The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UConn Huskies 69-63 in the Men’s NCAA National Championship on April 6th. 37 years ago, on April 3rd, 1989, they beat Seton Hall 80-79. That was the last time they won the National Championship before this year. This was a huge win for the team and the program given the history of both teams.
In the last five years, UConn has made it to the Final-Four three times and won two of them. They took down San Diego State in 2023 and Purdue in 2024 to win the Championship. Their recent dominance in the past years have solidified them as a top seed for the tournament. They also beat Duke, this year’s favorite, in the elite eight according to ESPN.
While UConn beating Duke was a huge upset, Michigan was still favored by 8 points to win the championship game. They had a dominant performance throughout the whole tournament and set a record of being the first team to put up 90+ points in five consecutive games and also winning all of those games by double digit points. They were the first team to beat UConn in the Sweet 16 or later since 2009. (Mara)
“When you bring a group this talented together, and they decide from the beginning that they’re going to do it this way and they never waver and they never change, that’s probably the most uncommon thing in athletics now,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “For these guys to cut down the nets after all they’ve sacrificed is pretty special.”
Roddy Gayle Jr. on his two blocks and the physicality of playing UConn: “They felt great, especially running through so many screens. I feel like I deserved it. Playing against UConn is never fun running through so many screens. You can’t relax defensively. I just feel like our physicality and our ability to communicate no matter what, and recover for each other, is really big,” according to MLive.
Michigan deserved their win over UConn after tearing through every other team they played in the tournament. It’s been a long time since they last won but they proved that they had the talent and dedication to make it all the way.
