Michigan will play for national championship after leaving Arizona in the dust

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Apr 4, 2026

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INDIANAPOLIS — What was expected to be heavyweight showdown between two No. 1 seeds didn’t quite live up to the billing.

Rather, Michigan delivered a 40-minute pounding and throttled Arizona from start to finish — and did so without having Yaxel Lendeborg much of the first half.

The Wolverines ran the Wildcats off the floor at Lucas Oil Stadium and added the latest chapter in their season of dominance with a wire-to-wire 91-73 rout on Saturday.

Aday Mara had a career-high 26 points and Lendeborg, who played just five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and an injury, had 11 points for Michigan (36-3), which advanced to the NCAA Tournament final for the first time since 2018 and eighth time in program history.

Trey McKenney scored 16 points and made four of Michigan’s 12 3-pointers, and Elliot Cadeau added 13 points and 10 assists for an offense that shot 47.8% from the field.

Michigan will face No. 2 seed UConn in the national championship game at 8:50 p.m. Monday. The game will be broadcast on TBS.

After leading by as much as 18 in the first half and by 16 at the break, Michigan kept taking it to Arizona, couldn’t be stopped on offense and bombed away from deep to blow it open.

Lendeborg, with a sleeve on his left knee, drained two 3-pointers within an 80-second span to make it 56-34 with 16:27 to play. Not long after that, McKenney splashed a deep ball on back-to-back possessions sandwiched around a defensive stop where Michigan forced a shot-clock violation.

Cadeau joined the downtown barrage and swished two 3-pointers in 25 seconds. That came during a quick 8-0 burst and a string of seven straight made shots. By the time McKenney knocked down Michigan’s seventh deep ball of the half, the Wolverines had all but knocked out the Wildcats and led, 77-47, with 10:31 to play.

Arizona (36-3), a team that entered the matchup with two losses by a combined seven points, never came close to getting off the mat as Michigan cruised to the finish line.

Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for Michigan, which scored 26 points off 14 Arizona turnovers and turned 11 offensive boards into 19 second-chance points.

Koa Peat had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Jaden Bradley and Bradyen Burries scored 13 apiece and Motiejus Krivas added 11 points for Arizona, which shot a season-low 36.6% from the field and finished with just five assists.

Michigan came out swinging, landed the first punch and grabbed an early double-digit lead to immediately set the tone. Nimari Burnett canned a corner 3-pointer on an inbounds pass. Cadeau had a sequence where he hit a floater in the lane, came away with a steal and found Johnson for an and-1 layup during a string of eight unanswered points.

That sparked a 14-4 burst that featured an alley-oop slam and a second-chance bucket by Mara. Cadeau ripped the ball out of Arizona’s Anthony Dell’Orso's hands for another steal and threw an outlet pass ahead to McKenney for a fast-break dunk. Michigan jumped out to a 16-5 lead with 14:29 left in the first half and forced an Arizona timeout.

And much of that came without Lendeborg, who picked up two fouls five seconds apart less than 90 seconds into the game and before Arizona even scored its first point. But once Lendeborg checked back in — and Arizona starting point guard Jaden Bradley picked up his second foul on a drawn charge by Cadeau at the 12:57 mark — Michigan added to its lead.

Cadeau had a drive and kick to Lendeborg, who got a corner 3-pointer to bounce in. Mara had an offensive board and put-back. A string of seven straight points made it 26-10 with 10:00 to go in the half.

The Wildcats clawed back with a run of their own after Lendeborg came up limping after a layup attempt and went back to the locker room with an apparent ankle injury. Arizona, after missing 11 of its first 15 shots, made four straight shots during a 9-0 surge that cut it to 28-23. To make matters worse, Mara and Johnson each picked up their second foul less than a minute apart.

The Wolverines weathered the storm and countered with a 20-7 flurry. A two-handed slam by Roddy Gayle Jr. snapped Arizona’s run. McKenney knocked down a second-chance 3-pointer. Will Tschetter found Gayle in the corner for another 3 before Mara took over.

McKenney faked a shot and found Mara for an and-1 layup. Cadeau swiped the ball and connected with Mara for another finish at the rim. Mara went on a personal 7-0 run before Johnson was fouled on a put-back dunk and capped the run for a 48-30 lead.

Despite getting 32 combined minutes from its starting frontcourt, Michigan won the battle in the paint on both ends, got contributions from all over and was stifling on defense en route to a 48-32 halftime advantage.