Michigan defense vs. Arizona: How Wolverines terrorized Wildcats stars on way to blowout win

Michigan defense vs. Arizona: How Wolverines terrorized Wildcats stars on way to blowout win originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

In order to take down a fellow No. 1 seed, advance to the national championship and hand the Arizona Wildcats just their third loss of the season, the Michigan Wolverines played one of their best games of the season.

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Everything was clicking for Dusty May’s team in Saturday’s Final Four game, a 91-73 win, even with star forward Yaxel Lendeborg dealing with a nagging injury that kept him off the court for a significant portion of the game. Michigan is now set for a championship matchup against the UConn Huskies on Monday.

Defense was another major theme of the Wolverines’ success on Saturday. As Aday Mara (26 points), Elliot Cadeau (10 assists) and Lendeborg (three 3-pointers) led the Wildcats offensively, Michigan also completely shut down Tommy Lloyd’s two freshman stars, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries.

Here’s a look at how Michigan’s defense handled Arizona’s star duo with ease in the Final Four.

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Michigan defensive stats vs. Arizona

Points off turnovers: 26

Arizona FGs: 26-71 (36.6%)

Arizona 3PTs: 6-17 (35.3%)

Michigan excelled on both ends of the floor in its Final Four win, with Cadeau’s playmaking, Mara’s inside scoring and Lendeborg’s shooting all contributing to a strong offensive performance. But perhaps more impressively, the Wolverines’ defense shut down one of the country’s best units this season.

On the season, Arizona came into the Final Four averaging 86.5 points per game (12th in the country), shooting 50.3% on all field-goal attempts (ninth in the country) and 36.7% from 3-point range (37th in the country). Against Michigan, the Wildcats fell flat in all of those categories.

Arizona scored just 32 points in the first half and was unable to keep the game…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/michigan-defense-vs-arizona-wolverines-035014006.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-05 03:50:00

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