From week one, Michigan basketball looked like a Final Four team.
Their offense, chemistry, and head coach Dusty May’s guidance gave the Wolverines composure, helping them defeat top opponents and earn a spot in the NCAA National Championship game—their first since 2018. This 91-73 Final Four victory makes Michigan the first team in NCAA tournament history to score 90+ points in five-straight games in a single tournament. Also, the Wolverines have won each tournament game by 10+ points.
Lendeborg’s absence didn’t hurt Michigan
Graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg had a chaotic game, to say the least. The All-American didn’t have a great start to the game, recording two fouls in the first 2 minutes. After some time on the bench, Lendeborg came back onto the court after some time on the bench, but at the 8:51 mark of the first half, he went back to the locker room with a knee/ankle injury. For 15 minutes, all anyone had were question marks. According to senior forward Will Tschetter, even the players didn’t know Lendeborg’s status.
“I definitely thought it was over, honestly. As soon as it happened, I definitely felt the pain in both my ankle and knee. I was definitely scared. I was worried,” Tschetter said postgame.
Fans were more than relieved when they saw him emerge from the tunnel coming back from halftime. Lendeborg was getting high-fives left and right on his walk-up. Not only was he back, but he started the second half and put on a performance. In his 15 minutes of play, Lendeborg put up 11 points, making 3-of-3 shots from downtown and a pair of shots at the stripe.
Yaxel Lendeborg started the second half after only playing 5 minutes in the first (foul trouble/ankle).@CbbReview #finalfour #michiganbasketball pic.twitter.com/FkH6CupHRm
— Grace Jeffer (@gracejeffer) April 5, 2026
Based on his postgame answers to the media, it looks like Lendeborg will be hitting the court Monday against UConn. His concerns about his knee seem to affect his defensive element, as well as his planting and cutting.
“If I play Monday…I mean, when I play Monday, I’m going to be a corner 3-point shooter. That’s all I got.” He said.
May is also confident in Lendeborg’s participation on Monday.
“We know what type of guy Yaxel is. If he can play, he’s going to play. We asked him, “Are you good?” He said, yeah. So we expect him to be on the court. He told us when he got on the court, he was going to give it his all.” May said during the postgame presser.
So, why does this matter? Michigan dominated Arizona mostly without Lendeborg, but repeating that against UConn won’t be easy. He is crucial for the national championship game.
Cadeau and Mara combination
Going into this Final Four Semifinal game, there was a lot of conversation about how junior guard Elliot Cadeau needed to show up against Arizona if they wanted to top the Wildcats and return to the national championship game for the first time since 2018. He did just that. As the starting guard for the Wolverines, Cadeau has stepped it up, and thankfully so for Michigan. With sophomore guard L.J. Cason suffering a torn ACL in late February against Illinois, Cadeau has kept the energy up and serves as the key facilitator. The North Carolina transfer has started every game for Michigan and has also been reliable from beyond the arc this season. He looks like a different player than he has in the past. He is averaging two more threes per game this season and a career high 37.9% from downtown.
Looking at Cadeau’s stats from this matchup against Arizona, it doesn’t look like he performed well. He shot 5-of-17 from the field and turned the ball over six times. But the stats don’t capture the grit and speed he showed on the court. Also, he set his teammates up for success, which is a key responsibility for him, especially when teammates are injured/in foul trouble. He had confident, no-look passes all night, giving Arizona trouble. He especially set up junior center Aday Mara on multiple occasions. There’s no doubt that Cadaeu is a staple to this team, so much so that the TBS staff at halftime said that he was by far the best player on the court. May responded to the statement,
“As a distributor, he’s always been [a leader]. As for his leadership, he’s been really consistent as well. He leads more with his energy and effort,” May said. “The assistant coaches, we were talking about it before the game, we’re like, man, Elliott’s going to have a big game because of the way Arizona defends, but also just because of the stage. He’s fearless. He’s incredibly competitive.”
Mara recorded a career-high 26 points on Saturday night. Similar to Lendeborg, Michigan’s First-Team All-American picked up two early fouls to put him into trouble. With fouls from other teammates, Michigan couldn’t afford to keep the lead without Dusty May playing his frontcourt. On offense, Mara was everywhere. He shot 11-of-16 from the field and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the stripe. He locked in and dominated on defense, too, without getting called. May spoke very highly of his performance after the game.
“Aday was sensational. He was at the rim, catching lobs. He was a force down low. He was a pressure release up top. I mean, he’s such a smart basketball player,” May said.
Aday Mara DOMINATED against Arizona to lead Michigan to the National Championship 🔥
Mara finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks for the Wolverines. pic.twitter.com/MWiGelJLTK
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) April 5, 2026
His second half was really where he was playing hot. He had such an intimidating presence around the rim and made Arizona look nervous. And it didn’t matter that Michigan was leading by 20-plus points, Mara still fought for every rebound and stayed aggressive, but not overly aggressive, given the foul status of his teammates. He limited Arizona center Motiejus Krivas to just 11 points (in single digits before garbage time).
Michigan’s early momentum was disastrous for Arizona
After a 10-1 Michigan opening run, Arizona struggled to respond. Michigan’s early lead quickly grew, and within 10 minutes, the Wolverines had created a 14-point margin over the Wildcats—Arizona’s largest deficit of the season at that point.
But the Wildcats have certainly come back from a deficit before. This season, there have been five times that they have managed to come back and win from trailing by 10+ points. Before the Final Four, Arizona was 6-0 when behind at the half. Also, they have had big second-half performances this season, so even Michigan’s 16-point lead at the half didn’t feel very “comfortable.”
That is, until the Wolverines rained fire from the moment the second half whistle blew. The largest lead of the night reached 29 points. The Wolverines recorded 26 points off of Wildcat turnovers. The game was over, and there were still 10 grueling minutes left for Arizona.
THIS IS UNREAL 😱#MarchMadness @umichbball pic.twitter.com/2WuZqAceFD
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2026
Michigan’s chemistry on offense really showed. Their success from beyond the arc really set them up for success. The Wolverines tore Arizona’s defense apart, going 12-for-27 from 3-point territory. It was a nice night from the stripe as well, as they went 81.3% (13 of 16) from the foul line. A statistic that clearly stands out is how Michigan evidently assisted more during this semifinal. Thanks greatly to Cadeau’s 10 assists, they dished out 22 assists, compared to Arizona’s 5 total.
The national championship game will tip off at 9 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Michigan is the favorite in this final showdown against UConn and Dan Hurley. Even so, the Huskies are no strangers to the pressure of this particular game. They are seeking their third title in four seasons. A win over Michigan would make Hurley the only active coach to secure three or more NCAA Tournament titles. It’s been more than half a century since John Wooden’s UCLA teams, the last time a program won three championships in four years. Looking at this game from a conference perspective, there hasn’t been a Big Ten team to win the title since Michigan State in 2000 with Tom Izzo.
It will be up to UConn’s standout player, freshman Braylon Mullins, to deliver. He already had a major confidence boost with his historic 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer against Duke to send the Huskies back to Indiana.
The Big Ten hasn’t seen the brighter side of this title game as of late. They are 0-8 in the final since the Spartans’ 89-76 victory against Florida. Interestingly, that Final Four was also held in Indianapolis. Is this the year that the Big Ten will take both the college football title AND basketball title? Time will tell.