The Michigan Wolverines were proclaimed NCAA March Madness champions on Monday after defeating the UConn Huskies 69-63 in the final with 8 points from Aday Mara, who became the first Spanish player to win the U.S. college tournament.
The Wolverines won their second collegiate title in their history 37 years after their first, in 1989. They also did it against the Huskies, one of the most successful programs in the country with six collegiate titles between 1999 and 2024.
Wolverines take control before halftime
UConn took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with a lesson learned against the machine that had been Michigan all tournament long.
The Wolverines had scored at least 90 points in every game heading into the final, something never seen before.
The Huskies put a lot of defensive pressure on Michigan.
It took Aday Mara 12 minutes to make his first basket, just after he made a great block on Tarris Reed.
Aday Mara scored 8 points
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Until then, only two players, Elliot Cadeau and Morez Johnson, had seen the basket for Michigan.
Puerto Rican Yaxel Lendeborg, the other pillar of the team, took almost 14 minutes to make a basket, and he had to do it from the free throw.
The score at halftime was 33-29 for Michigan after closing the first half with a 10-4 favorable partial in the last three minutes.
Wearing down UConn’s defense, the stretch Mara and company took control of the final.
The player from Zaragoza went to the locker room with 6 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and a block (Filed under: Michigan Wolverines, champions of the ‘March Madness’).
Michigan withstands final push
The legendary Dan Hurley paid for the tough defense he ordered to his men by having to sit three of his starters -Solo Ball, Silas Demary and Tarris Reed- for most of the second half due to accumulation of personal fouls.
Michigan took advantage of the opportunity to open up a gap on the scoreboard and surpass the ten-point lead for the first time (48-37).
This after a three-pointer by Cadeau, who was the Wolverines’ main offensive weapon today with 19 points.
The Wolverines were able to navigate the second half maintaining that cushion, not entirely comfortably, which allowed UConn to close the gap several times but never come back.
With 1:07 left before the final horn and 67-58 on the scoreboard, there was still time for a scare.
Two free throws and a three-pointer after a Lendeborg miss brought UConn within 67-63 with 37 seconds to play.
The Huskies sent Roddy Gayle to the free throw line, he missed both.
UConn dreamed of another epic comeback like Duke, Huskies DNA, but Alex Karaban’s three-pointer didn’t go in either.
Michigan caught the rebound and the door to the title was closed for good (Filed as: Michigan Wolverines, ‘March Madness’ champions).
Michigan wins with character despite flaws
In addition to Cadeau’s 19 points, Lendeborg scored 13 and Aday Mara finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.
The Wolverines made up for their dismal 2-of-15 from the perimeter with 25 free throws out of 28 attempts.
In addition, they signed 6 steals and 6 blocks.
“If you tell me that, shooting so poorly and losing in rebounding, we were still going to find a way to win, I don’t know if I would have believed it.”
“But this team has found form all season long,” Michigan coach Dusty May said on the sidelines.
For UConn, Alex Karaban finished with 17 points, while Tarris Reed scored 13 (Filed under: Michigan Wolverines, ‘March Madness’ champions).
With information from EFE
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