Michigan Just Won the Whole Thing, and Their Defense Made It Look Easy

Michigan is the national champion. They beat UConn 69-63 in the title game Monday night, and honestly, after watching them all season, nobody should be shocked. The Wolverines just claimed their first national championship since 1989, and they did it the same way they've been doing it all year: with size, length, and more size.

Guard Elliot Cadeau, who won Most Outstanding Player, finished with 19 points and backed up what he said back in November when Michigan faced Gonzaga in the Players Era Championship. "We're the best team ever assembled," Cadeau told his teammates before that game. Michigan then beat Gonzaga by 40 points. From that moment on, they never looked back.

Defense Was the Story All Night

UConn coach Dan Hurley wasn't making excuses, but he laid out exactly what beat his team. "They're legit," Hurley said. "They definitely deserved to win the national championship. They're clearly the best team in the country this year. They're just so hard to score against at the rim."

Hurley acknowledged his team missed some good 3-point looks, but Michigan's interior defense was suffocating. "That was probably what even got us more than the missed 3s was some of those rim shots, all those transition baskets," he said. UConn cut it to four points at one stretch and had a chance to turn up the pressure, but Michigan's length and size in the paint made life miserable around the basket all night.

Historic Dominance All Season Long

Michigan wasn't quite as dominant in Monday's championship game as it had been earlier in the tournament. But think about this: the Wolverines became the first team ever to score 90 or more points in five straight games in a single NCAA tournament run. That's the kind of firepower and efficiency we're talking about here.

Coach Dusty May summed it up best after cutting down the nets. "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," he said. "For these guys to cut down the nets after all they've sacrificed is pretty special."

Michigan also made history by becoming the first team to beat UConn in the Sweet 16 or later since Michigan State knocked them out in the 2009 Final Four. That's a big one.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.