Happy Easter Sunday Bracket Busters
If the term offends you, then let me be the first to wish you a Happy Anniversary of the day your Lord & Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead having defeated sin & death for you. Honestly easier to just say Easter, but I don’t want to offend anyone. 😏 Sorry giant colored egg-laying rabbit. Speaking of rising up, 2 teams would rise up Saturday night putting all their eggs in one basket for a chance at this year’s National Championship. So, finish that ham, grab a few peeps or a Cadbury egg, and let’s hop into our Final Four recap.
The Highlights (and Heartbreaks) from the Final Four
Makings of a Modern Dynasty After taking out the No. 1 team in the nation last Sunday, UConn would have to dip back into their bag of tricks to beat the 2nd best offense in the league, the Fighting Illini of Illinois. And this time, it wouldn’t take an epic collapse and last-minute heroics to do it. All the Huskies had to do was execute the same gameplan they had for Illinois when they beat them earlier in the year on Nov. 28. That day UConn held what would become an offensive powerhouse to just 28 points in the first half, Illinois’ lowest first half point total of the year. Saturday night the Huskies held them to just 32, their second lowest first half output of the year. And talk about clean basketball. UConn had as many turnovers (4) as unpaid protestors at a No Kings rally. Shockingly low. In fact, it was the fewest turnovers by any team in a Final Four game…ever. With 4 minutes to go in the first half, the Huskies would take the lead for the last time and never look back. Illinois made a few late charges but continued to come up short. Dan Hurley has his Huskies back in the National Championship for the 3rd time in the last 4 years, and 7th since 1999, with a convincing 71-62 win against Illinois. And history has been kind to UConn. The Huskies have never lost a -National Championship game. If they go, they win. It’s that simple. Monday night they will put their 6-0 record on the line to bring home another banner.
Game of the Year Becomes a Highlight Reel for Michigan Touted all week as the ‘Game of the Year’, two of college basketball’s best teams squared off for a highly anticipated Final Four match-up. Both Arizona & Michigan came into the Final Four with 36-3 records leaving a path of withered foes behind them. The No. 1 and 2 ranked teams according to current KenPom ratings. What we wanted was King Kong vs. Godzilla. What we got was King Kong vs. the Geico Lizard. Within minutes, Michigan looked like an apex predator just playing with its food. The Wildcats averaged 86.2 points per game this year, with 57% coming from inside the paint (one of the highest in the country). They have the fifth-fewest 3-point attempts (one of the fewest in the country). So naturally, Michigan defended the paint like an angry wolverine protecting its den, forcing AZ to shoot from the arc. Both had disastrous outcomes for Arizona. The Wildcats managed a mere 37% from the field and 35% from the arc.
On the other end of the court, it was a dunk-fest for the boys in blue. One highlight reel after another. Michigan dominated inside with 48% shooting and 44% on 3-point attempts. And here’s the scary part, they did it in large part without star Yaxel Lendeborg who only managed 11 points in 14 minutes before rolling his ankle and spraining his knee. If the senior phenom returns healthy on Monday night, look out UConn. This is some of the best all-around basketball the nation has seen in years. Michigan rolls over Arizona 91-73.
Standings Update Through the Final Four With Michigan being a fan favorite on the final line of brackets this year, we have a number of Bracket Busters participants on the first page of the standings with the Wolverines cutting down the nets on April 6. If Michigan can pull it off, it will make Erich Achtmann, Becky Anderson, Jeff Norfolk and Sean Anderson very happy people. If UConn continues its dominance in National Championship games, Greg Sauline and Dave Hernly (who picked UConn to win in 2 brackets) will be climbing onto the podium. Regardless of the outcome, Erich gets to be on the podium. Just a matter of what kind of medal is hanging around his neck at the end.
And the final score of Monday’s game will matter for Jeff and Sean who would be tied for 3rd if the Wolverines cut down the nets. Jeff guessed 143 total points, Sean guessed 159. Since we don’t do Price Is Right rules, the person closest to the final point total will get third, and the other will be in fourth. That is as long as the total isn’t 151. In that case, 3rd and 4th place money will be combined and split between the two. A photo finish to the end!
Good luck to all of you and I hope you all enjoy the final game of this year’s March Madness Tournament.
Chris H
Bracket Busters HQ