INDIANAPOLIS — The road ends at Lucas Oil Stadium, where UConn and Michigan bested Illinois and Arizona to advance to Monday’s national championship.
ESPN’s college basketball crew was on-site to break down how both of Saturday’s Final Four games were won — and preview each winner’s keys to the title matchup.
Relive the Final Four
How Michigan won: Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. set the tone immediately. Mara put on a virtuoso display in the first half while Johnson was beating Arizona down the floor and finishing in transition or crashing the offensive glass. Mara finished with a game-high 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field to go with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. The lead ballooned to as many as 30 points midway through the second half and Arizona never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.
In a game between two of the biggest teams in the country and two of the elite frontcourts in the sport, the paint battle was always likely to be the determining factor. But after overwhelming nearly every opponent since the start of the season, it was Arizona that looked overwhelmed. Michigan was able to match or beat the Wildcats inside and separated with a combination of speed and shooting not often seen from teams with this sort of size.
Now the Wolverines have an opportunity to win the program’s first national championship since 1989, but there will be concern over the availability of All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg, who rolled his ankle in the first half after getting fouled on a drive to the rim. He was in visible pain after the play and went straight to the locker room after making two free throws. Lendeborg returned to the game in the second half, playing nine minutes and making a pair of 3-pointers, but he was moving gingerly. — Jeff Borzello
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Aday Mara muscles in a Michigan and-1
Aday Mara backs down his defender for an tough lay-in plus the foul.
No. 1 factor that helped Michigan make the national title game: The Wolverines can quickly shift gears and reach a level few teams are able to match. Their Elite Eight win over Tennessee was arguably the most complete game we’ve seen by any team in the NCAA tournament. They outscored the Volunteers 48-26 in the first half and held Tennessee to just 85 points per 100 possessions. With 10:52 to play in the first half, the Vols had a 16-15 lead over Michigan; the Wolverines then launched a 33-10 rally to end the half. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes had his head in his hands. What can anyone do when Michigan plays that way? Arizona didn’t have an answer to that question, either. The Wolverines had a 16-point lead at halftime against them — and that was with leading scorer Lendeborg missing much of the first half with an MCL sprain and ankle injury.
The Wolverines are big, have stars and play great defense — and when it’s time to stand their ground and battle, no team is better. That’s why Michigan made it to the last game of the year. — Myron Medcalf
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How Michigan can win the championship: The Wolverines can win by doing the same things they have done to reach this point: use their size to dominate inside, play great defense and apply relentless pressure.
On Saturday, Michigan had a 26-10 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. Arizona was blindsided by the pace and effectiveness a team with that size employed to start the game. The Huskies will have a talented big man on the floor with Tarris Reed Jr., but he can’t do everything. The combination of a Michigan team that’s a threat from the 3-point line and stacked with fluid big men who can all run the floor, defend at all levels and punish opponents in the paint is their ticket to the program’s second national championship.
All of this may change if Lendeborg is sidelined or less than 100%. But Michigan continued to pummel Arizona in the first and second halves, even without Lendeborg. The Wolverines can do that against UConn, too. — Medcalf
How UConn won: It was Braylon Mullins who sent UConn to the Final Four, and it was Braylon Mullins who hit the dagger 3 to essentially ice the game for the Huskies on Saturday. The Indiana native finished with 15 points, including a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left that pushed UConn’s lead from four points to seven points and took the life out of Illinois’ comeback attempt.
The Huskies led by as many as 14 points in the second half, and Illinois failed to get over the hump and give itself a chance to take the lead or tie. The Illini struggled to finish around the rim and were surprisingly outshot from 3-point range. UConn made 12 shots from behind the arc, the most in a game in program history, while Illinois shot 6-for-26 from 3.
UConn advances to its third national championship game in four years. — Borzello
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Braylon Mullins’ dagger 3 sends UConn to their 3rd title game in 4 years
Braylon Mullins’ dagger 3 sends UConn to its third title game in four years.
No. 1 factor that helped UConn reach the national title game: 3-point shooting.
The 3-point battle was always going to be key in Saturday’s Final Four matchup against Illinois, but no one expected UConn to outshoot Illinois the way it did. Going into the game, the Fighting Illini ranked in the top 15 nationally in 3s made per game and 3-point attempt rate but shot just 6-for-26 from behind the arc Saturday — while the Huskies, who have made double-digit 3s in a game just once since Feb. 18, went 12-for-33 from 3. The 12 3s were the Huskies’ most made 3-pointers in a Final Four game in program history, per ESPN Research.
UConn’s shotmaking trio of Braylon Mullins, Alex Karaban and Solo Ball has been streaky for most of the season, but the trio came up huge at the right time. Karaban went only 1-for-8 from the field, but Mullins was terrific, making four 3s, including the dagger 3 in the final minutes. And Ball hit three 3-pointers, scoring eight points in a five-minute span early in the second half that extended UConn’s lead. Combine the shotmaking with Tarris Reed Jr.’s first-half efficiency, and the Huskies were able to keep Illinois at an arm’s length when it mattered. — Borzello
How UConn can win the championship: It’s difficult to imagine UConn putting up enough points to win the national title without Alex Karaban, Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed Jr. all contributing. As a team, UConn will also have to work to keep Michigan’s big men as far away from the rim as possible. But the most important key for UConn will be to slow the game down. The Huskies have played at one of the slowest tempos in the country (319th) per KenPom. By contrast, Michigan has played at one of the fastest (22nd). But two of the Wolverines’ three losses this season (Duke and Purdue) were played at 63 or fewer possessions — or nearly eight below Michigan’s average. The Wolverines want to send their big bodies down the floor and play fast. That’s what happened against Arizona, and the Wildcats had no response.
The Huskies have to control the tempo and make it a methodical matchup, where the Wolverines are forced to play more half-court basketball than fast-break basketball, especially if star Lendeborg isn’t fully healthy. — Medcalf
