UConn Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short vs. Michigan in Title Game, 63-69
· Yahoo Sports
The quest for the UConn men’s basketball team’s seven national championship fell short on Monday night, with the Huskies losing to Michigan 63-69. Alex Karaban in his final game of a storied, historic career, led UConn with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Tarris Reed Jr added 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins chipped in 11 points apiece.
The Huskies went punch-for-punch with the Wolverines in the first half, but four-straight turnovers early in the second half put UConn too far behind. There would be no frantic comeback, with Michigan making 25 of its 28 free throws and scoring 36 points in the paint.
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UConn cut it to five and had a three to get to within two with 17 seconds, but Karaban’s attempt fell short. The Huskies ended the game making one of their last seven shots.
Tough scenes all around. The gameplan mostly worked; Michigan shot 2-15 from three and UConn won the rebounding margin 46-39. They slowed down the Wolverines in transition and got a 4/13 night from Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg.
But Michigan just kept throwing its weight around inside, and their switchability on defense disrupted UConn’s usually flowy offense. It was a heck of a fight, with Hurley’s team as advertised; never quitting and needing multiple death knells to kill them.
First Half
In front of a predominately maize and blue crowd of 70,000+, both teams went at each other inside early with post-ups galore. Reed carved out deep positioning but couldn’t get the jump hooks to drop, while the Huskies struggled with the 6-foot-10 Morez Johnson Jr. inside.
A Ball triple — the game’s first three at 13:41 — got the Husky crowd going, but two fouls on Demary Jr. shuffled the rotations. Despite Ball soon joining him on the bench with two fouls, UConn was getting the stops and hitting enough threes to hang around.
Even with Reed, Demary Jr. and Ball sitting, UConn was able to take its first lead after a Karaban triple with around 10 to play. Malachi Smith was a massive injection of energy and production, getting paint touches and crashing the glass like he was 6-foot-6 and not 5-foot-11 in shoes. The Wolverines missed their first seven threes but got whatever they wanted inside, with 14 of their first 17 points in the paint.
It was a gross Big East-style game, with UConn limiting Michigan in transition and winning the rebounding margin. About as ideal as one would realistically expect against a team with this firepower. Foul trouble was an issue, with Michigan entering the bonus at 6:31, but the Wolverines remained ice cold from three.
Reed picked up his second (and UConn’s 10th) with 3:50 to play, so it was gut check time to close out the half with some momentum.
So of course Alex Karaban — who had never been called for a hook-and-hold in his career — was whistled for one by James Breeding, resulting in two free throws and a possession, which helped spur a 6-0 Michigan run.
Out of a timeout, another Ball trey from the top of the key quieted the crowd. A vicious Roddy Gayle Jr. putback put Michigan up five going into the break.
All things considered, it was not a bad half by any means for UConn. They were only -1 with the rebounding margin and played with physicality; sometimes fouls are a downside to the latter. Five threes was another part of the formula, with Michigan going 0-for-8 offsetting the glaring free throw discrepancy. And the staff had to like zero fast break points. It was all there for the taking in the final 20 of the season.
Second Half
But the Huskies didn’t really come out gangbusters, fouling right out of the break in transition. Demary Jr then picked up a third foul quickly, putting Smith back in. The Huskies turned it over four times in four possessions and went on a four-minute scoring drought, which got the Wolverines out on the run and to the free throw line. Down seven, Dusty May sprinkled in some press to speed UConn up, which only exacerbated the sloppiness of UConn’s off-ball movement.
Ball was whistled for his fourth foul on a Lendeborg and-one that put Michigan up eight with 15:16 left, and you could feel UConn losing their grip on the tempo. Ball pressure was really starting to bother the Huskies.
An Elliot Cadeau three — Michigan’s first of the game — put the Wolverines up 11, and it was officially gut check time. Reed was getting the positioning he wanted, but Aday Mara’s combination of length and strength was bothering the Bear. Without that safety valve, Michigan was able to get up and into UConn’s off-ball movement and really muck it up.
The second Mara hit the bench, UConn was able to get some points inside. But even with Mara seated, UConn couldn’t find any layups drives, finesse attempts getting swatted into the second row. Still, the Huskies were able to scrape together stops and broken plays to keep it a two-possession game by the under eight time out.
With a chance to cut it to three, a Karaban turnover led to a Mara slam, halting UConn’s mini-run. It was the Huskies’ turn to go cold, with UConn missing their first nine threes of the half. Two brutal missed free throws by Karaban put UConn down 11, but back-to-back threes from Mullins three kept the dream alive.
The problem with any sort of Duke-esque comeback was free throws; Michigan was in the bonus and feasted on second-chance points to the point it looked like they were just trying to get it on the rim for follow-ups.
The Huskies forced a tough stop, but Mullins was whistled for a moving screen. A Karaban triple kept the deficit at six with 2:11 to play. Reed tried to force a steal, but Ball couldn’t coral the layup, and a Trey McKenney three looked like the nail in the coffin. A back-breaking five-point swing.
The Wolverines remained onions from the charity stripe, but a turnover and banked Ball jumper put UConn down only four with 37.2 left. Gayle missed both free throws, but a Karaban three fell short.
McKenney made his free throws and that would do it.
The Huskies left it all out there. They could have gotten frustrated with the (sometimes) questionable calls, but instead channeled it into a furious comeback.
It stings, but it’s still a historic season for Hurley and the Huskies.