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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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
However, Ball\u2019s shot didn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n
A banked-in Solo Ball 3-pointer with less than a minute to go cut Michigan\u2019s lead back to four, but after Roddy Gayle missed two free throws, UConn\u2019s Alex Karaban missed a 3-pointer with less than 20 seconds to go that would have made it a one-point game.<\/p>\n
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McKenney then buried two free throws after he was fouled to give the Wolverines a lead that UConn couldn\u2019t threaten again as it came up short in its bid for a third national title in four seasons.<\/p>\n
Yaxel Lendeborg plays hurt<\/p>\n
Yaxel Lendeborg\u2019s bucket with 5:44 to go put Michigan up 11 for the second time in the second half. The basket came after UConn\u2019s Alex Karaban missed consecutive free throw attempts as the Huskies could have cut the lead to seven.<\/p>\n
And after UConn got the lead back down to eight, Lendeborg was there again for Michigan by tipping in his own missed shot.<\/p>\n
Lendeborg was hardly himself throughout Monday night\u2019s title game. After spraining his left MCL and rolling his ankle on a drive to the hoop in Saturday\u2019s semifinal win over Arizona, the Michigan star said there was no way he was missing the title game.<\/p>\n
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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 \u201cawful\u201d and \u201csuper weak\u201d<\/a> but he played all 20 minutes of the first half and had a much better second half with a sleeve on that left leg.<\/p>\n A porous shooting night for both teams<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s just a fraction better than the 22.7%<\/a> that UConn and Butler shot in the Huskies\u2019 2011 title game win.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIf you would have told me we would shoot it this poorly and get dominated on the glass, but this team\u2019s just found a way all season,\u201d Michigan coach Dusty May told CBS after the game.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 39.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n UConn plagued by foul trouble<\/p>\n Michigan shot so many free throws because UConn had key players in foul trouble for much of the game.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 he made three of his four field goal attempts and had eight points.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n He avoided picking up a fifth foul the rest of the game, but Demary fouled out with 1:07 to go.<\/p>\n UConn shot just 31% as a team as no player shot better than 50% from the floor. Karaban\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Live coverage is over55 updatesMon, April 6, 2026 at 5:50 PM PDT<\/p>\n Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n Mon, April 6, 2026 at 10:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775544670_6_dims.jpeg\"\/)
Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:29 PM PDT<\/p>\n