How Michigan defeated UConn for the NCAA championship - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — The Michigan Wolverines ended the Big Ten's 26-year men's basketball championship drought Monday, leading much of their title matchup against UConn and winning 69-63 to end the Huskies' quest for a third title in four seasons.

ESPN college basketball reporters Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf were on-site to break down how the 2026 NCAA championship was decided.

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How Michigan won: UConn controlled the tempo early, holding its own on the backboards, and got a boost from Michigan's shooting struggles. The first 15 minutes of the game mostly trended in the Huskies' direction — they kept Michigan out of transition, with the Wolverines having zero fast-break points in the first half. Their leading scorer, Yaxel Lendeborg, looked a shell of his All-American self, going just 1-for-5 from the field despite playing all 20 minutes in the first half.

The momentum began to shift in the final minutes before the break, though. It started on a hook-and-hold call against Alex Karaban with 3:16 to go until halftime, and that jump-started a 6-0 run for Michigan in 46 seconds. That became a 10-4 surge to give Michigan a 33-29 lead entering the break.

Less than four minutes into the second half, the Wolverines' lead grew to seven, their largest lead to that point, on Elliot Cadeau's three-point play as Solo Ball picked up his fourth foul. The Huskies had gone cold offensively, and Michigan, inevitably, started getting more efficient on offense. The Huskies were teetering and looked out of answers.

Entering the final four minutes of the game, UConn was 5-for-21 on its first-shot offense in the second half, per ESPN Research, and the Huskies were 1-for-9 on shots contested by Aday Mara. Michigan's