The No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines absolutely dominated the No. 1 seed Arizona Wildcats 91-73 in the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, securing a berth in the National Championship for the eighth time ever and first time since 2018.
Here’s a recap, highlights and stats as the Wolverines blew past Arizona to move one win away from taking home a national title.
FIRST HALF
On the opening possession, Michigan scored the first basket of the game as Aday Mara threw down a put-back dunk. However, Yaxel Lendeborg picked up two fouls in a matter of seconds and was forced to the bench with 18:38 left.
It appeared Lendeborg’s exit would shift momentum in Arizona’s favor but the Wolverines responded with a 8-0 run. Elliot Cadeau found Morez Johnson Jr. for a fast-break finish, extending the lead to 10-1 just minutes into the game.
Coming out of the first media timeout, Roddy Gayle Jr. connected with Mara for an alley-oop flush to take a 12-5 lead. Just moments later, Cadeau grabbed a steal and found Trey McKenney in stride for a slam to go up 16-5.
Cadeau continued his red-hot start by knocking down a three-pointer, then connecting with a wide-open Lendeborg for a triple to push the lead to 22-10 with 12:12 to go. Later in the half, Mara made a layup to take a 26-10 lead.
Michigan had all the momentum until Lendeborg suffered an ankle injury and exited the game with 8:51 left in the half. In the ensuing minutes, Arizona took advantage of Lendeborg’s exit – going on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 28-21.
The Wolverines put an end to Arizona’s run as Gayle Jr. threw down a two-handed dunk to get the crowd on their feet. On the next possession, Cadeau tossed a no-look pass to Burnett, who finished a reverse layup to take a 32-23 lead.
Michigan continued to seize control as McKenney and Gayle both made a three-pointer to go up 38-25 with 3:47 to go. In the final minutes of the half, Mara took over by scoring seven consecutive points to take a 48-32 lead into halftime.
With the exception of Lendeborg’s injury, it was essentially a perfect first half for Michigan — holding an advantage in assists (12-2), points off turnovers (12-4) and steals (5-2). Mara led the way with 15 points in the first half.
HALFTIME: MICHIGAN 48, ARIZONA 32
SECOND HALF
The second half started in a similar fashion as the first — Mara throwing down a dunk on an alley-oop lob from Cadeau. Lendeborg also returned to the court to start the half and he made an instant impact by hitting back to back three-pointers.
Michigan wasn’t done from beyond the arc though as McKenney drilled a pair of shots from deep to take a 62-39 lead. The three-point barrage kept going in the following minutes as Cadeau hit back to back triples of his own to go up 72-45.
Since it was such a wide margin, the Wolverines cruised through the second half to advance to the National Championship. Michigan held a massive advantage in assists (22-5), bench points (25-14), points off turnovers (26-12) in the win.
The Wolverines shot a scorching 12-for-27 from three-point range as four players made multiple shots from beyond the arc. Mara totaled a game-high 26 points, while Cadeau, Johnson, Lendeborg and McKenney reached double figures as well.
FINAL SCORE: MICHIGAN 91, ARIZONA 73
MICHIGAN STAT LEADERS
- C Aday Mara: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks
- G Trey McKenney: 16 points, 3 rebounds
- G Elliot Cadeau: 13 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds
- F Yaxel Lendeborg: 11 points, 3 rebounds
- F Morez Johnson Jr: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
ARIZONA STAT LEADERS
- F Koa Peat: 16 points, 11 rebounds
- G Brayden Burries: 13 points, 6 rebounds
- G Jaden Bradley: 13 points
- C Motiejus Krivas: 11 points, 6 rebounds
UP NEXT
Michigan will take on the No. 2-seed UConn Huskies in the National Championship on Monday (8:50 p.m. on TBS). With a win, the Wolverines would clinch a national title for the second time in school history and for the first since 1989.
