Michigan fights off UConn to win men’s basketball title

Published 11:45 pm Monday, April 6, 2026

INDIANAPOLIS — Dusty May stood alone in the corner of the court, looking out, his back turned to an orange rim with no net.

A massive screen in the corner of Lucas Oil Stadium played the “One Shining Moment” montage, the annual crown jewel of the NCAA Tournament. May watched, jaw clenched, arms crossed, eyes glassy. A native son of Indiana and former student manager understood the significance, soaked in every frame.

The head coach of Michigan men’s basketball finally broke into a wide smile during the final seconds, holding a lone finger in the air at the end. The screen went dark for a moment before flashing the signature Block M and two words.

National champions.

No. 1 Michigan defeated No. 2 UConn 69-63 to win the 2025-26 title — and stymie the Huskies’ dynasty in the process.

It’s the second national championship for Michigan, snapping the Big Ten’s 26-year title drought and preventing a third UConn title in four seasons. May and the Wolverines delivered the winningest season in program history (37-3), punctuated by one of the most emphatic NCAA Tournament runs in recent decades.

There’s a rich basketball history at Michigan, one celebrated by the various banners circling the Crisler Center back home in Ann Arbor. Final Fours, Big Ten championships. But there’s one lone banner hanging in the center of the arena, marking the 1989 national title. Not for long.

“We talked about it early in the season, to hang a center banner,” May said. “If we were having a bad practice or we didn’t have our edge, we would remind (our players) that if we were ever going to hang another banner so that one has some company, then we can’t have these types of days or practices. Usually that was one way that we could refocus our group.”

It was enough to carry Michigan to the very end, a dominant, bullying, machine-like tear that muscled through one final test. Monday’s win was not an offensive work of art from a squad that became the first to score 90-plus points in five straight tournament games. The Wolverines shot just 2-for-15 from 3-point range, but the size, depth and physicality was too much for a resilient UConn team to handle. Michigan limited the Huskies to 31 percent from the field and 27 percent from beyond the arc, while outscoring them by 14 points in the paint and going 25-for-28 on free throws.

“(UConn) did a great job of dictating the tempo,” said Michigan assistant coach Justin Joyner. “But we feel like we’re conditioned to win any type of way.”

Michigan’s shots weren’t falling, but its towering frontcourt of Yaxel Lendeborg (6-foot-9), Morez Johnson Jr. (6-foot-9) and Aday Mara (7-foot-3) had a clear advantage on both ends. The Huskies battled, cutting what was once an 11-point lead to 4 on a banked-in 3-pointer by Solo Ball with under 40 seconds remaining. But a late Alex Karaban 3-pointer fell short and the Wolverines iced it at the foul line.

“They’re clearly the best team in the country this year,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley. “I thought we had a lot of good 3s that we missed, but they just made it so tough on us around the rim.”

Size has been Michigan’s superpower all season, but its shortest player was the one who ascended on the biggest stage.

Elliot Cadeau came rushing over to his mom after the game, a fistful of maize-and-blue confetti clutched tight in his hand.

“This means everything,” he said, before tossing it in the air, fluttering to the court as he posed for a picture.

The 6-foot-1 point guard led the way for Michigan with 19 points, winning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award.

“He really put on a masterclass,” Joyner said.

Two days after orchestrating a blowout semifinal win over Arizona with secret lobs off the backboard, Cadeau had to help compensate for Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year and leading scorer, who was hobbled by a left leg injury. Cadeau scored 12 of his 19 in the second half, including 8 of Michigan’s first 15, pushing a 4-point lead to double digits.

“We made two 3s the whole game. We weren’t making shots,” said Cadeau, who transferred in from North Carolina last offseason. “But we’ve constantly just been finding ways to win all year, no matter how everybody is playing.”

Lendeborg gutted out 13 points on 4 of 13 from the field.

“I knew there was no way I was going to miss this game no matter what was going on,” said Lendeborg. “I was very tentative this game. I felt like I was holding our team down. … But these guys stuck with me no matter what. They all believed in me.”

It was a reflection of the Wolverines’ collective might this season. This year’s Michigan team was the highest-rated, according to KenPom analytics, since Duke in 1998-99, a team that lost to UConn in the national championship. Michigan finished the job, punctuating a remarkable two-year turnaround for May, who arrived at Michigan in 2024 after taking Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023. The Wolverines, who went 8-24 the year before May arrived, are 64-13 over the past two seasons.

They did it this year with four impact transfers — Cadeau (UNC), Lendeborg (UAB), Johnson (Illinois) and Mara (UCLA) — plus a dynamic freshman off the bench in Trey McKenney, who hit a clutch step-back 3 in the final minutes.

“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,” said May. “It’s never guaranteed, but for these guys to cut down the nets after all they’ve sacrificed is pretty special.”

It was May’s leadership that steered them there, building a roster and staff of “super teammates.” The championship may not have been guaranteed, but it did seem headed that direction back in November, when Michigan stomped Gonzaga by 40 points, then never lost a road game on its way to a Big Ten regular-season trophy.

“He’s just elite at meeting guys where they’re at,” said Joyner, who will leave the Wolverines after two seasons to become the head coach at Oregon State. “He helps them figure out who they are, have great self-awareness, and lean into their strengths.”

It was enough for UConn to fall just short of becoming the third men’s program to win three national championships in four seasons after going back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Hurley, already one of 17 men’s head coaches with multiple titles, would have become the seventh with at least three; his 20-6 NCAA Tournament record (77 percent) remains second to only John Wooden.

At 34-6, this was Hurley’s third season of 30-plus wins in eight years with the Huskies, with all three reaching the championship game. This was UConn’s first loss in seven championship appearances, with all six titles coming since 1999.

Monday’s loss also marked the end of the college career for Karaban, who had a team-high 17 points to go with 11 rebounds. A four-year starter, Karaban played in three championships and finished as the winningest player in UConn men’s basketball history. Fellow senior Tarris Reed Jr. added a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

“I have done everything in my power to help this program win,” said Karaban. “That’s all I wanted, is to give everything I got, leave everything I’ve got out there and try to do everything to help us win. We came up short.”

This tournament run reiterated why Hurley and UConn have been the class of the sport. But now it’s Michigan that looks like a force to be reckoned with. Despite Lendeborg and contributors Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Will Tschetter exhausting their eligibility, the Wolverines are in prime position to reload next season. With an ascending coach at the helm and championship momentum at his back.

“There’s a reason Dusty was hired here,” said assistant coach Mike Boynton Jr. “Obviously the end goal is a night like this, but it’s also to restore the pride in the program. Dusty had a great vision. It all came together.”