Michigan, UConn Are Undisputed Finalists

Both Michigan and UConn left no doubt at the college men’s basketball Final Four Saturday night in Indianapolis.

Second-seeded UConn (34–5) controlled the first game throughout against No. 3 seed Illinois in a 71–62 victory. Michigan (36–3) then routed Arizona 91–73 in a contest of No. 1 seeds.

“This game was very indicative of how this group has played throughout the season, unselfish basketball,” Michigan head coach Dusty May told reporters afterward. “A connected group who defends, gets out in transition, and then shares the basketball.”

Michigan has been dominant all season, and the Wolverines have enjoyed a historically good run at the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines became the first team ever to score at least 90 points in every game this far into the Big Dance.

UConn, meanwhile, has been here many times before in recent years. The Huskies will play for a national championship for the third time in four years on Monday, and Huskies forward Alex Karaban has been part of all three tournament runs.

“I think AK just holds the standard with this program,” Huskies head coach Dan Hurley told reporters afterward. “That’s the guy you look up to on the court. He’s been through it twice and just knowing that he has been through it twice, you can use him as an outlet.”

“I mean, to make history with Monday for him, I think that’s what we’re all trying to accomplish, and it would be so special for him,” Hurley added.

UConn has a titanic challenge ahead in Michigan next, as the Wolverines have dominated every game in this tournament by at least 13 points or more. Michigan has a dangerous core of players in Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, and Elliot Cadeau—all of whom average double figures in scoring.

Lendeborg, the team’s leading scorer, going down didn’t even slow down the Wildcats on Saturday. Then, Lendeborg came back to play in the second half despite his injury.

“We didn’t really get a lot of time to talk to him, [and] we were on the court at halftime, and he was getting treatment. But we know what type of guy Yaxel is,” Cadeau told reporters afterward. “If he can play, he’s going to play. We asked him, are you good? He said, yeah. So we expect him to be on the court.”

“He told us when he got on the court, he was going to give it his all,” Cadeau added.

Lendeborg finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of play, and Cadeau hit a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists. After the game, Lendeborg confirmed with CBS Sports that he intends to play on Monday.

Wolverines center Aday Mara had the big game for Michigan on Saturday with 26 points on 11–16 shooting, and he had nine rebounds and three assists. Johnson finished with 10 points, and Trey McKenney gave Michigan a spark off the bench with 16 points and three rebounds.

“I would just say it’s really a testament to the work we put in,” McKenney told reporters afterward. “When you come in and before practice, I mean, everybody’s getting their own individual work in. We all work on our games.”

UConn’s silver lining going into Monday’s game stems from beating Duke last weekend in the Elite Eight. The Blue Devils, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, were the only non-Big Ten team to beat Michigan this season.

“We’re a group of fighters,” Hurley said about his team. “It’s not appealing to everyone. I’m sure there’s some people in here that it’s offputting for.”

“But we are a group of fighters,” Hurley added. “We are incredibly tough. We’ve got incredible will. We go into these games, we’re ready for battle.”