UConn Stuns Duke as Michigan Steamrolls Tennessee

In an NCAA tournament field where the No. 1 seeds were expected to sweep their respective regions, only two are going to the Final Four.

Michigan took care of business against No. 6 seed Tennessee in a 95–62 romp on March 29 in the Midwest Region.

Duke, the No. 1 overall seed for the tournament, blew a halftime lead and fell 73–72 against No. 2 UConn on a last-second, near-halfcourt shot from Huskies guard Braylon Mullins.

Regarding that final possession by UConn, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters afterward it was not about one play.

“Yeah, we just have to secure it, right? We got it. They had a foul. I was ready for a timeout. We’ve just got to hold on,” Scheyer said. “It’s easy to look at that play, I look at every play that happened, especially in that second half. This is not about one play. It’s about every play that put us in that position, and that’s what you don’t want to do, where one play something could happen.”

Duke built a 44–29 halftime lead in the East Region final on Sunday, and the Blue Devils looked poised to roll past the Huskies early in the second half.

Instead, the Huskies chipped away, and Tarris Reed Jr. stepped up as he cut the Duke lead to 10 multiple times, and he trimmed it to five points, 67–62, on a layup with 4:13 left.

After the game, Reed told reporters that, going into halftime, UConn head coach Dan Hurley instructed players to “swing for defenses,” and give it all they’ve got.

“We were coming out of halftime down 15 or whatever it was, going down and giving it our all,” Reed said. “Keep chipping away, keep chipping away at the lead. Then we get it back, and the rest is history.”

Duke blew the biggest halftime lead by a No. 1 seed for a regional final in NCAA tournament history. All previous No. 1 seeds had a 134–0 record when leading by 15 or more at halftime.

“There’s not a person in this room, including me, that doesn’t replay everything that you could do and how you can help,” Scheyer said. “That’s part of being in this seat, that’s part of being in this spot. … We’ve got to finish it off end of the day. We’ll reflect. We’ll learn, do all that.”

Michigan has its own past tournament infamy, marked by a timeout call attempt and technical foul by former star Chris Webber amid no remaining timeout calls in the 1993 Final Four, which potentially cost the Wolverines the game.

On Sunday, Michigan left no doubt on the way as forward Yaxel Lendeborg led the way with 27 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Lendeborg told reporters afterward that his team worked hard to prepare.

“When this group got together … we all wanted to make it the national championship and win it. We worked tirelessly on making sure that our mental was right, not just physical. And we all trust each other.”

Michigan shot 52 percent from the field and held the Volunteers to 32 percent shooting overall and 19 percent from three-point range.

The Wolverines had five players in double figures, and Elliot Cadeau had a near double-double with eight points and 10 assists.

“We all play hard for each other. We make extra plays for each other. We’re going to do whatever we want for each other. So, just being able to make it this far and continuing to want to get more, it means a lot,” Lendeborg added. “Just means how much we’ve done together as a unit and how unselfish this team has been all year.”

Michigan will face fellow No. 1 seed Arizona out of the West Region in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis. UConn will take on No. 3 seed Illinois from the South Region in the other Final Four game.