Michigan Hangs On To Beat Syracuse, Advance To National Championship Game

The Michigan Wolverines are on to the NCAA championship game and a date with Louisville thanks to some unlikely contributors in a 61-56 win against Syracuse.

In a matchup billed as Michigan’s sharpshooting guards against Syracuse’s vaunted zone defense, the story of the day was how Michigan’s lesser-known players came alive. For the Wolverines, the star players struggled — Trey Burke missed seven of eight shots, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 13 points but took 16 shots, and previously lights-out shooter Nik Staukas didn’t score at all.

But Michigan got a good boost from its defense, key contributions from role players, and a triple-double from freshman Mitch McGary in beating Syracuse.

“We had a lot of guys in there,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “You never know who the outlier is, you never know who’s going to come in and get that done. We’ve been a team all year. It was great.”

Despite going on a 21-8 run late in the first half and going into halftime leading by 11, Michigan couldn’t hold its lead against a streaking Orange squad. Syracuse chipped away throughout the second half, and with 48 seconds left his a three-pointer to cut the lead to 57-56.

Then, trailing by three points with 19 seconds remaining, Syracuse did not call for a three-pointer but instead had freshman Trevor Cooney try to drive the lane. His shot missed, and Michigan saved the ball from going out bounds before finishing with a fast-break dunk as an exclamation point.

“I thought we got off to a really bad start defensively in the first half,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. “We just didn’t have the movement that we’ve had, and Michigan took advantage of it. Our offense was not good in the first half or the second half. Second half, we got our defense going a lot better, and got back in the game in spite of our offense.”

Michigan has come a long way since hiring coach John Beilein in 2007. The Wolverines had missed the NCAA Tournament the previous nine seasons, but Beilein orchestrated a quick turnaround through stronger recruiting and a renewed sense of discipline.

The team also came back from some adversity within this season. Michigan lost six of its final 12 games going into the NCAA tournament, including a loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinal and an upset to Penn State, which was previously winless in the league.

Michigan will face off against Louisville on Monday to crown the national champion.