Final Four: Arizona men’s basketball to face Michigan in semifinals
· Yahoo Sports
The first notion that Arizona might have something special on its hands with Tommy Lloyd as head coach came in November 2021, when the Wildcats took down a Top 5 Michigan team in Lloyd’s fifth career game at the UA.
The win catapulted Arizona into national relevance in Lloyd’s first season, and the program has never looked back.
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Perhaps it’s fitting that the Wildcats will face the Wolverines in Arizona’s first Final Four appearance since 2001. Michigan advanced to Indianapolis by dismantling Tennessee 95-62 in the NCAA Midwest Region final Sunday afternoon.
Forward Yaxel Lendeborg led Michigan with 27 points on 10 of 19 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Point guard Elliot Cadeau had a near double-double with eight points and 10 assists. Four other Wolverines scored in double figures.
Michigan shot 52 percent from the field including 10 from 27 from three-point range.
Arizona (36-2) and Michigan (35-3) will face off in one of the more highly anticipated national semifinals games in recent memories. The matchup marks just the fifth time in Final Four history that both teams have 35 or more wins, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
Michigan and Arizona rank No. 1 and 2 on KenPom.com
If both teams play to their peaks, Arizona vs. Michigan on a Final Four stage has the potential to be one of the best games of the decade.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 29, 2026
Also marks just the fifth time ever two teams met in the F4 with 35+ wins.
Let the hype begin.
Michigan is coached by Dusty May, who is making his second appearance in the Final Four after leading No. 9 seed FAU to the Final Four in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. While at FAU, May and the Owls defeated Arizona 96-95 in a double overtime thriller in December 2023 as part of the Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
May took over as Michigan’s head coach in spring of 2024 and has led the Wolverines to back-to-back successful seasons. Last year Michigan reached the Sweet 16 and this year taking the program is going to its first Final Four since 2018.
Michigan has won its four NCAA Tournament games by an average of 22.5 points. The Wolverines’ only real hiccup came in the first half of its Sweet 16 game vs. Alabama, when it fell into an 11-2 hole and trailed at halftime. Michigan outscored Alabama by 15 points in the second half to win 90-77.
Michigan looked more like its dominant self Sunday, racing out to a 48-26 halftime lead over the Vols and clamping down in the second half.
Michigan’s last loss came in the Big Ten Tournament title game to Purdue, falling 80-72. Michigan dropped a conference game at home to Wisconsin and dropped a neutral site game to Duke last month.
Tip off time for Arizona’s semifinal game vs. Michigan will be announced later Sunday.