March Madness officially concludes on Monday night in Indianapolis. Michigan basketball has pounded its opponents by an average margin of 21.6 points to get here. The Wolverines already look ready to overwhelm UConn basketball inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
But the Huskies won't lay down easy. Head coach Dan Hurley won two national titles already. UConn presents one of the nation's most physical scorers and rebounders in Tarris Reed Jr. And brings a red-hot shooter in Indiana native Braylon Mullins to the floor.
Plus, UConn has become a thorn on the side of Big Ten teams in this tournament. The Huskies pummeled UCLA, scaled past Michigan State and bottled Illinois to survive and advance. UConn sent the message that Big Ten powers aren't safe facing them.
Monday's conclusion to the madness will either be lopsided or narrow. Time to roll out the bold predictions.
Tarris Reed Jr. still gets a double-double
Reed faced two seven footers and a deep lineup of bigs on the side of the Illini Saturday. He briefly went scoreless during the second half. Yet still delivered the double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
He'll draw contact, fall to the hardwood and get to the foul line. But Reed will withstand Michigan's physicality.
The 6-foot-11 center absorbed punishment all season long. Not just limited to the NCAA Tournament either. He lowered his shoulder and pounded frontcourts in the always rugged Big East this season. Reed even tangled with two other tourney teams in Florida and Texas, making him more than prepared for what Dusty May will throw at him.
Michigan's key is to limit his touches. Regardless, Hurley is feeding Reed the ball in the name of setting the tone.
Yaxel Lendeborg won't need to go off scoring wise
Lendeborg enters with a low grade MCL sprain. The Wolverines' leading scorer never landed on the injury report and is good to go.
Don't expect May to apply pressure on him to go off scoring wise. Yes, the forward can handle low post duties on offense.
But May needs Lendeborg more to help neutralize Reed on the defensive end. That matchup of bigs will definitely dictate the outcome of this one.
The combination of Lendeborg's defense with 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara swings the edge to the Wolverines.
Michigan buries UConn with its bench
Having a deep and formidable front court helps greatly for championship aspiring teams.
Boasting deep bench options are paramount too, though.
Michigan brings a deep arsenal of reserves who rise as its X-factor here. The trio of Roddy Gayle Jr., Trey McKenney and Nimari Burnett helped snatch the soul out of Arizona Saturday, collaborating for 31 points.
All three will test the UConn backcourt. Hurley needs more than Braylon Mullins' shooting touch here. Solo Ball and Silas Demary getting hot from deep keeps the underdog in the game.
Dusty May wins coaching matchup over Hurley
May gained a little bit of an edge already: He scouted out UConn during its game against Illinois. That came before the onslaught his Wolverines delivered on Arizona.
That alone shows how confident he is in his Wolverines. He prepared for the next opponent before leading the 18-point trouncing.
Hurley remains one of the game's best tacticians and motivators for college basketball. He'll lean into his past championship expertise.
May, however, is on a closet redemption tour. He erased the memory of his last Final Four disappointment of 2023 with Florida Atlantic by trouncing a heavy national title contender. Now May wants nothing more than to taste his first championship, while ending Michigan's 37-year title dry spell.
