INDIANAPOLIS — On the weekend the Fab Five is reunited and Michigan celebrates the anniversary of its only men’s basketball national title in 1989, Dusty May can’t help but feel momentum moving the Wolverines closer to tipoff in the Final Four.
The former Indiana University manager for Bob Knight has Michigan (35-3) hitting a peak at the right time with only Arizona (36-2) between the Wolverines and their eighth national championship game appearance.
“It’s really cool just to be back here in a full-circle moment,” May said Friday, roughly 36 hours before Michigan takes the court at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Wolverines waltzed through the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region in Chicago, taking the regional final from Tennessee in a landslide, 95-62. Michigan’s trail of victims all allowed 90-plus points, 25-plus field goals, 19-plus assists and 10-plus 3-pointers with Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg (21.0 points per game) leading six Wolverines averaging double figures during the NCAA Tournament.
“He’s obviously an elite talent,” Lloyd said of Lendeborg. “You put the skill with those physical tools, and looks like to me he’s got that alpha dog in him. Dusty has done an incredible job just putting him in positions to utilize all his skills. There’s probably not one way to guard him. … I’m sure that guy, that’s going to be a household name in basketball for a long time.”
Lloyd said Friday he plans to be a household name in Tucson for a long time. He signed a contract extension through 2031 in the wake of interest from another college basketball powerhouse — this time North Carolina, last year Villanova — with a coaching vacancy.
Arizona set a single-season program record with 36 wins. The Wildcats won the Big 12 and, like Big Ten regular-season champ Michigan, haven’t had to sweat much in the NCAA Tournament with an average margin of victory of 20.5. This is the first matchup since the NCAA Tournament became a 64-team field in 1985 in which Final Four opponents won four prior games by at least 10 points.
“I feel like we’ve been tested,” Arizona senior point guard Jaden Bradley said. “Big 12 play, Big 12 tournament. I think it’s going to go down to the wire. It’s definitely going to be a full 40 (minutes).”
Illinois, Arizona and Michigan have been in the top six in offensive efficiency rating all season.
The Wildcats are making their fifth Final Four appearance — their first since 2001 — and are back near the site of their 1997 national title celebration at the RCA Dome.
Freshman forward Koa Peat was named West Region Most Outstanding Player, averaging 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds 2.5 assists in wins over Arkansas and Purdue last week. In a Final Four dominated by transfers and international talent searches, Peat is an anomaly Lloyd applauds.
“Koa is special,” Lloyd said. “And I know you guys hear it, but you got to hear it again. Four state championships at the same high school. Didn’t go to a prep school. Four gold medals with USA Basketball. No one in FIBA history has ever done that. And helped lead Arizona to a Final Four.”
Classmate Brayden Burries scored 23 points against Arkansas in the Sweet 16, the second-most points scored by an Arizona freshman in an NCAA Tournament game. The pair combined for 1,105 points this season.
The player most responsible for carrying the Arizona flag on the roster is Bradley, who was named Big 12 Player of the Year. He was a third-team All-American and a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
Bradley’s matchup with Michigan’s backcourt brings intrigue in a game where most of the Xs and Os are fixed on big men. He’ll likely get plenty of time against Michigan point guard Elliot Cadeau, who has three consecutive games with seven-plus assists and overcame an allergic reaction and late departure from Ann Arbor to practice Friday.
But Arizona takes pride in its team defense.
“I think their physicality stands out and the way that they play and they sustain physicality for 40 minutes,” Michigan freshman guard Trey McKenney said of Arizona.
The Wildcats are not the typical college offense, a point made by Michigan’s 7-foot-4 center Aday Mara this week.
They typically are aiming to shoot a higher volume of free throws, not 3-pointers. The Wildcats have attempted only 53 total 3-pointers in four NCAA Tournament games and shot 43.4%; Arizona made an average of 19.7 free throws per game this season. Michigan made 27 free throws in the Midwest Region final win.
Arizona’s defense gave Big 12 foes fits all season with 7-foot-2 Motiejus Krivas roaming between the blocks. But Lloyd views Lendeborg as a unicorn. Not because of just his scoring, but because of his unselfish play.
“It took him a while,” May said of Lendeborg reaching his current comfort zone. “And I think our guys have constantly reminded him. He’s so unselfish. He’s so — I don’t know how to say it. He wants to be one of the guys. They’ve encouraged him to be more aggressive, to shoot more, to hunt some more individual accolades all year, and he simply refused because he didn’t care about any of those things.
“It’s allowed us to have a real selfless group, and it’s improved our environment because he’s been so unselfish but he still has no idea how good he is.”
A grad student who had 150 career games under his belt before joining the Wolverines, Lendeborg spent two seasons at Arizona Western College and two at UAB. He’s also a unique talent because of range — 10 3-pointers in the past three games — and length (7-foot-4 wingspan).
If the Wildcats control the lane and force Michigan to launch from deep, they expect positive results. Opponents are shooting 27.9% from 3-point range against Arizona in the NCAA Tournament.
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
