Final Four Recap

Michigan survives late Syracuse surge to reach championship game

If you told me Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Nik Stauskas would be a combined 5-29 from the field and Caris LeVert would outscore Burke, I would think Michigan lost by double digits.  But that wasn't the case because the Wolverines used defense and offensive rebounding to overcome Syracuse 61-56.  In the first half Michigan was down 17-15 before ending the half on a 21-8 run spurred by the bench.  In the second, Syracuse slowly fought back and made it close in the waning minutes.  Cuse started pressing late and the pressure seemed to be getting to the Wolverines.  With less than a minute left the Orange started fouling and Michigan only made 4-8 free throws down the stretch to keep the game undecided.  But the controversy came on a questionable call with 19 seconds left and Cuse down two, after Burke split a pair at the line.  Brandon Triche drove the lane and Jordan Morgan stepped in for a charge.  The block/charge is the hardest call to make in basketball and refs like to swallow their whistles late.  But with how much contact there was, something had to be called and the ref went with a charge.  After another split at the stripe, this time by Jon Horford, Syracuse was down three but turned the ball over and Morgan finished the game with a breakaway dunk.  The two main stories leading up to this game was how will Michigan handle the Orange 2-3 zone and who will win the point guard matchup between Trey Burke and Michael Carter-Williams.  Let's talk about the zone first and in the first half Michigan was tearing it apart.  Mitch McGary became a play maker from the high post with a career high six assists.  Reserves Spike Albrecht and LeVert came in to hit two huge 3s each to provide a much needed lift from the bench.  Stauskas was looked at to be a key part to beating the zone after he went 6-6 in the Elite 8 from beyond arc but last night he missed all four of his attempts.  When the 3-point shot wasn't on, McGary and Glenn Robinson III where able to keep possessions alive with five offensive rebounds apiece.  As for the great PG matchup, neither was impressive.  Burke was 1-8 from the field with seven points and four assists, while MCW went 1-6 with two points and two assists.  Not only did MCW account for six total points, but he also had five turnovers and fouled out.  It was a night he'd much rather forget.  The one player that kept Syracuse in the game the whole night was C.J. Fair.  He realized he had a height and athletic advantage over anybody that Michigan put on him as he put up 22 and got the Orange back in the game in the second half.  Triche played good down the stretch as well, finishing with 11 points and 8 assists.  But, again for Michigan it was McGary, who might be having the best tournament of anybody so far.  He had his third double-double with 10 and 12 boards.  They now head to National Championship game 20 years after the Fab Five last did it for U of M.  This was only the second game of the year Burke scored single-digits and if Michigan wants its second national title, they will need more out of the National Player of the Year.  On a side note, Michigan called its last timeout with 1:51 to go in a very tight game.  I started having flashbacks of 20 years ago and Chris Webber's fatal timeout when they didn't have any.  I just pictured in my head Mitch McGary (who wears #4 like Webber) finding himself trapped in a corner and calling one more TO.

Louisville uses their bench to rally past the Shockers

Wichita State was ready to continue shocking the world for about 30 of the 40 minutes in their Final Four game against top seed Louisville.  That was until the pressure ramped up and Luke Hancock took over.  In the first half Wichita State did exactly what they needed to, handle the Louisville pressure and limit turnovers.  While doing so the Shockers were able to hold a 26-25 lead and only had four turnovers.  Louisville has owned the second half of games in the tournament but WSU came out ready to play and opened up a 47-35 with about 13 minutes left.  The dominate Cardinals now look vulnerable but an unsuspecting player stepped up, Luke Hancock.  Just like coming to the aid of Kevin Ware after his injury, Hancock did not shy away from the big moment and carried his team.  The junior captain averages seven points a game but scored 14 of his 20 in the second half to bring Louisville back on a 21-8 run to take a 56-55 lead with 6:30 left.  It seemed like this was the run we were all waiting for Louisville to make and they were going to close it out easily.  But Cleanthony Early didn't stop fighting.  Down five with less than two minutes left, Early scored six straight for the Shockers as they were extending the game with fouls.  This game had its share of controversy as well when it was Hancock at the line with a two point lead and eight seconds to go.  He makes the first but misses the second and Wichita State's Ron Baker grabs the long rebound but Hancock ties him up for the jumpball.  The possession arrow favored Louisville and Russ Smith hit a free throw to give us our final score 72-68.  Now some think the whistle was blown too early and Baker had actually wrestled the ball away, but my problem is with the alternating possession rule of jumpballs.  You are telling me that refs are that bad in throwing the ball straight up in the air that we can't have an actual jumpball after tie-ups?  Nonetheless, Louisville gets the win and a chance to play for a championship even with their starters being out played by the bench.  The starters were 10-33 from the field for 38 points, the bench was 12-16 for 34 points.  Smith scored 21 but on 6-17 shooting and only 5-12 from the line, Peyton Siva was 1-9 for seven points and three assists, while Gorgui Dieng was almost non-existent missing the only shot he took but grabbing six rebounds.  Along with Hancock's 20, Montrezl Harrell had eight and Tim Henderson (who only had 16 points all year) hit two back-to-back 3s when Louisville was down 12.  For the Shockers, Early finished with 24 and 10 rebounds and Carl Hall added 13 points.  Malcolm Armstead was the MOP of the West region but only managed 1-10 shooting with seven assists.  Louisville looked shaky for 3/4s of the game but when they needed it, their defense created turnovers and their bench became the scoring threats.  They move on to play Michigan, a team that commits the fewest turnovers in the country, which should make for a great matchup.