — and ended up not returning to action at all. A Michigan spokesperson initially told MLive Reed was fine. That wasn’t entirely accurate.
After Martelli finished praising Reed’s play, he added, “And who knew that he was medical enough to tell me that he didn’t think he could go in the second half? That’s pretty impressive for a guy that’s not pre-med.”
Reed’s issue: “His groin,” according to Martelli. “He had something happen (to his groin) maybe five or six days ago. He said at halftime he felt a little tweak. They examined him. He’s fine.”
Both players should be good to go for Tuesday’s home game against UNC Asheville. The same for sophomore forward Youssef Khayat, at least according to the spokesperson. Martelli didn’t comment on Khayat postgame; he didn’t dress due to “knee soreness.”
Michigan was already without guard Jaelin Llewellyn, who continues to recover from surgery to repair a torn ACL, and Jace Howard, who will be out four to six weeks with a knee issue.
Head coach Juwan Howard was not the bench as he is still recovering from heart surgery. He was in the building, however.
Michigan being shorthanded — coupled with the lopsided score — allowed Martelli to empty the bench on Friday. Aside from Reed, Michigan’s starters played between 20 and 26 minutes. The three scholarship reserves — Tray Jackson, Will Tschetter, and George Washington III — were in the same minutes range.
Two walk-ons checked in at the under-8 media timeout, and the other two shortly after, playing the final stretch of the game alongside Washington. Nkamhoua joked after the game that the walk-ons needed to play better since they only scored once and let a 54-point lead slip to 47.