Paul Sullivan: Fab ending for Michigan as the Wolverines hold off UConn for their 1st title in 37 years

INDIANAPOLIS — The Big Ten had waited 26 long years to win a national championship in men’s basketball.

To put things in perspective, that was even longer than the wait list for tickets to Bozo’s Circus.

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But that legendary drought finally ended Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium when Michigan held off UConn 69-63 in the NCAA Tournament championship game for its first title since 1989.

As confetti fell and the partisan, maize-and-blue crowd sang their theme song, “Mr. Brightside,” it became quite obvious that destiny was calling them.

Chicago-born guard Nimari Burnett, who won an Illinois state title his freshman year at Morgan Park, now has bookends for his trophy case, when he decides to build one.

“I’m going to have to take this moment over winning state,” Burnett told me afterward. “There were so many emotions. I was sobbing. knew I was going to cry. Even at shootaround today I was getting emotional. But being in the moment with my guys, I feel so blessed, so grateful. Just soaking up the moment.”

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A game marred by poor 3-point shooting all around ended with UConn making a belated comeback in the final minutes, only to fall short and miss a chance at a third title in four years. Trailing 67-63, Huskies star Alex Karaban, who was 18-1 in tournament games, had a chance to pull the Huskies to within one.

But Karaban missed a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, and Michigan guard Trey McKenny hit a pair of free throws on the other end to seal it, as the Wolverines’ celebration began.

Guard Elliott Cadeau led Michigan with 19 points and was named Most Outstanding Player, while former Thornton grad Morez Johnson Jr. added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wolverines overcame 13% 3-point shooting (2 for 15) to win a slugfest that looked more like a slogfest at times.

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No matter.

Not-so-pure Michigan, perhaps, but enough to get the job done.

“We’ve been finding ways to win like this all year,” forward Yaxel Lendeborg said. “We started…

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Publish date : 2026-04-07 21:34:00

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