INDIANAPOLIS - UConn men’s basketball couldn’t finish the job in the college basketball season’s final game on Monday night, falling to Michigan in the 2026 national championship, 69-63, in a game where they trailed for 30 minutes and the entire second half.
The Huskies came into the game as the underdogs but took an early lead and stayed close until late in the second half. They were the first team in the NCAA Tournament to hold the Wolverines under 90 points in a game. The eventual champs led 33-29 at halftime.
Alex Karaban led UConn in his final game in the uniform with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Huskies shot just 31 percent from the floor and 4-of-18 from deep in the second half. They had some uncharacteristic nights from some key players, including a 4-12 effort from Tarris Reed Jr. despite a double-double and 5-17 from Braylon Mullins.
The Huskies (34-6) outrebounded the Wolverines by seven, led by 14 boards from Reed, but had their three sharpshooters in Karaban, Mullins, and Solo Ball go a combined 9-27 from deep.
The Wolverines had as dominant a first five NCAA Tournament games as there’s ever been, dismantling Arizona on Saturday in a game that many tagged as the game of the year going in. Dusty May constructed a great roster from the transfer portal, one that got Michigan to their first title game since 2018.
After a few empty trips, Morez Johnson Jr. got Michigan on the board with a hookshot around 90 seconds in, but Reed responded with a floater of his own to tie it.
From there, Elliot Cadeau scored the next five points, including a trio of free throws after he was fouled by Silas Demary Jr. while taking a three. Michigan took a 9-4 lead into the first media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout with a short shot-clock, Reed didn’t realize and failed to get his shot off before the buzzer. He would make up for it with a big defensive stand against Aday Mara that prevented the Wolverines’ lead from growing. Ball got the Huskies going from three, drilling a deep one at the top of the key.
Cadeau hit an up-and-under layup at the 13:30 mark that gave Demary his second foul and increased the Michigan lead to 11-7, but Alex Karaban responded with a three to cut it to one again.
Karaban would be the one to give UConn its first lead of the night on a corner three that made it 16-13. Malachi Smith set him up after grabbing an offensive rebound, one of many impressive hustle plays that the grad student had in the final game of his collegiate career.
The Huskies took an 18-17 lead into the U-8 timeout, switching gears on the glass after the Wolverines had their way in the opening minutes.
Foul trouble would hit Michigan next, as Cadeau picked up his second foul as well with over six minutes to go. At this point, the Wolverines started to put some full-court pressure on and nearly forced a 10-second call, but Smith powered through and found a wide-open Mullins for his first three of the game to make it 23-21.
The Wolverines would go on a min 6-0 spurt after Johnson hit a pair of free throws, thanks to a hook-and-hold foul called on Karaban, then buckets from Yaxel Lendeborg and Mara. Hurley called a timeout to regroup with 2:24 left in the half and Michigan up 29-25.
The timeout worked, as Ball came in from the bench and drilled a three. Roddy Gayle had a putback slam inside of 30 seconds left to make it a five-point game, but Reed was fouled on the other side with 2.6 seconds remaining and split the pair, making it 33-29 at the half.
Michigan shot 0-8 from the three-point line in the first half, but made 11 of their 12 free throws to take the lead into the intermission.
Each side traded points to start the second half before Demary picked up a quick third foul, heading back to the bench. Cadeau would then finish a big three-point play to make it 38-31, but also give Ball his fourth foul in the process with 16:20 to go.
Just when it looked like Michigan was going to start running away with it, Mullins stuck back a Karaban miss to get it back to five. Lendeborg answered, drawing Reed’s third foul with a three-point play to send it to the U-16.
The lead fluctuated from six to eight for a few minutes before Cadeau finally knocked down Michigan’s first three after the team started 0-10. That signaled another Hurley timeout with 12:47 to play and the Wolverines ahead 48-37.
Two Ross free throws made it 48-39 at the U-12, but the Huskies still had a big hill to climb. Out of the timeout, Reed hit a shot in the post to help trim the deficit down, but Johnson did what the Wolverines did all half and responded right back.
Karaban hit a transition layup to make it 50-43, then after a Lendeborg airball on a three, Demary hit a layup to cut it down to five. The Huskies got it back after a miss, but turned it over and gave Mara a transition lob to make it 52-45 Michigan at the U-8.
A failed lob to Mara resulted in a turnover, but Reed couldn’t convert on the other end and missed his eighth shot of the night. Trey McKenney was fouled in transition going the other way and hit both to make it 54-45 with 6:30 to play.
Karaban shockingly missed two free throws in a row, and even after Reed snared the offensive rebound, Demary couldn’t hit from deep. UConn started 0-11 from three in the second half before Mullins finally saw one go through to make it 56-48 with 5:21 left as Hurley called a quick timeout.
Lendeborg tipped back his own miss after the timeout, but Mullins hit another three to make it 58-51. Two more Michigan free throws made it 60-51 Wolverines at the final media, with Reed going to the line.
The big man made both to cut it to seven, and UConn got a stop, but Mullins was called for an offensive foul trying to go around a screen. Demary picked up his fourth on the ensuing possession, sending Cadeau to the line for one-and-one with 2:45 to go. He made both, but Karaban hit a massive three to cut it to six.
Reed got a steal and had a miraculous save to Ball, but he missed the layup, and McKenney splashed a dagger three on the other end to make it 65-56 with 1:49 to play.
With the score 67-60 inside of a minute, UConn forced a turnover, and Solo Ball banked in a three to make it 67-63 with 37.2 seconds remaining.
Roddy Gayle Jr. was fouled and had both free throws rim out, but Karaban was short on a three, and that was it. Michigan walked away with a 69-63 win for the program’s second national title.
UConn closes a memorable 2025-26 season with a 34-6 record.
