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Michigan crushes Arizona, sets up title bout with UConn
By Adam Spencer
Published:
INDIANAPOLIS — Death. Taxes. Having an odd number of socks after every time you do the laundry.
Some things in life are inevitable. Michigan appears to be one of those things.
The Michigan Wolverines rolled into Indianapolis on Saturday night for a game against fellow 1-seed Arizona that was being dubbed the de-facto national championship game.
Someone forgot to tell Arizona it was supposed to be a battle of titans.
With the Fab Five in attendance (and doing their own alternate TV broadcast), this year’s Wolverines absolutely dominated from the opening whistle. After 15 seconds, Michigan took a lead it would not give up for the final 39:45 in what was ultimately a 91-73 victory.
Making Michigan’s dominance even more incredible is the fact that the Wolverines did it without their all-everything star Yaxel Lendeborg for most of the game.
Lendeborg picked up 2 quick fouls and then suffered an injury when he returned later in the first half. He was able to return, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the second half, but he was clearly in some pain. He finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds and an assist in his 14 minutes of action. An efficient night, sure, but not what Michigan has come to expect from him.
Still, his teammates and coach sung his praises after the game, noting that they know their leader is going to give it his all when he’s on the court.
Others stepped up in big ways. Center Aday Mara scored a career-high 26 points to go with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of blocks.
“He was catching lobs at the rim. He’s a force down low,” coach Dusty May said. “He’s such a smart basketball player.”
Point guard Elliot Cadeau had a 13-point, 10-assist double-double. Freshman Trey McKenney finished with 16 points off the bench, knocking down 4 3-pointers.
Everything Dusty May drew up seemed to work. And the nation’s No. 1 defense, per KenPom, made a statement against the No. 4 offense in the country.
Cadeau had twice as many assists as the entire Arizona team. The Wildcats simply couldn’t knock down the shots the offense was able to create.
In an 18-point loss, Arizona made 6 fewer 3s than Michigan. For those doing the math, that’s an 18-point gap. Michigan went 12-for-27 from deep, while Arizona knocked down 6 of its 17 tries. Making 3s wasn’t something Arizona did much of this year, as the Wildcats were a highly efficient 2-point offense while finishing 360th out of 365 Division I teams with 16 3-point attempts per game.
But Saturday night in Indianapolis was all about the Michigan Wolverines.
If and when the Wolverines finish off their title run on Monday night against UConn, it will put the final touch on a season that has been one for the ages in Ann Arbor.
Historians and scholars, decades from now, will look back at this team and wonder how it lost thrice.
Since losing to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament title game, Michigan has won its 5 NCAA Tournament matchups by 21, 23, 13, 33 and 18 points.
Can UConn do what no team this tournament has been able to do and trade punches with Michigan? If there’s a coach who can manage it, it’s Dan Hurley.
Unstoppable force meets immovable object.
Monday night in Indianapolis.
Who will have their One Shining Moment?
Who will win the national championship on Monday night? Here’s the latest market from Kalshi:
A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam is the news editor across all Saturday Football brands.