Michigan muscle toward program’s second state title, beating stubborn UConn 69-63
Michigan’s new Fab Five style hit the door and brought home a prize that even the school’s most famous team couldn’t capture.
The five best players that make up coach Dusty May’s starting lineup got down and dirty with the rest of the Wolverines, walking away with the national title trophy Monday night after rallying for a 69-63 victory over tough, tough UConn. Michigan only made two pointers all night.
Final Four MVP Elliot Cadeau led the Wolverines with 19 points, including the team’s first 3-pointer, at 7:04 of the second half. The second 3, from freshman Trey McKenney, came with 1:50 left and felt like a dagger, giving May’s team — which has scored 90 points in five straight March Madness games heading into the finals — a nine-point lead.
To no one’s surprise, UConn fought until the end. Solo Ball hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four with 37 seconds left – and after two free throws, UConn’s Alex Karaban (17 points) hit a 3-pointer that would have cut the deficit to one with 17 seconds left.
It wasn’t until McKenney sank two free throws to bring Michigan’s shooting from the line to 25 of 28 on the night that the Wolverines (37-3) could begin the celebration of the program’s second title – the other coming in 1989, a few years before the Fab Five arrived and made two trips to the championship game, but did not win the title.
“SEE YOU WINNERS!!!!” Jalen Rose, one of the stars of the Fab Five, wrote on social media. “THE COACH OF THE COUNTRY!!!!”
It was the first Big Ten men’s hoops title since Michigan State in 2000. Including UCLA’s win in the NCAA Women’s Championship on Sunday, the conference swept the football (Indiana) and basketball titles this year.
Michigan won this one on defense, holding UConn to 30.9 percent shooting. This was the fourth straight game the Wolverines have held their opponents to a low field goal percentage.
“These guys did it all year,” May said. “If one side of the ball is down, the other side picks it up. Our defensive combination finally got us over the hump.”
Michigan had to fight for everything. The Wolverines missed their first 11 shots from 3, finished 2 of 15 from beyond the arc and won despite the struggles of their leading scorer, Yaxel Lendeborg. With a sore knee and foot that kept him from getting up, the graduate transfer from UAB finished with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
“If you would have told me that we were going to shoot this one badly and (be) covered on the glass and still find a way to win, I don’t know if I would have believed you,” May said. “This team just found a way all season.”
The two 3-pointers are tied for second most by a winning team in a title game, according to Sportradar. Michigan was also outscored 22-12 on the offensive glass by a UConn team that didn’t get going.
“How are you disappointed in your team?” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “These guys have 22 offensive rebounds compared to that ‘mon-star’ group out there. So, I’m proud of the guys.”
Truth be told, it wasn’t the best night ever.
UConn’s hopes of becoming the first team since UCLA’s John Wooden to win three titles in four seasons have been thwarted by major problems and their poor shooting.
Hurley’s team missed its first 11 shots from 3 in the second half.
Braylon Mullins, the hero of Duke’s win that put UConn in the Final Four, finished 4 of 17, though he made a pair of late 3s that kept the game within reach. Tarris Reed Jr., who transferred from Michigan, finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds but never dominated.
Conn (34-6) closed the spread to 6 1/2 points, and Hurley kept his players off the field to watch the field set for the victors.
The only consolation: The Huskies shut things down, slowed things down and made Michigan beat them at their own game.
“It’s hard, because everybody’s crushed,” Hurley said. “We came here to be out there, doing what those guys are doing right now.”
No one has done it like the Wolverines this year. They went into the title game with free shots and big wins. In their five tournament games, they broke 90 and won by 13 or more.
This time, they didn’t hit 70 and had to fight at the buzzer. It was bad – the opposite of an instant classic. And yet, in almost every way, it was Michigan’s best — the one that gave the school what the Fab Five couldn’t manage — namely, natty.
“Nobody cared about the stats all season,” Cadeau said. “No one cared about winning. I’m just happy to be a part of that.”
Style pointers aside, this was a tournament built from the outside – the best team money could buy.
All five of the Wolverines’ starters played college football elsewhere, and all but Nimari Burnett came to Ann Arbor this season. That’s a product of the transfer window May has shown no hesitation in using since arriving from Florida Atlantic two seasons ago.
His ability to turn a temporary team into a winner shows the importance of coach and culture.
“They may still call us mercenaries but we are a hard working team,” said Lendenborg. “We’re the best in college basketball and we’re going to be some of the greatest.”
Almost everyone in corn and green can support that.
“Go BLUE. …champions!!! Respect- Love!” it was a social media post from another Fab Five icon, Chris Webber.
