INDIANAPOLIS — You wouldn’t think Michigan would be all smiles at halftime.
Yes, it had a four-point lead over Connecticut in the national championship game, but it was an unattractive four-point lead. It was arguably the worst first-half performance of the season. Not only did the Wolverines fail to make a single 3-pointer in the first half – the only time that’s happened this season – but there were no makes outside of the paint.
An awful first 20 minutes, but the Wolverines weren’t just staying positive, they were beaming in happiness.
Why?
“It can’t get any worse,” Michigan guard Nimari Burnett told USA TODAY Sports.
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True, but it’s not like the second half was any better. Michigan struggled offensively for all 40 minutes. The 69 points were Michigan’s third lowest of the season. It was the worst 3-point shooting night of the season.
Actually, it was the worst shooting performance of the season, period.
UConn needed to make Michigan look ugly to win. It did that – and it still lost.
So, how did the Wolverines do it?
Because of one thing hiding in plain sight; while Michigan was lighting up the scoreboard with its prolific offense all tournament long, it made everyone forget one thing: they are just as good on defense.
“When one side lets us down, the other side picks it up,” Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg said.
The Wolverines made sure to remind everybody on Monday, resulting in a national championship as those halftime smiles carried over to after the buzzer sounded and Lucas Oil Stadium rained maize and blue confetti.
It’s not like Michigan’s defensive prowess wasn’t there for all to see. Three players – Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara – were Big Ten all-defensive players, with Mara the conference defensive player of the year.
That’s why teams’ defensive shooting percentage of 38.4% and average of 6.1 blocks per game were each the second best mark in the country, and it was on full display in the NCAA Tournament.
The reason why Michigan won its first five tournament games by an average of 21.6 points per game wasn’t just because it was scoring at least 90 points, but because it harassed opposing offenses every night.
No team shot above 45% against the Wolverines, and the collective opponent shooting percentage from those games? A whopping 37.9%. The defense got better in the tournament.
“The statistics, it speaks for itself,” Burnett said. “I feel like we’re the best defensive team in the country.”
Bennett and company did prove it. UConn shot a season-worst 31% from the field. A team that was top 10 in assists with more than 18 per game had just nine, the only time it was held to single digits.
Despite making nine three pointers, UConn missed 24 attempts. Shots were constantly getting contested by the the Wolverines’ quickness to the ball. Even with the looks UConn wanted, not many of them were wide open.
It didn’t get any easier near the basket. Six shots inside the paint got swatted away, making it tough for the Huskies to prevail even with their own defensive toughness.
“It’s hard to have a level of disappointment where literally it just came down to we just didn’t make enough shots in the basket,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “To be able to keep that team under 40% from the field – 38% – this team has destroyed everyone they’ve faced in this tournament.”
For all of its defensive success, Michigan still had to find a way to score, and it did so in an uncharacteristic way.
If there was one thing Michigan wasn’t good at, it was free throws. The Wolverines entered the night 109th in the country with a 74.3% mark from the charity stripe. They drew fouls, resulting in 28 free throw attempts.
How many makes? How about 25 for an 89.3% clip.
All of it proving to be just enough to get the biggest win of the season.
“We started off really, really bad offensively, our defense was the reason why we won most of those games, today is the same thing,” Lendeborg said. “We had to dig deep.”
While it wasn’t pretty by any means, how Michigan won showed there is nothing to doubt about this title. Since the statement it made at the Player’s Era tournament, Michigan had been a relentless machine on both sides of the ball, churning blowout after blowout, no matter who was on the other side.
Even when it isn’t able to do that, instead of falling apart like most teams could, the Wolverines opted to hone in on one of its many strengths and ride it toward a win.
“They’re legit. They definitely deserved to win the national championship. They’re clearly the best team in the country this year,” Hurley said.
UConn wanted a slugfest, and it’s exactly what it got. Michigan coach Dusty May actually admitted the Huskies “had a masterful game plan to beat us.” All of it pointed to a third national title in four years to cement Hurley’s dynasty.
Little did UConn and the rest of the country realize Michigan had been throwing it down all season, and it didn’t need another offensive surge to do that. The defense carried Michigan just as much to this point, and in the end, it proved defense wins championships.
“Obviously, it’s a big stage, but we deserve to be here,” Burnett said. “We deserve this moment.”
