INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michigan overpowered Arizona early and humbled the ’Cats all night long, turning the Final Four meeting billed as the Game of the Year into a 91-73 Wolverines highlight reel Saturday night.
Junior center Aday Mara scored a career-high 26 points and had nine rebounds, a dinged-up Yaxel Lendeborg had 11 points in 14 minutes and the Blue blew through their fifth straight March Madness opponent by double digits while becoming the first team to break 90 points five times in a single tournament.
Next up, a title matchup Monday against UConn, a 71-62 winner over Illinois in the early semifinal that was billed — wrongly — as the undercard to this battle of No. 1 seeds.
Michigan and Arizona came in with the nation’s top two defenses, a pair of top-five offenses and somewhere between eight and a dozen NBA stars between them.
But it was the Wolverines (36-3) who looked like pros, running to a double-digit lead only 5:31 into the contest, then swatting and slamming Arizona into oblivion.
Koa Peat had a quiet 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Big 12 champion Wildcats (36-3). They shot 6 for 17 from 3, 36% overall and had two assists and nine turnovers over a first half that ended with them trailing 48-32. Sparkplug Jaden Bradley got his fourth foul 94 seconds into the second half and finished with 13 points, most in extended garbage time.
Arizona’s only two losses before this were by four and by three back in February. They trailed by nine less than 2:30 into this one.
UCONN 71, ILLINOIS 62
UConn got another critical 3-pointer from Braylon Mullins and coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies are heading back to the national title game, beating Illinois in the Final Four as they seek their third championship in four seasons.
Tarris Reed Jr. had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while the fabulous freshman Mullins scored 15 for the Huskies (34-5), who rode strong inside play and tough defense to their 19th straight victory in the Sweet 16 or later rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
UConn will face Arizona or Michigan on Monday night as it seeks its seventh title, all since 1999, and third under Hurley, who would become the only active coach with more than two.
Mullins, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the Huskies past Duke and into the Final Four, hit a 3 with 52 seconds left that gave UConn a 66-59 lead.
Freshman Keaton Wagler had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Fighting Illini (28-9), who reached their first Final Four since losing the championship game to North Carolina in 2005.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness