How Michigan rode a supersized frontcourt to No. 1 - ESPN

Mark Few looked out over the podium in the press room of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in late November, as if he were searching for answers.

With 6-foot-9 Graham Ike and 6-10 Braden Huff anchoring Gonzaga's frontcourt, Few was accustomed to his Bulldogs overwhelming opponents with their size. They had done it in a 10-point win over Alabama's high-tempo offense and a 39-point blowout of Maryland to open the Players Era Festival — then the script was flipped. Michigan had just bullied the team that leads the country in points in the paint to win the Feast Week's tournament title by 40.

«Look, we're a team that really scores well inside… And we literally couldn't generate any scoring there at all all night,» Few said of the most lopsided loss since his tenure started in 1999. «That's something that just doesn't ordinarily happen to us.»

Gonzaga was the last of three straight Players Era opponents Michigan had dominated by 110 combined points, a harbinger of what was to come of the now No. 1 team in the country. Very few opponents have been able to figure out Dusty May and the Wolverines since. Their lone loss was decided by only three points, only four of their 25 wins have come by one possession, and their 10 victories by 30 or more points are best in Division I. It's no surprise they are well on their way toward earning the fourth NCAA tournament 1-seed in program history.

At the heart of their success is a uniquely jumbo frontcourt. They start three transfers who are 6-foot-9 or taller — Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) and Aday Mara (UCLA) — who predominantly played the center position at their previous stops. It's not the first time May has had success leaning into size and unusual