Michigan beat up Arizona and took its lunch money in a Final Four drubbing. Only UConn stands in the way of a title

By Dana O’Neil, CNN

Indianapolis (CNN) — So, this is the clearest way to explain what Michigan did to Arizona in a national semifinal billed as a battle between two heavyweights: Yaxel Lendeborg played the second half after spraining his MCL and rolling his ankle. Yet, upon draining a 3-pointer at the 16:27 mark, the one-legged Lendeborg had scored more points in the half (six) than the entirtey of the Wildcats’ roster (four).

There are games that don’t live up to the hype and then there is whatever this was. Meaner than the recess yard bully taking your lunch money, and crueler than being punked in the most embarrassing way possible, it was an annihilation so complete that you could practically see Arizona’s guts spilled on the court like roadkill.

Michigan, which played with swagger, now meets up with the team built on swag in a fascinating matchup between the unstoppable force that is the Wolverines and the immovable object that is UConn, making its third national title appearance in four years.

The big bucks Big Ten hasn’t won a national championship since 2000; the rebuilt Big East has won four in a decade.

“It doesn’t feel real,’’ Lendeborg said. “But sitting here, it’s like, man we can really do this.’’

Ten years ago, Villanova beat up Oklahoma in the national semifinals, a bloodletting that ended with a record 44-point victory and Buddy Hield’s head buried in a towel on the bench. Nothing could quite match that, but Michigan’s 90-73 demoralization of Arizona got close.

In 2016, the Wildcats shot the lights out against the Sooners in a dizzying display that felt almost silly. This felt personal, like the Wolverines weren’t merely trying to beat the Wildcats but use the Wildcats as some punching bag to eradicate a ghost, or vindicate some sleight.

“Don’t ever doubt Michigan, man,’’ Lendeborg said. “Don’t add fuel. We do a lot better when we’re on the ropes. People thought we weren’t that good, so we were out there and just showed the world we’re not finished until Monday.’’

It doesn’t require too much psychoanalysis to maybe figure out what Lendeborg was talking about. From November 19 through January 2, Michigan won each game by an average – average! – 34.5 points. The Wolverines went to Las Vegas for the Players Era tournament over Thanksgiving and in the span of three nights, torched San Diego and Gonzaga by 40, and Auburn by 30. They were the team to beat.

But it is a long season, and rare is the team that dominates from first tip to last. Challengers cropped up. The Wolverines lost to Duke, burnishing the Blue Devils’ resume. Florida’s guards caught up to their big men, giving rise to the possibility of a repeat national champion. And then there was Arizona, always Arizona.

The Wildcats hadn’t lost since Valentine’s Day. While the Wolverines stubbed their toes and lost to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wildcats went out and won the Big 12. In four NCAA games, they won by an average of 22 points – mopping the floor with Arkansas and Purdue along the way.

Though Vegas favored Michigan by 1.5 – plenty of people leaned toward Arizona.

“We had a lot of motivation going into this game,’’ Lendeborg said. “Nobody, pretty much had us winning this game.’’

Billed as the should-be national championship game, it instead devolved quickly into a 1-16 walkover. Fifteen seconds in, Aday Mara scored on a tip-in, and Michigan proceeded to hit the gas like it was down the road, prepping for the 500. Two-zip begat 10-1, which led to 16-5, that swelled to a 16-point lead at the half and ballooned at one point to a 30-point lead.

In the last 50 seconds, the starters sat on the edge of the raised court like they were chilling at a house party while the scrubs finished up the mop-up duty. The Wolverines danced their way off the floor, Mara flinging a towel around his head.

“During the season, we have had some type of mental lapses during games,’’ Trey McKenney said. “But I think we came out, and we really knew how high the stakes were. And we just really wanted to leave it all on the floor.”

The only hiccup was the temporary fear that Michigan might leave its leading scorer on the floor. Lendeborg rolled his left foot off of Motiejus Krivas’ sneaker as he drove to the bucket early in the first half. He grimaced as soon as it happened, but kept moving, hoping if he didn’t sit still, the pain wouldn’t register.

It didn’t work. Lendeborg checked out of the game and headed to the locker room, returning to the bench with a towel over his head.

“I definitely felt like I did all of this for nothing in the moment,’’ he said. “I had to calm down a little bit, speak with myself and get out of my thoughts.’’

The training staff assured him he would be OK, that a sprained MCL wasn’t something he couldn’t play through.

As his teammates warmed up for the second half, Lendeborg went through some drills with Matt Aldred, the team’s strength and conditioning coach. He walked on his tiptoes, did some lateral movements and then started the second half, draining two threes in short order.

Watching the ball go through the net gave Lendeborg a mental pick-me-up and, though he admits his knee gave him issue when he tried to slide defensivel,y he felt good enough to play nine minutes.

Afterward, Lendeborg gingerly plucked his way through a packed locker room, carefully stepping over an open duffel bag to sit at his locker and greet the media swarm. His left knee encased in an ace bandage, Lendeborg didn’t try to pretend he was 100%.

But the training staff has two days to get him if not right, right enough.

”Unless I get up and I fall off my feet, I’m gonna be in that game,’’ he said.

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