Michigan sends message: You don’t want to play them

CHICAGO – With Tennessee already down by 19, one basket wasn’t going to make a difference. The game was effectively over, and whether Michigan won by 10 or 20, the outcome was still going to be the same.

Michigan coach Dusty May challenged the goaltending call, anyway. The Wolverines weren’t just here to win, they were here to send a message:

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They’re the best team in the country, and they’ll steamroll anyone who is in their way.

“It’s just people stepping up to the moment,” Roddy Gayle Jr. said. “I feel like March brings out the best in people.”

Toppmeyer: Dusty May so good, you almost forget Sherrone Moore — now, UNC needs him

More: Where does Michigan blowout rank among largest margin of victories in Elite 8?

It certainly has with this team.

Top-seeded Michigan routed sixth-seeded Tennessee 95-62 on Sunday, March 29, to reach the Final Four for the third time since 2013. With apologies to Moritz Wagner and Glenn Robinson III, these Wolverines have the best chance yet to win the school’s first national title since 1989.

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In a span of two days, Michigan humbled the country’s top offensive team and the SEC’s best defensive team, and the Wolverines barely broke a sweat in doing so. They’ve scored 90 or more points and shot 50% or better in each of their NCAA Tournament games, and the 33-point win over Tennessee was the biggest blowout of the weekend.

And if Yaxel Lendeborg isn’t the player of the year, he’s for sure the player of March.

Lendeborg tagged Tennessee for 27 points, his third game with 23 or more, and 10 of those came during a 23-2 run in the first half that effectively sealed the game. He’s making a career’s worth of highlights every game, including his tip-in layup off his own missed 3-pointer with 11:57 left to play against Tennessee.

The Wolverines are not a one-man team, however. Four other players finished in double figures and two others were only a bucket away. Elliot Cadeau had double-digit assists (10) for the fifth time this season.

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Whatever those hiccups Michigan had in the Big Ten tournament, where they struggled against Ohio State…

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Publish date : 2026-03-29 20:39:00

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