INDIANAPOLIS — A free-throw-fueled run to end the first half pushed Michigan in front of UConn, 33-29, in a back-and-forth national championship game on Monday night.
Roddy Gayle Jr. followed a missed layup with a two-hand flush for Michigan, which missed all eight of its 3-point attempts in a first half that featured six lead changes and eight ties.
Michigan was down 25-23 with 3:16 left in the half when UConn’s Alex Karaban was whistled for a defensive foul battling Morez Johnson Jr. for a rebound. An official review upgraded the foul to a hook-and-hold, Flagrant 1. Johnson nailed the free throws and Michigan made the most of the extra possession with Yaxel Lendeborg’s first bucket of the night to take a 27-25 lead.
The Wolverines got another stop and went right back to the paint. Center Aday Mara’s lefty half hook was all twine for a five-point Michigan lead, compelling a wincing UConn coach Dan Hurley to take a timeout and regroup.
UConn won the fight for pace — the Wolverines are averaging 94.4 points in the NCAA Tournament — but piled up fouls in bunches to spare Michigan from a frigid shooting start.
The Huskies’ 10th team foul was whistled on Tarris Reed Jr. for an illegal screen with 3:58 to go in the half, at which point the Wolverines were already 9 of 10 from the line but 0 for 7 from 3-point range. It meant Hurley had to try to survive and steal significant minutes with Reed, Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr. all saddled with two fouls in the first 16 minutes.
Ball made a 3 at the top of the key out of Hurley’s timeout and Mara answered, going right at Reed on the left block.
Jayden Ross, fouled by Cadeau at the rim on a runout, pulled UConn even at 11 with the first of two free throws coming out of the under-12 media timeout. Cadeau picked up his second foul with 6:24 left in the half and had to sit.
Karaban spotted up in front of Michigan’s bench for a corner 3, his second of the game, and UConn led 16-13.
Cadeau and Johnson carried Michigan’s early offense, combining for the Wolverines’ first 15 points until the 7-foot-3 Mara cashed a runner off the glass that made it an 18-17 game.
Hobbled in the semifinal win over Arizona, Lendeborg didn’t take a shot in nearly the first 10 minutes. His first points came at the line. He tied the game at 20 and then made the next for a brief 21-20 lead erased by Braylon Mullins’ only basket of the half, a right-wing transition 3.
Lendeborg offered a brutal self-assessment to CBS at halftime leaving the court, describing his play as “awful” and “soft.” He played all 20 minutes after being cleared with knee and ankle injuries.
