It wasn’t pretty, but Michigan has its first national title in 37 years.
The Wolverines beat UConn 69-63 to win the 2026 NCAA men’s tournament. It’s the second national championship in program history and snaps a 25-year title drought for the Big Ten. Before Michigan’s win on Monday night, Michigan State’s title in 2000 was the last time a Big Ten team had won a men’s basketball championship.
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Michigan entered the game scoring at least 90 points in each of its first five NCAA tournament games. The Wolverines became the first team ever to achieve that feat. And it was quickly apparent that 90 would be well out of reach in the title game.
Though Michigan stretched its lead out in the second half, UConn had the chance to start a comeback that would have rivaled the one it pulled off in the Elite Eight against Duke when Tarris Reed made a steal and got the ball to Solo Ball for a layup to cut the lead to four as he fell out of bounds.
However, Ball’s shot didn’t go in. And as Michigan went the other way, freshman sixth man Trey McKenney buried a step-back 3-pointer that put the Wolverines up nine with 1:50 to go.
A banked-in Solo Ball 3-pointer with less than a minute to go cut Michigan’s lead back to four, but after Roddy Gayle missed two free throws, UConn’s Alex Karaban missed a 3-pointer with less than 20 seconds to go that would have made it a one-point game.
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McKenney then buried two free throws after he was fouled to give the Wolverines a lead that UConn couldn’t threaten again as it came up short in its bid for a third national title in four seasons.
Yaxel Lendeborg plays hurt
Yaxel Lendeborg’s bucket with 5:44 to go put Michigan up 11 for the second time in the second half. The basket came after UConn’s Alex Karaban missed consecutive free throw attempts as the Huskies could have cut the lead to seven.
And after UConn got the lead back down to eight, Lendeborg was there again for Michigan by tipping in his own missed shot.
Lendeborg was hardly himself throughout Monday night’s title game. After spraining his left MCL and rolling his ankle on a drive to the hoop in Saturday’s semifinal win over Arizona, the Michigan star said there was no way he was missing the title game.
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But it was clear that he was far from 100% as soon as the game began. At halftime, Lendeborg said that he felt “awful” and “super weak” but he played all 20 minutes of the first half and had a much better second half with a sleeve on that left leg.
A porous shooting night for both teams
Neither team cracked 40% from the field and they nearly set a record for the worst shooting night behind the 3-point line in national title game history.
With UConn going 9-of-33 from behind the arc and Michigan just 2-of-15, the two teams shot 22.9% from deep. That’s just a fraction better than the 22.7% that UConn and Butler shot in the Huskies’ 2011 title game win.
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“If you would have told me we would shoot it this poorly and get dominated on the glass, but this team’s just found a way all season,” Michigan coach Dusty May told CBS after the game.
Michigan entered the game with a massive size advantage over UConn in the frontcourt. But the Huskies finished the game with 46 rebounds to Michigan’s 39.
The Wolverines missed their first nine shots from behind the arc before Elliot Cadeau finally hit one to give Michigan its first 11-point lead of the game with 12:56 to go.
However, Michigan made up for its struggles behind the 3-point line with its shooting at the foul stripe. The Wolverines made over 20 straight free throws before Gayle missed two in a row and they finished the game 25-of-28 on free throws.
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UConn plagued by foul trouble
Michigan shot so many free throws because UConn had key players in foul trouble for much of the game.
Starters Solo Ball, Silas Demary Jr. and Tarris Reed all had at least three fouls, while Jaylin Stewart also had three fouls off the bench.
Ball and Demary played a combined 17 minutes in the first half after they each picked up two fouls. Ball was big when he was on the court — he made three of his four field goal attempts and had eight points.
Both players quickly picked up a third foul in the opening minutes of the second half, too. And Ball quickly got a fourth foul when he needlessly went for the ball when Cadeau was driving to the lane.
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He avoided picking up a fifth foul the rest of the game, but Demary fouled out with 1:07 to go.
UConn shot just 31% as a team as no player shot better than 50% from the floor. Karaban’s shooting struggles continued as he was just 5-of-14 overall and 3-of-10 from the 3-point line. Elite Eight hero Braylon Mullins was also 3-of-10 from behind the arc and shot 4-of-17 from the field. Reed posted another double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but he missed eight of his 12 shots.
Live coverage is over55 updatesMon, April 6, 2026 at 5:50 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 10:10 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Big Ten teams are current champions in the three most prominent college sports:
Men’s basketball: Michigan
Women’s basketball: UCLA
Michigan head coach Dusty May celebrates after beating UConn in the NCAA championship game. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
(Jamie Schwaberow via Getty Images)Mon, April 6, 2026 at 9:57 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Here are the 5 plays (well, actually 6) that tipped the scales in Michigan’s favor.
Was this flagrant foul call against UConn the biggest one of them all?
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 9:41 PM PDT
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The Michigan big man turned 21 shortly after his team secure a national championship. His birthday began at midnight on Tuesday, April 7.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 9:30 PM PDT
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The UConn head coach sung the praises of a Michigan team that he says deserved to win the national title:
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 9:20 PM PDT
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Lendeborg said he was inspired by his mom, who is currently fighting cancer.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 9:06 PM PDT
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Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:55 PM PDT
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Here’s the story of the game …
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:45 PM PDT
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The Michigan point guard earned Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four honors with his 19-point effort in the title game.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:35 PM PDT
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The Huskies had been 6-0 all time in NCAA championship games. That streak ends at the hands of Michigan.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:29 PM PDT
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Michigan becomes the first Big Ten team since 2000 (Michigan State) to win a men’s basketball title.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:29 PM PDT
Ben Fawkes
Michigan Wolverines fans won’t care, but Michigan spread backers might. The Wolverines won 69-63, but didn’t cover as 6.5-point favorites. That means that Dan Hurley’s UConn squad covered for an incredible 19th time in its last 20 NCAA tournament games.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:23 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:19 PM PDT
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The Wolverines hang on in a nervous last few minutes to win their first national title since 1989!
Elliot Cadeau led the way with 19 points, including some clutch plays down the stretch.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:19 PM PDT
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UM’s Trey McKenney will shoot two free throws, up 4, with 13 seconds left.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:13 PM PDT
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It’s not over yet! UConn gets a turnover and a bucket and it’s down to a 67-63 Michigan lead.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:11 PM PDT
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It’s just a matter of taking care of the ball and hitting free throws from here. 48 seconds to play.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:06 PM PDT
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The lead was down to six points before McKenney drilled a clutch 3 to put the Wolverines up 65-56 on what looked like a broken possession.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 7:57 PM PDT
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Michigan leads 60-51 at the final media timeout. We’re 3:48 from deciding the national champion. Here we go!
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 7:52 PM PDT
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Every time it looks like the Huskies are about to make a run, Michigan delivers a bucket on the other end. Time is running out for a potential comeback as UM leads 56-48. 5:21 to play.
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 7:46 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
This is the first fastbreak points and first points off a turnover for Michigan all game.