Keep track of the second men's Final Four get-together in Indianapolis, which features the Arizona Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines.
Two original number ones linger among the Final Four at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Arizona Wildcats and Michigan Wolverines, the respective top seeds of the West and Midwest regions, will close out the national semifinal proceedings on Saturday at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. It's the latter half of an elite doubleheader that opens with UConn facing off against Illinois.
Both the Wildcats and Wolverines have handily handled business on their way to the fateful finale: Arizona, for example, is coming off a solid shutdown of Purdue's potent offense, bouncing the Boilermakers by a 79-64 final in the Elite Eight. Koa Peat led the way with 20 points while Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 more. The Wildcats also enjoyed a sterling two-way game from Brayden Burries, who sank four 3-pointers while swiping three steals. Last weekend's win secured Arizona's first Final Four appearance in a quarter-century, where it previously dropped the 2001 national title game to Duke.
On the other side, Michigan has also throttled its tournament competition, the latest addition to that spotless resume being a 95-62 tossing of Tennessee in the regional final. Michigan shot a scorching 52 percent from the field, with Yaxel Lendeborg leading the way with 27 points and Elliot Cadeau providing sterling facilitation with 10 assists. Michigan has returned to the Final Four for the first time since 2018, which saw the Wolverines likewise reach the national title game, though they fell to Villanova.
As the clock ticks toward national championship oblivion, keep track of the Final Four's second half below ...
2nd Half: Michigan 91, Arizona 73
0.0—Burnett hits a free throw to close scoring and Michigan finishes things off in style.
51.3—Michigan places its deep subs in, including Charlie May, the sone of head coach Dusty.
1:30—To personify Arizona's luck tonight, Krivas misses an alley-oop dunk as Michigan continues to waste clock.
1:58—A Peat putback gets Arizona as close as they've been in a while (90-73 UM)
2:34—The teams keep exchanging free throws at the headliners start to sit. Krivas stays in for a three-point play that gets things under 20 (90-71 UM)
3:02—Cadeau scores on a putback while Mara was hanging on the rim after a futile dunk. Michigan still up by 22 in the final stanzas (88-66 UM)
4:42—Johnson and Burries exchange a lack of pleasantries after a foul. Awaka goes to the line and misses the first end of a one-and-one.
5:19—Mara keeps rolling against Peat, going to the line for an and-one. He hits it. Lendeborg sits down for presumably the final time (86-64 UM)
6:05—Johnson stops the run with two down below. Bradley responds in the other end (83-64 UM)
7:10—Arizona hits the bonus after a Cadeau foul Bradley hits two. Lendeborg re-enters the game with the lead down to 19 (81-62 UM)
7:33—Bradley drives to cut the lead to 21 by the media timeout (81-60 UM)
8:25—Burries starts to heat up a bit, reaching 15 points in a three to reduce the lead to 23 (81-58 UM)
9:03—Gayle gets the Michigan crowd back into it with a pleasing dunk (79-52 UM)
9:18—Peat, Bradley, and Burries score five straight for Arizona, the latter two doing so at the foul line (77-52 UM)
10:21—McKenney hits another three, boosting the Michigan lead up to 30 (77-47 UM)
11:05—Mara and Burries exchange doubles before the official media timeout (74-47 UM)
12:17—Another one for Cadeau leads to an Arizona timeout (72-45 UM)
12:45—Cadeau gets in on the three-point fun after Kharchenkov sinks one at the foul line (69-45 UM)
13:30—McKenney scores another off two-point fadeaway (66-44 UM)
13:49—Burries sinks his first three of the night (64-44 UM)
14:05—Peat's putback briefly stops the run but another Mara dunk puts them right back ahead by 23 (64-41 UM)
14:34—McKenny sinks another triple (62-39 UM)
15:22—Out of the timeout, McKenney sinks another three-pointer to go up 20 again (59-39 UM)
15:40—Burries finally gets on the board when Michigan was called for goaltending (56-39 UM)
16:08—Peat earns an old-fashioned three-point play on Burnett's first foul (56-37 UM)
16:26—Lendeborg sinks another three (56-34 UM)
16:37—Krivas is charged with an offensive foul, his third. He sits down for Awaka
17:34—Kharchenkov scores the first points of the second half for Arizona on a two (53-34 UM)
17:47—Though moving gingerly, Lendeborg sinks a three that enthuses the Michigan crown (53-32 UM)
18:15—Michigan finally opens scoring, as Mara tallies two on an alley-oop to give him 17 (50-32 UM)
18:26—With bold teams cold to start the second half, Bradley is charged with his fourth foul of the night
20:00—Upon resumption of action, Lendeborg has returned to the floor for Michigan
Michigan (48)
POINTS: Aday Mara (15)
ASSISTS: Elliot Cadeau (6)
REBOUNDS: Aday Mara (5)
Arizona (32)
POINTS: Tobe Awaka/Motiejus Krivas/Koa Peat (6)
ASSISTS: Brayden Burries/Motiejus Krivas (1)
REBOUNDS: Motiejus Krivas/Koa Peat (5)
1st Half: Michigan 48, Arizona 32
0.0—Awaka scores one more time before the break, but that's it for the time being. Michigan joins Lendeborg in the locker room with a large lead (48-32 UM)
1:27—The two sides trade threes: Dell'Orso briefly stems the bleed by Johnson is fouled on a successful putback and hits the and-one (48-30 UM)
1:47—The second foul for Burries puts Mara back to the line, and he hits two more (45-27 UM)
2:15—Cadeau floats on the Mara under the basket for yet another two-point collaboration (43-27 UM)
2:36—Fouled by Awaka, Mara reaches double figures and succeeds on an and-one opportunity. (41-27 UM)
2:49—Awaka beats a double-team to score on Arizona's first possession out of the break (38-27 UM)
3:21—Arizona loses possession on Krivas loose ball foul against Mara. Final media timeout.
3:48—Gayle becomes the fifth Wolverine to sink a three (38-25 UM)
4:27—McKenney charged with his second, sending Burries to the line for a one-and-one. He hits both. (35-25 UM)
4:35—McKenney re-establishes the double-figure lead with a three at the top of the key, leading to an Arizona timeout. Lendeborg returns to the UM locker room (35-23 UM)
5:09—Bradley had returned but he picks up his third foul, second on offense. Anthony Dell'Orso returns to the ball game as he sits.
5:27—Cadeau's fifth assist finds Burnett for an acrobatic double (32-23 UM)
6:07—Krivas goes back to the foul line as Johnson picks up his second. He neither but Kharchenkov gets the rebound and is immediately foul by McKenney. He also misses. Lendeborg returns to the Michgian bench.
6:23—Gayle scores off the emphatic feed from McKenney, ending the Wildcat run at 9-0 (30-23 UM)
6:43—Despite a double team, Krivas splits to continue the Arizona run (28-23 UM)
6:56—Mara picks up his second foul after some physical play with Awaka in the paint. Michigan appeals the call but it is unsuccessful.
7:23—Krivas drives on Mara and hits the two, leading to a Michigan timeout (28-21 UM)
8:07—Kharchenkov hits a three to narrow the gap to single digits (28-19 UM)
8:41—Peat hits two at the foul line (28-16 UM)
8:51—Lendeborg takes a tumble on the another drive, landing awkwardly on his ankle. He stays in the game for the time being after tying his shoes. He'll go to the line on a Krivas foul and hits two. He takes a seat and goes to the locker room for tape and ice. Bradley also returns for Arizona (28-14 UM)
9:13—Taking advantage of a cautious Lendeborg, Peat gets on the board again (26-14 UM)
10:02—More second chance points for Mara briefly increases the Michigan lead to its largest but Koa Peat responds with two on the other end (26-12 UM)
10:35—Johnson takes a hard lick from Krivas on a drive but gets up for his free throws. He hits two. (24-10 UM)
11:34—A Lendeborg steal leads to another McKinney fastbreak. This one doesn't yield points but it goes out of bounds, last touched by Arizona. Media timeout.
12:14—Lendeborg returns and scores a three off the feed from Cadeau (22-10 UM)
12:56—Bradley now forced to leave the game with an offensive foul, this one of the offensive variety drawn by Cadeau
13:22—Montiejus Krivals with a floater (19-10 UM)
13:44—Cadeau quickly responds on the other end with a three of his own (19-8 UM)
14:03—Arizona stems the bleed out of the timeout with a three (16-8 UM)
14:27—A steal for Cadeau leads to a fastbreak for the incoming Trey McKinney who slams it down and forces an Arizona timeout (16-5 UM)
14:46—A second chance for Johnson goes to Mara and that increases the lead to nine (14-5 UM)
15:33—Mara throws down an emphatic dunk on the other end (12-5 UM)
15:44—Tobe Awaka comes off the bench and scores on a putback out of the timeout. Lendeborg has not retured to the game. (10-5 UM)
15:59—Mara loses the ball out of bounds under the basket, leading to the first media timeout.
16:07—Bradley gets Arizona on the board from the field with the first field goal (10-3 UM)
17:34—After he hits a two, a savvy Cadeau pass finds Morez Johnson for two and he gets an and-one opportunity on a Bradley reach-in. He hits it (10-1 UM)
18:20—A Nimari Burnett three-pointer in the corner establishes an early two-possession lead.
18:38—Jaden Bradley lures Lendeborg into biting on a fake and he has his second foul. Lendeborg sits for Roddy Gayle Jr. Bradley hits one (2-1 UM)
18:43—Ivan Kharchenkov's draws Yaxel Lendeborg's first foul of the game
19:46—Aday Mara puts back an Elliot Cadeau misfire to open scoring (2-0 UM)
20:00—Michigan takes the tip and the latter game is under way
Pregame
Starting Lineups
ARIZONA: Jaden Bradley, Brayden Burries, Ivan Kharchenkov, Montiejus Krivas, Koa Peat
MICHIGAN: Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara
OFFICIALS: Keith Kimble, Doug Shows, Doug Sirmons
LINE: UM -1.5
O/U: 157.5
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
