Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis, Indiana | Saturday, April 4
The banners are up. The brackets are circled. And four teams: two absolute juggernauts and two scrappy overachievers are set to clash tonight in Indianapolis for a shot at Monday’s national championship. Here’s everything you need to know before the nets come down.
Game 1 | #3 Illinois vs. #2 UConn
6:09 PM ET | TBS/truTV/HBO Max
Illinois Fighting Illini (28-8)
Coach: Brad Underwood – First appearance in the Final 4
Illinois is back on the sport’s biggest stage for the first time since 2005, when the Illini finished as national runner-up. That long drought is over, and this team earned every mile of its return trip.
The Illini are a uniquely difficult team to figure out. They play at a crawling tempo one of the slowest in the country but they can score quickly when the shots fall. The Illini love the deep ball, with nearly half of Illinois’ attempts this season coming from behind the arc. When they win, they’re shooting nearly 36% from three. When the perimeter isn’t clicking, however, they’ve shown they can also win ugly: in the Elite Eight against Iowa, they went just 3-of-17 from deep and still won by 12, dominating the offensive glass and imposing their will physically.
Key Players:
- Keaton Wagler (17.9 ppg) is the engine. The sophomore forward is the Illini’s most consistent scoring threat, a matchup nightmare who can get buckets from three levels.
- Tomislav Ivisic, the 7-foot-1 center from Croatia, is one of the most unique players in the country. No 7-footer has hit more threes this season Ivisic has hit 48 of them.
- David Mirkovic (8.1 rpg) is a relentless rebounder who cleans up every missed shot.
- Andrej Stojakovic — yes, the son of Peja has been sizzling lately, scoring 51 points on 17-of-29 shooting over the Illini’s last three games.
- Kylan Boswell is the senior floor general, a steady hand who keeps possessions organized and connects all of the dots in Underwood’s system.
How they got here: Penn (105-70) → VCU (R32) → Houston (65-55, Sweet 16) → Iowa (72-59, Elite Eight)
What to Watch: Illinois owns the lowest turnover percentage on defense in the country, meaning transition opportunities for UConn will be rare. This game has potential to be a grind, and the team that wins the glass, especially on the offensive end will likely punch their ticket to Monday night.
UConn Huskies (33-5)
Coach: Dan Hurley – This is Dan’s First Final Four. He has not lost in the Final Weekend in the prior two trips.
Is UConn a dynasty?! Winning the Natty this year cements that answer as a yes. Hurley’s Huskies are back in the Final Four for the third time in four seasons, and the two-time national champions are hunting a third title. The road here, though, was anything but smooth.
UConn trailed Duke by 19 points in the Elite Eight and still won. Down 15 at halftime, down 9 with under five minutes left, it looked like the Huskies were done. Then freshman Braylon Mullins a freshman from Greenfield, Indiana, (just 40 minutes down the road from Lucas Oil Stadium) ripped the ball away at half court and buried a 35-foot game-winner with 0.4 seconds on the clock. It immediately became one of the iconic moments in March Madness history.
That kind of resilience is what defines this program. Three starters have been in Hurley’s system for at least two years, a rarity in the transfer portal era. This is a team that knows how to win.
Key Players:
- Tarris Reed Jr. has been a monster in the tournament, averaging 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 blocks through four games. He’s a beast in the paint who can score over either shoulder and has hammered home 36 dunks this season.
- Alex Karaban is a versatile senior forward who can be wildly hot or cold from the field. When he’s on, UConn’s offense reaches another level entirely.
- Braylon Mullins‘s buzzer-beater will live forever is the story of this tournament. The five-star freshman hasn’t always been consistent, but he has ice in his veins.
- Solo Ball is a deadly off-ball shooter who has splashed 170 three-pointers over the past two seasons combined. If he gets loose off screens, the damage can come fast.
- Silas Demary Jr., Hurley’s best defender, has been limited by a Grade 2 high-ankle sprain. His availability and effectiveness will be a subplot to watch.
Tournament Path: Furman (R64) → UCLA (R32) → Michigan State (67-63, Sweet 16) → Duke (73-72, Elite Eight — Mullins buzzer-beater)
What to Watch: UConn ranks 310th in the country in free throw rate (which has been highlighted frequently this tournament). Illinois also held UConn to 61 points — their second-lowest scoring output all season — when these teams met at Madison Square Garden in November.
Game 2 | #1 Michigan vs. #1 Arizona
8:49 PM ET | TBS/truTV/HBO Max
This is the most anticipated game of the tournament, season, and I would argue the entire century. KenPom’s site agrees as the site rates it as the highest Thrill Score matchup of the entire season.
Michigan Wolverines (35-3)
Coach: Dusty May – 2nd Final Four, his first was the Cinderella run with FAU.
The Wolverines have been the best team in the country from wire to wire, and they’ve backed it up at every turn. Michigan has set a new program record with 35 wins, claimed the Big Ten regular season title, and rolled through the Midwest Regional in Chicago without breaking a sweat — with tournament wins of 21, 23, 13 and 33 points.
The Dusty May era has been nothing short of a revelation. In just his second season at the helm in Ann Arbor, May has the Wolverines playing a brand of basketball that is simultaneously suffocating and electrifying. Six players average double figures in scoring. Their defense is No. 1 in adjusted efficiency nationally. And they’re shooting 44.6% from beyond the arc in the tournament while posting 90+ points in all four games.
Following Michigan’s Elite Eight victory in Chicago, I spoke with AD Warde Manuel about the program’s rapid ascent. While he stopped short of calling Dusty May the greatest hire in the history of Michigan hoops—a question posed by one of my colleagues—he did characterize this as the “best two-year streak” of any coaching hire seen. Whether Manuel wants to claim the “all-time” title yet or not, it’s already clear: this is one of the most transformative hires in the program’s storied history.
Key Players:
- Yaxel Lendeborg is the Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Region and one of the most unique talents in college basketball. The 6-foot-9 grad transfer has a 7-foot-4 wingspan, range out to NBA three-point distance, and an alpha-dog competitive edge that defines this team. He’s averaging 21.0 points per game in the tournament.. First-team All-American. Projected first-round draft pick. And right now, he’s playing the best basketball of his life.
- Elliot Cadeau is the floor general every team wishes it had. The point guard has posted 33 total assists in the tournament, third most in a single tournament in program history; Cadeau has recorded at least seven assists in each of Michigan’s four games. His recent 10-assist performance against Tennessee was his fifth career game with double-digit dimes.
- Aday Mara, the 7-foot-3 Spanish center, became the first Wolverine in program history to record 100 blocks in a single season. He’s not just a rim protector, he’s also stepped outside to knock down threes in the tournament, making him nearly impossible to scheme against.
- Trey McKenney, Nimari Burnett, and Roddy Gayle Jr. provide perimeter depth and spacing that keeps defenses honest. McKenney in particular has emerged as a reliable contributor off the bench.
Tournament Path: Howard (101-80) → Saint Louis (95-72) → Alabama (90-77) → Tennessee (95-62)
What to Watch: Can Michigan maintain its remarkable efficiency against the most complete defensive team it has faced? Arizona is holding opponents to 27.9% shooting from three in the tournament. Michigan’s entire offensive identity is built around pace, ball movement, and perimeter shooting. This is the ultimate test.
Arizona Wildcats (36-2)
Coach: Tommy Lloyd – Lloyd’s first Final Four!
Arizona has waited 25 years for this moment. The Wildcats’ last Final Four appearance was in 2001 — and they won the national championship that year. Now they’re back, having set a program record for wins, and riding the most powerful freshman class in the country.
Arizona won the Big 12, and owns 14 wins against AP Top 25 opponents (the most in the country and the most by any program in a single season since the AP poll began in 1949-50). The Wildcats have won every tournament game by at least 12 points. The “close” game was a 78-66 win over Utah State. However, Michigan will post much stiffer competition.
Key Players:
- Jaden Bradley, the Big 12 Player of the Year and third-team All-American, is the heartbeat of this team. The 6-foot-3 senior bullies smaller guards into the paint, makes elite decisions, defends at an elite level, and rises in big moments. His matchup against Cadeau could be the defining chess match of the entire tournament.
- Brayden Burries and Koa Peat are a freshman duo who have looked completely unfazed by every moment. Burries scored 23 points against Arkansas in the Sweet 16 — the second-most points by an Arizona freshman in NCAA Tournament history. This pair combined for 1,105 points this season.
- Ivan Kharchenkov rounds out the fearless freshman trio and gives Arizona another wing who can make plays off the dribble.
- Tobe Awaka is the anchor down low with 9.0 rebounds per game, and his pick-and-roll defense will be tested extensively by Michigan’s Cadeau-led attack.
Tournament Path: LIU (92-58) → Utah State (78-66) → Arkansas (109-88, Sweet 16 — set modern record for 20-point wins) → Purdue (79-64, Elite Eight)
What to Watch: Arizona forces opponents into 3-point attempts, then dares them to make them. In the tournament, opponents are shooting just 27.9% from deep on 104 attempts. Michigan, of course, has gone 10+ of their attempts from three in every tournament game. Something has to give. If Arizona can take away the Wolverines’ three-ball, they’ll need to defend the rim against Mara — and that’s not exactly easy either.
The Big Picture
Two narratives are colliding in Indianapolis this weekend.
On one side: a Michigan team that has been a historic force all season, powered by an era-defining talent in Yaxel Lendeborg, and a freshman-loaded Arizona squad that is proving the present is just the beginning of something much bigger in Tucson.
On the other side: a UConn dynasty that refuses to die, backed by experience and coaching pedigree, facing a team in Illinois that has finally shed two decades of Final Four heartbreak and is peaking at exactly the right moment.
If both the Illini and Wolverines advance to Monday night, the Big Ten will be guaranteed its first men’s basketball national championship in 25 years. If the Huskies win, Hurley cements himself among the all-time great coaches with three titles in four seasons.
Either way, the road ends here. And it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
All games at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. Stream on the March Madness Live app or Sling TV.
