Michigan rolls to reach 1st Final Four since 2018

CHICAGO — Two years ago, Michigan won only eight games and recorded its lowest Big Ten win total (three) since the 1966-67 season. Thanks to a transformative coach and a reshaped roster, the Wolverines are headed back to the Final Four.

Michigan reconfirmed its status as a national championship contender under second-year coach Dusty May and a group of transfer stars headlined by forward Yaxel Lendeborg, the best player during the Midwest regional. The top-seeded Wolverines used a first-half surge to take control against No. 6 seed Tennessee and cruise to a 95-62 win Sunday before a largely maize and blue crowd at the United Center.

The Wolverines added to their team single-season record with their 35th win and will return to the Final Four the first time since 2018 and for the fourth time in the past 11 seasons. They advance to face Arizona, No. 1 seed and champion of the West Region, in a national semifinal on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Michigan is seeking its first national title since 1989, while May returns to the Final Four for the second time in four seasons, after leading Florida Atlantic there in 2023.

Lendeborg, a UAB transfer who won Big Ten Player of the Year honors in his first season at Michigan, led the way with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. He became the first Wolverines player to record three consecutive NCAA tournament games with 20 or more points since Juwan Howard, who later preceded May as Michigan’s coach, in 1994.

Michigan also received boosts from transfers in center Aday Mara (UCLA) and guard Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina). Mara had 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks, while Cadeau had a game-high 10 assists and became the first Big Ten player to record seven or more assists in four consecutive NCAA tournament games since former Wolverines guard Trey Burke in 2013 on a Final Four team. Charlie May, son of Dusty, hit a 3-pointer in the final minute as the Wolverines have scored 90 or more points in each of their four tournament victories.

After an uneven start offensively through the game’s first nine minutes, Michigan took control on both ends midway with a 21-0 surge, whipping the ball with precision and pace, and passing up good shots for great ones. Lendeborg and Mara, playing with two fouls, fueled the run, and Michigan finally got its perimeter game going with 3-pointers from Cadeau and Roddy Gayle Jr. The Wolverines essentially delivered the knockout before halftime and then opened the second half with a 21-12 run to extinguish any chance of a miracle rally.

Tennessee dropped its third consecutive Elite Eight matchup under coach Rick Barnes, who was hoping to lead the Vols to their first-ever Final Four and his first since coaching Texas in 2023. Much like in last season’s loss to Houston, the Vols’ chances were doomed in the first half, as they managed just 15 points in two quarters against the Cougars. Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the Vols with 21 points in the game, but second-team All-SEC selection Nate Ament struggled from the field, and Tennessee’s bruising frontcourt dealt with foul trouble almost the entire way.