The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week as a #1 seed in one of the National Semifinal games of the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, and they won it. On Saturday (04/04/2026), they beat (#1 seed) Arizona 91-73. Michigan’s record is now 36-3.
What Happened?
The National Semifinal game between two #1 seeds was expected to be a close, exciting heavyweight battle, but no one told Michigan. They ran away with the game from the opening possession, and won handily. It was the most stress-free Final Four game I’ve ever seen.
As their reward, Michigan climbs to the summit: the National Championship game tonight (Monday 04/06/2026) in Indianapolis.
Game Flow
As I mentioned above, Michigan controlled this game from the opening possession. They went up 2-0 at the 19:45 mark, and never trailed. Arizona made a free throw to get within one point (2-1) with 18:38 left, and they didn’t score again for 2 minutes and 31 seconds. Michigan went up 10-1 at the 17:34 mark, and Arizona finally scored with 16:07 left to make it 10-3, but Michigan quickly pushed the lead over 10 points, 16-5 at the 14:29 mark. They pushed the lead as high as 16 points (26-10) with 10:00 left, when they let Arizona start creeping back into the game. Arizona went on a 13-2 run to get within 5 points (28-23) at the 6:43 mark, but Michigan recovered, and pushed the lead back up to 18 points (45-27) with 1:47 to go. They led by 16 points (48-32) at halftime.
In the 2nd half, Michigan finally pushed their lead over 20 points: 53-32 at the 17:47 mark. They let Arizona get within 17 points once, then pushed the lead up to 30 points (77-47) with 10:31 to go. At that point, the game was over. Michigan kept the lead in the 20s for most of the rest of the game, although Arizona did get within 17 points one more time. Coach May put in the Scout Team, and Michigan won by 18 points. It was a good, old-fashioned butt kicking.
Stats
The game stats were pretty good:
Overall shooting – 33/69 = 47.8% (Good)
3-point shooting – 12/27 = 44.4% (Very good)
Free throws – 13/16 = 81.3% (Very good)
Rebounds – Michigan lost 44-40
Turnovers – Michigan won 13-14
Who Started?
The starters were Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, and Aday Mara.
Who Looked Good?
Mara was the star of this game, with 26 points on 11/16 shooting. He also had 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He was awesome.
Trey McKenney was the next leading scorer for Michigan, with 16 points off the bench. He shot 6/9 overall, 4/6 from deep. He is a fantastic 6th man.
Cadeau scored 13 points on lousy shooting: 5/17 overall, 3/7 from deep. He also had 10 assists, for a sweet double-double.
Lendeborg scored 11 points on great shooting: 3/4 overall, 3/3 from deep. Unfortunately, he only played 14 minutes. He got in foul trouble early, then he sprained his ankle and wrenched his knee. He played a little bit on his gimpy ankle and knee, and he did all right, but he was clearly not 100%. He says he’s going to give it a go in the National Championship game.
Johnson scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 9 points off the bench.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
Burnett scored 6 points. Michigan needs more offense from him.
Will Tschetter was worthless off the bench, with 0 points.
Who Else Played?
Since the game was a blowout, several of the non-mainstream players got to play in the final minute.
Howard Eisley Jr. didn’t attempt a shot.
Oscar Goodman missed 2 free throws.
Malick Kordel didn’t attempt a shot.
Charlie May didn’t attempt a shot.
Who Didn’t Play?
All the able-bodied scholarship players got to play. L.J. Cason and Winters Grady are both out with injuries.
Harrison Hochberg was the only Scout Team player who didn’t get to play.
What Does It Mean?
This is what Michigan has been playing for all season: a shot at the National Championship. The Players Era championship was great. The Big Ten regular season championship was great. Making the Sweet Sixteen and Final Four was great. But, the ultimate goal has always been the National Championship. This is Michigan’s big chance. They have the best team they’ve had in years, maybe ever. They just need to play sharp for one more game.
On to the National Championship game!
This Week
This week Michigan plays one game in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, and what a game it is: the National Championship game. On Monday (04/06/2026, 8:50 p.m., TBS) they play the (#2 seed) Connecticut for the National Championship.
Connecticut is currently 34-5, with impressive wins over (#7) BYU, (#13) Illinois (twice), Kansas, (#18) Florida, (#25) Seton Hall (twice), Villanova (twice), (#15) St. John’s, UCLA, (#11) Michigan State, and (#1) Duke. They lost to (#4) Arizona, (#22) St. John’s (twice), Creighton, and Marquette. They certainly have a noteworthy player: Tarris Reed Jr. Tarris played for Michigan for two seasons (2022-2023 and 2023-2024), and he left when UM coach Juwan Howard was fired. He had a spotty two years in Ann Arbor, and he always seemed like a power forward who was forced to play center. He has blossomed at UConn, and is a key player for them. He will undoubtedly want to show his old school how much he has grown. Besides Reed (6’11”), UConn also has a 7’2” player, and a 7’1” player, so they’ve got plenty of height. As you would expect in a National Championship game, UConn is very good, and Michigan will have to keep playing at the high level they’ve shown in the first five games of the Big Dance. While UConn is good, they’re no better than some of the teams Michigan has beaten this season, like Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arizona.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why.
Go Blue!
