Dan Hurley responds to boos and pushes back against media criticism
UW coach Dan Hurley responded to the boos after an emotional postgame moment and criticized lazy media coverage.
INDIANAPOLIS — We thought this was going to be the game of the year.
No. 1 seed Michigan vs. No. 1 seed Arizona. The two strongest teams of the season will meet in the Final Four. Unstoppable forces and immovable objects. It’s a box-office attraction as the powerhouses battle it out in what could be one of the greatest matches in tournament history.
Instead, it was the atomic bomb versus the ants.
The much-anticipated thriller ended up being a 40-minute snooze, with the University of Michigan defeating the University of Arizona in overwhelming fashion for an absolute victory in the semifinals.
“No one has let us do that all year,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “It was an impressive performance.”
This wasn’t one of the biggest losses in Final Four history, but the 18-point deficit doesn’t fully capture just how bad it was. The Wolverines opened the game by dominating Arizona with a 10-1 run and never looked back in a wire-to-wire victory.
“We came out and really knew how high the risk was,” Michigan guard Trey McKennie said.
It took less than 10 minutes for Michigan to give Arizona its largest lead of the season by 14 points and overwhelm the Wildcats. When Jaksel Lendeborg was injured, Arizona closed the gap and felt like they had the game. Michigan’s depth then flexed its muscles and showed it’s far more than this year’s Big Ten players.
The first half was ugly for Arizona, but they were a talented team in the second half. Before Saturday, the Wildcats led 6-0 at halftime. Sure, the 16-point lead was pretty big, but Arizona showed all season that they never lost. Additionally, Michigan didn’t shoot the ball all that great. I had a chance to come back.
In fact, the situation only worsened.
Michigan had some déjà vu after the break, going all-out again while Arizona was already clinging to the ropes. The only drama left was how much play Lendeborg would make.
The lead expanded from there, with the Wolverines up to 29 points. Maze and Blue inside Lucas Oil Stadium were already celebrating by singing “Mr. Brightside” midway through the second half. That made the final 10 minutes a mere formality, with the game already well decided and Arizona trying to keep it from getting this ugly.
In the end, the outcome was disastrous for Arizona.
“Michigan State did a great job, but we just couldn’t keep up,” Arizona guard Jaden Bradley said.
So how did it happen? Despite the physicality and size that Arizona brought to Indianapolis, Michigan coach Dusty May felt his team matched up very well against the Wildcats. The inside battle will be key, and Michigan’s strength made it difficult for Arizona to run downhill in the paint.
If Michigan could establish an early hold inside and make some perimeter shots, it would quickly put Arizona at a disadvantage, and the plan played out almost perfectly.
“Once he gets off to a good start, (May) really seems to know how to control the game,” Lloyd said. “If you’re in control of the game, you’re executing your actions, and you get an open shot, a semi-open shot, you beat them down. That makes it really hard to come back. And that’s what they were able to do.”
The Wildcats ranked ninth in the nation in shooting percentage and had a season-worst field goal percentage of 36.6 percent. One of the best fast break teams just got two points on a breakaway. Michigan’s 91 points were the most allowed by Arizona this season, and its 47.8% shooting percentage was the third-best against the Wildcats this season.
The result was an abrupt end to one of Arizona’s best seasons in decades. When the spell that caused a 25-year Final Four drought was finally broken, they weren’t the Wildcats of old and it felt like this team had a really good chance to win it all.
Instead, their season ends in another disappointment in March. It hurts to see March Madness end on another disappointing note. It’s still a season worth celebrating in Tucson, as the Wolverines became the first team to score at least 90 points in five straight NCAA Tournament games, a game that said more about Michigan than Arizona.
“Credit for today goes to Michigan State. I mean, it wasn’t our night, but it probably had a lot to do with Michigan State,” Lloyd said.
Rather, it is an indication that another weapon of mass destruction is on the way to Connecticut, and we had better be prepared, or Michigan will drop its weapons again.
