INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — UConn executed coach Dan Hurley's game plan in Monday night's national championship slugfest against Michigan.
The Huskies were physical, controlled the pace and held the Wolverines' potent offense in check. But this time, the big shots that propelled them to the cusp of a third national championship in four seasons simply didn't fall.
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley, left, reacts during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn's Silas Demary Jr. (2) and Jaylin Stewart reactsafter losing to Michigan in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
UConn players sit in their locker room after losing to Michigan in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
UConn forward Alex Karaban (11) and center Eric Reibe looks towards the bench during the first half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Not for fabulous freshman Braylon Mullins, not for record-breaking forward Alex Karaban, not even for Malachi Smith, who missed a layup with 7 seconds left that might have kept hope alive in Storrs, Connecticut. Instead, UConn came up short in a 69-63 loss, its first in seven title game appearances, thwarting its chance to become the first team since the UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and 1970s to win three crowns in such quick succession.
“This is where you wanted to be. It hasn’t set in yet,” Hurley said. “On the flight (Monday) it’ll set in, on the bus ride back. Eventually it’ll hit you that you were close to pulling off what would have been a historic third championship. But this team just gave us so much this year — just didn’t make enough shots.”
Karaban also had a shot to become the first player to win three titles since UCLA captured eight during a nine-season span from 1967-75. He played all 40 minutes in his finale and leaves UConn as the school's leader in games played (151), wins (126) and 3-pointers (292).
UConn picked the wrong night to shoot a season-low 30.9% from the field and a dismal 27.3% from 3-point range. The Huskies were even worse in the second half: 28.9% from the field and 4 of 18 from beyond the arc.
Maybe UConn didn't have enough fight left after it survived the tourney's top seed, Duke, with a 19-point comeback in the regional semifinals and after winning a 71-62 bruiser against Illinois on Saturday night.
This loss was UConn's first after the second round of an NCAA Tournament since 2011, ending a 19-game winning streak in the toughest parts of the bracket.
Michigan, which won its second national title and first since 1989, also brought plenty of physicality to the matchup. The Wolverines held each of their last four opponents to season-low shooting percentages.
They relied on the Big Ten's brand of bully ball to get UConn into foul trouble, win the wrestling matches for loose balls and eventually wear down the perimeter shooters who had saved UConn in its incredible 19-point comeback against Duke.
This time, it was the Huskies' shooters who came up empty.
Mullins scored 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting, including 3 of 10 on 3s. After opening the game by making his first two shots, Karaban made three of his next 12 and converted only one of his last eight 3-point attempts to finish with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Nobody else was much better. Big man Tarris Reed Jr. finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds but was 4 of 12 from the field. And while Mullins and Karaban combined for six 3s, the rest of the team was 3 of 13 beyond the arc.
“We came up short, missed some shots we normally make, but we gave it our all,” Karaban said.
The shooting woes were compounded by UConn's foul trouble.
Reed, Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr. all finished the first half on the bench with two fouls. Ball picked up his third just 29 seconds into the second half and his fourth with 16:20 remaining.
He finished with 11 points but had no assists while playing on a sprained left foot.
“It’s definitely frustrating not being on the court for that long, and it hurts my team at the moment,” Ball sad. “But this has been the most fun year of my life with this group of guys, and I just cherish this team.”
Even though UConn held Michigan to its worst shooting of the tournament — 38.2% — the Huskies came up just short too many times.
“I’m not real emotional. Players are crying a lot more than I am,” Hurley said. “It’s hard to be upset with your team. We lost the game because we missed. We missed — we didn’t make enough shots.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
UConn head coach Dan Hurley, left, reacts during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn's Silas Demary Jr. (2) and Jaylin Stewart reactsafter losing to Michigan in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
UConn players sit in their locker room after losing to Michigan in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
UConn forward Alex Karaban (11) and center Eric Reibe looks towards the bench during the first half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michigan's new Fab Five threw style points out the door and brought home a prize not even the school's most famous team could capture.
The five fabulous transfers who make up coach Dusty May's starting lineup got down and dirty with the rest of the Wolverines — coming out with the national title trophy Monday night after muscling their way to a 69-63 victory over stingy, stubborn UConn.
Michigan only made two 3-pointers all night.
The Final Four's most outstanding player, Elliot Cadeau, led the Wolverines with 19 points, including the team’s first 3, which came 7:04 into the second half. The second 3, from freshman Trey McKenney, came with 1:50 left and felt like a dagger, giving May's team — which had scored 90 points in five straight March Madness games leading to the final — a nine-point lead.
To no one’s surprise, UConn fought to the finish. Solo Ball banked in a 3 to cut the deficit to four with 37 seconds left — and after two missed free throws, UConn’s Alex Karaban (17 points) barely grazed the rim on a 3 that would’ve cut the deficit to one with 17 seconds left.
Not until McKenney sank two free throws to bring Michigan’s shooting from the line to 25 for 28 for the night could the Wolverines (37-3) kick off the celebration for the program’s second title — the other coming in 1989, a few years before the Fab Five arrived and made two trips to the championship game, but never won a title.
“HAIL TO VICTORS!!!!” Jalen Rose, one of the Fab Five stars, posted on social media. “NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!”
It was the first men's hoops title for the Big Ten since Michigan State in 2000. Including UCLA's win in the women's NCAA Tournament Sunday, the conference swept the football (Indiana) and basketball titles this year.
Michigan won this one with defense, holding UConn to 30.9% shooting — the fourth straight game the Wolverines held their opponent to a season-low field-goal percentage.
“These guys have done it all year,” May said. “When one side of the ball has let us down, the other side has picked it up. Our togetherness defensively ultimately got us over the hump.”
Michigan had to fight for everything. The Wolverines missed their first 11 shots from 3, finished 2 for 15 beyond the arc and won despite the struggles of their best player, Yaxel Lendeborg. Ailing with a hurt knee and foot that kept him from elevating, the graduate transfer from UAB finished with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
“If you’d told me we would shoot it this poorly and (be) dominated on the glass and still find a way to win, I don’t know if I would have believed you,” May said. “This team just found a way all season.”
The two 3-pointers were tied for second fewest by a winning team in the title game, according to Sportradar. Michigan also got outrebounded 22-12 on the offensive glass by a UConn team that would not go away.
“How are you disappointed at all in your group?” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “These guys have 22 offensive rebounds versus that group of ‘mon-stars’ out there. So, proud of the guys.”
Truth be told, it wasn’t anyone’s prettiest night.
UConn’s hopes of becoming the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty to win three titles in four seasons came up short, done in by massive foul trouble and its own terrible shooting.
Hurley’s team missed its first 11 shots from 3 in the second half.
Braylon Mullins, the hero of the Duke win that put UConn in the Final Four, finished 4 of 17, though he made a pair of late 3s that kept the game in reach. Tarris Reed Jr., the transfer from Michigan, finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds but never took control.
UConn (34-6) covered the 6 1/2-point spread, and Hurley kept his players out on the court to watch the podium get set up for the victors.
About the only consolation: The Huskies clogged things up, slowed things down and made Michigan beat them at their game.
“It’s complicated, because everyone’s crushed,” Hurley said. “We came here to be out there, doing what those guys are doing right now.”
Nobody did it quite like the Wolverines this year. They came into the title game shooting freely and winning big. In each of their five tournament games, they broke 90 and won by 13 or more.
In this one, they didn’t hit 70 and had to battle to the buzzer. It was ugly — the opposite of an instant classic. And yet, in almost every way, it was the prettiest of them all for Michigan — the one that gives the school what the Fab Five couldn’t manage — namely, a natty.
“Nobody cared about stats the whole season,” Cadeau said. “Nobody cared about nothing but winning. I’m just glad to be part of that.”
Style points aside, this was a championship built from outside — the best team money could buy.
All five Wolverines starters played college ball elsewhere, and all but Nimari Burnett came to Ann Arbor this season. That’s a product of the transfer portal that May has shown no reluctance to use since he arrived from Florida Atlantic two seasons ago.
His ability to form a makeshift group into a winner shows the value of a coach and a culture.
“They might be still calling us mercenaries but we’re the hardest-working team,” Lendenborg said. “We’re the best in college basketball and we’ll be one of the greatest ever.”
Pretty much everyone in the maize and blue would second that.
“Go BLUE. …champions!!! Respect- Love!” was the social media post from another Fab Five icon, Chris Webber.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg celebrates after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Michigan head coach Dusty May celebrates by cutting down the net after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Members of Michigan celebrate after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Michigan celebrates after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Members of Michigan celebrate after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Michigan's Nimari Burnett (4) and Morez Johnson Jr. celebrate after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg walks to his bench during a time out during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against UConn at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. (5) grabs a rebound as Michigan's Elliot Cadeau (3) falls and UConn's Silas Demary Jr. (2) and Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr. (21) watch during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg watches from the bench during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against UConn at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Michigan's Trey McKenney, left, and Elliot Cadeau celebrate during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against UConn at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
UConn guard Silas Demary Jr. celebrates after the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Illinois at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Michigan's Aday Mara (15) reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
