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INDIANAPOLIS − In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.
Michigan basketball did exactly that. Arizona had lost two games this season, both in the second week of February, going 36-0 outside of that four-day stretch. It hadn't trailed all NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines just ended it all.
Michigan dominated on Saturday, April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium and topped the Wildcats, 91-73, in the Final Four. Michigan will play UConn − which earlier Saturday dispatched Illinois, 71-62 − in the national championship on Monday (8:50 p.m. ET).
Aday Mara scored 26 points to go with eight rebounds, and Elliot Cadeau dished 10 assists and had four steals to overcome poor shooting (4-for-16), directing the Wolverines' fast pace against the Wildcats (36-3). Freshman Trey McKenney scored 16 points off the bench, going 4-for-6 on 3s.
Michigan (36-3) became the first team in NCAA tournament history to score at least 90 points in five March Madness games.
The Wolverines held Arizona standout freshmen duo of Brayden Burries and Koa Peat to 27 points on 9-for-32 shooting (28%).
• Box score
Michigan had an inauspicious start, with star Yaxel Lendeborg picking up two fouls in the opening 82 seconds. It didn't matter. Michigan blitzed out to a 10-1 lead and the Wildcats never got back within a possession, but that doesn't mean the day was perfect for the Wolverines.
Lendeborg went down awkwardly on a layup attempt stepping on the foot of an Arizona player with 8:51 left in the first half, writhed in pain and after he made two free throws left the game and went to the locker room. He came back with brace on his knee and returned to the second half, canning two 3s despite moving gingerly.
Still, Michigan managed to overcome thanks to a deep roster pieced together and coached up by Dusty May.
Here's what stood out.
Lendeborg got hurt midway through the first half on a layup attempt stepping on the foot of a defender. He was in pain, but made two free throws, then gingerly walked to the locker room. The team soon after announced that he was getting ice on the ankle and getting it retaped.
He came back to the bench biting a towel and with a towel on his head, and a brace on his knee, then a few minutes later went back to the locker room again. It's the same ankle he tweaked in the Big Ten Tournament three weeks ago.
He started the second half and made two 3-pointers as Michigan's offensive wave ballooned its lead to 30 points.
"I have to [play], I have to," TBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson reported he said as he looked toward family and friends in the stands in the second half.
Lendeborg's status is unknown for Monday's national championship game against UConn.
Michigan will play for its second national title, winning in 1989 over Seton Hall. Michigan is 1-6 in the national championship game, most recently losing in 2018 to Villanova, 79-62, in San Antonio.
UConn (34-5) won back-to-back titles in 2023 (over San Diego State) and 2024 (over Purdue), each by double digits, under coach Dan Hurley.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball vanquishes Arizona 91-73 in Final Four beatdown
Continue reading...
Michigan basketball did exactly that. Arizona had lost two games this season, both in the second week of February, going 36-0 outside of that four-day stretch. It hadn't trailed all NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines just ended it all.
Michigan dominated on Saturday, April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium and topped the Wildcats, 91-73, in the Final Four. Michigan will play UConn − which earlier Saturday dispatched Illinois, 71-62 − in the national championship on Monday (8:50 p.m. ET).
Aday Mara scored 26 points to go with eight rebounds, and Elliot Cadeau dished 10 assists and had four steals to overcome poor shooting (4-for-16), directing the Wolverines' fast pace against the Wildcats (36-3). Freshman Trey McKenney scored 16 points off the bench, going 4-for-6 on 3s.
Michigan (36-3) became the first team in NCAA tournament history to score at least 90 points in five March Madness games.
The Wolverines held Arizona standout freshmen duo of Brayden Burries and Koa Peat to 27 points on 9-for-32 shooting (28%).
• Box score
Michigan had an inauspicious start, with star Yaxel Lendeborg picking up two fouls in the opening 82 seconds. It didn't matter. Michigan blitzed out to a 10-1 lead and the Wildcats never got back within a possession, but that doesn't mean the day was perfect for the Wolverines.
Lendeborg went down awkwardly on a layup attempt stepping on the foot of an Arizona player with 8:51 left in the first half, writhed in pain and after he made two free throws left the game and went to the locker room. He came back with brace on his knee and returned to the second half, canning two 3s despite moving gingerly.
Still, Michigan managed to overcome thanks to a deep roster pieced together and coached up by Dusty May.
Here's what stood out.
Yaxel Lendeborg injury update
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Lendeborg got hurt midway through the first half on a layup attempt stepping on the foot of a defender. He was in pain, but made two free throws, then gingerly walked to the locker room. The team soon after announced that he was getting ice on the ankle and getting it retaped.
He came back to the bench biting a towel and with a towel on his head, and a brace on his knee, then a few minutes later went back to the locker room again. It's the same ankle he tweaked in the Big Ten Tournament three weeks ago.
He started the second half and made two 3-pointers as Michigan's offensive wave ballooned its lead to 30 points.
"I have to [play], I have to," TBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson reported he said as he looked toward family and friends in the stands in the second half.
Lendeborg's status is unknown for Monday's national championship game against UConn.
National championship game: Michigan vs UConn
Michigan will play for its second national title, winning in 1989 over Seton Hall. Michigan is 1-6 in the national championship game, most recently losing in 2018 to Villanova, 79-62, in San Antonio.
UConn (34-5) won back-to-back titles in 2023 (over San Diego State) and 2024 (over Purdue), each by double digits, under coach Dan Hurley.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball vanquishes Arizona 91-73 in Final Four beatdown
Continue reading...
