{"id":568368,"date":"2026-04-06T19:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/568368\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T19:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:05:08","slug":"in-ncaa-title-game-a-michigan-team-on-a-roll-tries-to-derail-a-uconn-dynasty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/568368\/","title":{"rendered":"In NCAA title game, a Michigan team on a roll tries to derail a UConn dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Michigan has been scoring over and swatting down opponents at a record rate during March Madness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the Wolverines to go down as one of college basketball\u2019s best ever, they\u2019ll have to do it one more time by taking down a UConn program seeking its third national title in four seasons.<\/p>\n

The teams meet Monday night<\/a> in the NCAA championship game, bringing down the curtain on a March Madness full of surprises and fun<\/a> \u2014 and highlighted by two finalists that have been shooting for history in their own distinct ways.<\/p>\n

At Michigan, a roster freshly constructed out of last year\u2019s transfer portal, has become the first team to score 90-plus points in five straight tournament games in the same season. On the other end, 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara leads a defense that amassed eight or more blocks in the first four games of the tournament \u2014 the first time that\u2019s happened since blocks became an official stat in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The Wolverines (36-3) had only three swats against Arizona, but that was a 91-73 win<\/a> in a game that was supposed to be the best of the tournament but turned into something else. Michigan is trying to become the fifth team to win six tournament games by a dozen or more. The last two: the UConn title teams in 2023 and \u201924.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a team that we think is elite,\u201d coach Dusty May said. \u201cBut we also know that means nothing. You still have to do all the things that got you to this point, and you have to weather storms. You have to handle success.\u201d<\/p>\n

No program has done that better over the past four years than UConn (34-5) \u2014 a feat made more impressive by the landscape it must navigate.<\/p>\n

Coach Dan Hurley has used the transfer portal in a more targeted way than Michigan \u2014 for instance, he nabbed Tarris Reed Jr.<\/a> from the Wolverines but also has a UConn lifer in Alex Karaban<\/a> \u2014 to keep the program near the top in an era of quick change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to have a lot of continuity,\u201d Hurley said. \u201cOur culture is unique. It\u2019s specific. It takes a certain type of player to play for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn comes into the game as a 6 1\/2-point underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, the third straight game the oddsmakers have picked the Huskies to lose. Bad bet, so far. Braylon Mullins<\/a> produced the moment of the tournament so far with his 3-pointer to cap UConn\u2019s 19-point comeback against Duke<\/a> to get the Huskies to the Final Four.<\/p>\n

If they defy the odds again, they\u2019ll become the first program to win three titles in four years since the UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and \u201870s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing we\u2019re thinking about now, as we prepare for one of these teams, is dynasty,\u201d Hurley said after the Illinois win. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna go watch this one and go through the preparation and focus on just … trying to \u2014 whoever we play \u2014 try to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-mens-bracket<\/a> and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Michigan has been scoring over and swatting down opponents at a record rate during March…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[15853,4044,2662,2000,8922,246091,1996,33086,793,8262,2652,147548,2663,1305,1303,1777,165756,147549,106504,99,250045,795],"class_list":{"0":"post-568368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-alex-karaban","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-connecticut","12":"tag-connecticut-huskies","13":"tag-connecticut-huskies-mens-basketball","14":"tag-ct-state-wire","15":"tag-dan-hurley","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-in-state-wire","18":"tag-indiana","19":"tag-march-madness-ncaa-tournament","20":"tag-mens-college-basketball","21":"tag-mi-state-wire","22":"tag-michigan","23":"tag-michigan-wolverines","24":"tag-michigan-wolverines-mens-basketball","25":"tag-ncaa-mens-bracket","26":"tag-ncaa-mens-division-i-basketball-championship","27":"tag-sports","28":"tag-tarris-reed","29":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}