Illinois' defense, net efficiency of top seeds Michigan and Arizona stand out entering Final Four

Offense had stood out all season for Illinois, only for the defense to step up in March Madness.

Arizona and Michigan have been part of college basketball's top tier all year with elite play at both ends of the court, and they've been even sharper at the offensive end in the NCAA Tournament.

Now that trio joins UConn for this week's Final Four in Indianapolis. The Huskies and Illini meet in Saturday’s first semifinal, followed by the Wolverines and Wildcats.

All four teams rank in the overall top 10 of data-driven college basketball rankings for KenPom, Evan Miyakawa and Bart Torvik going into the Final Four. That includes the Wolverines and Wildcats ranking 1-2 for all three currently, as well as posting some of KenPom's best net-efficiency rankings ever recorded.

Illinois (28-8) entered the NCAA tourney ranked second in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency by averaging 131.2 points per 100 possessions while ranking just 28th in defense (99.1). Yet the South Region champion's defense has allowed .976 points per possession in the NCAA Tournament to lead the remaining four teams.

“We’ve been very good throughout the season at times,” coach Brad Underwood said before the regional final win against Iowa. “We just haven’t been that consistent.”

Illinois allowed Penn, VCU, Houston and Iowa to score on just 41.2% of their possessions. The Illini also dominated the glass (plus-16.3 per game) to grab the rebounds that completed those defensive stops.

They've done it all with the nation's tallest roster, with seven players from Saturday's eight-man rotation standing 6-foot-6 or taller. That has included an influx of European talent, including Croatian twins Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro. The outlier among that big lineup, 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell, is a strong backcourt defender.

UConn (33-5), meanwhile, has scored on 52.2% of its possessions going back to the second-round win against UCLA, with a high of 54% in Sunday's comeback from 19 down to shock top overall tournament seed Duke.

Terrence Oglesby, an analyst with ESPN and Field of 68, pointed to the Illini's ability to play in the gaps to disrupt offenses trying to move the ball and space the floor to create mismatches or lanes.

“Positionally, they're just elite on top of being massive,” said Oglesby, a former Clemson player. “You go to the Balkans to grab all these guys, and they're huge and they've also been well coached coming all the way up. ... The good part about being pretty gap-heavy is the fact that if you're huge, you can still get out to shooters."

Michigan (35-3) has the most efficient offense of the Final Four teams, averaging 1.361 points per possession in tournament wins over Howard, Saint Louis, Alabama and Tennessee to edge Arizona's similar average (1.341).

The Midwest Region champion became the first team to score 90 points in every game through to the Elite Eight since UConn did it in 1995 before falling 102-96 to eventual champion UCLA. Dusty May's Wolverines are shooting 55.9% through four games, including 44.6% (45 of 101) from 3-point range, and have scored on 60.4% of their tournament possessions.

Before the Sweet 16 win against Alabama, guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said May's system allows the Wolverines to play “super free.”

“He does a lot of free-flow offense,” star Yaxel Lendeborg said. “He has certain sets, but the sets aren’t necessarily for shots. It’s just for movement, just to get the defense out of their shell, and then attack off those mistakes."

The Wolverines' semifinal against fellow 1-seed Arizona (36-2) will pair teams with all-time great KenPom efficiency metrics.

KenPom bases efficiency on points scored or allowed over a standardized 100-possession pace to eliminate tempo as a factor. Overall rankings are determined by net efficiency in terms of how much a team’s offensive data outpaces its defensive numbers.

Michigan currently leads the country at plus-39.02 after the regionals, followed by Arizona at plus-38.76. By comparison, only two teams have finished a season with higher KenPom numbers going back to the 1996-97 season: Duke in 1998-99 (plus-43.01) and Duke last year (plus-39.29).

“These are these massive teams that also have enough shooting. but they’ve leaned into the everything else," Oglesby said. "They've leaned into the controllable aspects: rebounding, being big, being physical. ... I wouldn’t say that the championship game is Michigan and Arizona, but those two teams have just been a freight train going through.”

Neither of those high-efficiency Duke teams managed to cut down the nets. The first lost to UConn in the title game and the second fell a year ago to Houston in a late collapse in the national semifinals.

The season's final three games will pair strength-on-strength in the halfcourt.

The four teams have played man defense on 97.3% of their combined halfcourt possessions, according to Synergy. Arizona, Michigan and UConn all rated as “excellent” in the 91st percentile or better, while Illinois is rated “very good” in the 81st percentile.

Yet Synergy rates all of those teams as “excellent” in running halfcourt offense against man defense, with Illinois (97th percentile) and Michigan (96th) as the best.

The key for Saturday could be which teams can get out in transition to avoid tussling with set halfcourt defenses. That could favor Illinois (97th percentile) and Arizona (94th) as the top teams in transition offense with “excellent” ratings from Synergy.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Iowa's Tavion Banks, center, goes up for a shot as Illinois' David Mirkovic (0) and Zvonimir Ivisic defend during the first half of an Elite Eight game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

UConn guard Solo Ball scores over Duke guard Cayden Boozer, rear, during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Michigan's Roddy Gayle Jr. (11), Yaxel Lendeborg (23) and Elliot Cadeau (3) celebrate during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Tennessee, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Arizona guard Brayden Burries (5) grabs a rebound during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Purdue, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arizona forward Koa Peat, center, shoots past Purdue center Oscar Cluff, left, during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia’s parliament on Friday appointed right-wing populist politician Janez Jansa as the new prime minister, in a shift for the small European Union country that was previously run by a liberal government.

Lawmakers backed Jansa in a 51-36 vote in the 90-member assembly. The new prime minister will need to come back to Parliament within the next 15 days for another vote to confirm his future Cabinet.

Jansa's appointment concludes a postelection stalemate in Slovenia after a parliamentary ballot two months ago ended practically in a tie. Former liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob's Freedom Movement won by a thin margin but he was unable to muster a parliamentary majority.

Jansa and his populist Slovenian Democratic Party signed a coalition agreement this week with several right-wing groups. The new government also has the backing of a nonestablishment Truth party that first emerged as an anti-vaccination movement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new term in office will be the fourth for the veteran Slovenian politician. Jansa, 67, is an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump and was a close ally of former populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was defeated in a landslide election last month.

Jansa in a speech listed the economy, fight against corruption and red tape, and decentralization as key goals of the future government. He has promised to lower taxes for the rich and support private education and healthcare.

Critical of the previous government's alleged “inefficiency," Jansa said the new government will turn Slovenia into “a country of opportunity, prosperity and justice, where each responsible citizen will feel safe and accepted."

Like Orban, Jansa was staunchly anti-immigrant during the huge migration wave to Europe in 2015. Also like Orban, Jansa has faced accusations of clamping down on democratic institutions and press freedoms during a previous term in 2020-2022. This led to protests at the time, and scrutiny from the European Union.

Golob in his speech described Jansa as “the greatest threat to Slovenia’s sovereignty and democracy."

Alleging that Jansa had threatened to arrest him, Golob said Jansa's "idea of democracy is that anyone who dares speak a word against you deserves only the worst.”

Jansa, a supporter of Israel, also has been a stern critic of the Golob government's 2024 recognition of a Palestinian state.

The vote on March 22 was marred by allegations of foreign influence and corruption. The around 2 million people in the Alpine nation are deeply divided between liberals and conservatives.

Janez Jansa, center, addresses the Slovenian Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)

Janez Jansa arrives for a session of the Slovenian Parliament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)

Janez Jansa addresses the Slovenian Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)