Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Wolverines made history, becoming the first team since 1985 to score at least 90 points in each of their first five Tournament games.
- Despite their lowest offensive output of the tournament, Michigan's stifling defense shut down UConn in the National Championship game.
- This victory ended a 26-year drought for the Big Ten and gives head coach Dusty May a chance to establish himself among the sport's elite leaders.
When it comes to dynamic March Madness runs, the usual suspects emerge over the past 25 years: 2001 Duke, 2007 Florida, 2012 Kentucky and 2024 UConn. A new member joined that club on Monday night as the Michigan Wolverines cemented their place in the history books with a victory over the Huskies to secure their second national championship.
That second title has a lot of meaning for the Wolverines as a program but the way they did it was incredibly brilliant to watch. Michigan put up at least 90 points in their first five NCAA Tournament games, making them the first school to accomplish that feat since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Monday night marked the roughest offensive performance Michigan had in March Madness, hitting only two 3-pointers en route to 69 total points. It didn't matter because the Wolverines were able to rely on their incredible defense, holding the Huskies to 31 percent shooting from the floor and blocking six shots to establish a dominant interior presence.
The victory also ensured that Michigan was the program to snap the Big Ten's 26-year championship drought. The previous Big Ten national champion was Michigan State back in 2000 so it had to bring an extra sense of joy to the maize-and-blue faithful to raise the Big Ten's flag on a national spotlight.
The title as a whole was great for the Big Ten, which swept both basketball championships after UCLA won the women's tournament and has three straight football crowns. Perhaps the biggest winner of the entire experience was head coach Dusty May, who has an opportunity to quickly establish himself as one of the sports' best coaches.
Dusty May has an opportunity to enter the history books
May first put himself on the map when he took Florida Atlantic on a Final Four run in 2023, essentially opening himself up to many job opportunities. After smartly staying with the Owls for another March Madness appearance, May landed with the Wolverines and quickly built them into a Big Ten powerhouse.
Michigan has used the transfer portal to great success under May, building a Sweet 16 team a year ago and becoming the first program to win a title with an entire starting lineup filled with transfers. While Yaxel Lendeborg was one of the top targets in the portal this past cycle, May has done a good job finding players who fit his system like Morez Johnson Jr, Elliott Cadeau and Aday Mara.
Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett are the only rotation players out of eligibility, with guard Trey McKenney set to step up in Burnett's starting slot next season. McKenney was a highly touted recruit who didn't play a ton early as a freshmen but had an outsized impact in the title game, adding nine critical points and eight rebounds off the bench.
May is also set to get guard L.J. Cason back from a torn ACL at some point in-season while he secured the commitment of five-star freshman point guard Brandon McCoy over the weekend. If the Wolverines are able to convince Mara to forego the draft and return for his senior season May will have an excellent shot to match Dan Hurley with repeat national championships.
A win in the title game was a long time coming for Michigan, which had been just 1-6 in national championship games as a program before breaking through on Monday. May has reached the top of the mountain now and is well-positioned to ensure the Wolverines stay there for a long time.