UConn’s valiant fight comes up just short as Michigan takes national title

INDIANAPOLIS — In the aftermath of last year’s season-ending loss to eventual national champion Florida, Dan Hurley admitted there was honor in how his UConn team bowed out of the NCAA Tournament.

One year later, on the championship stage for a third time in four seasons, against arguably the best team in the country for a majority of the year, the Huskies departed in much the same fashion.

UConn battled to the death, not once letting a Michigan team that had bludgeoned its NCAA Tournament opposition with hammers prior to Monday night’s title tilt escape. The Wolverines led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but the Huskies made sure the outcome was not decided until the final seconds of what goes into the record books as a 69-63 loss at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“It’s hard to be upset with your team,” a humble yet emotional Hurley reflected. “We lost the game because we didn’t make enough shots, but it’s hard to be upset with your team when they get 22 offensive rebounds versus that team. It’s hard to be disappointed in your team when they fight so hard.”

UConn (34-6) kept the pressure on Michigan in the first half, leading on several occasions, but was handicapped by foul trouble in the opening stanza. Silas Demary, Jr., Tarris Reed, Jr. and Solo Ball all accumulated two fouls before halftime, forcing Hurley to steal minutes from his reserves against a stronger and more physical Wolverine front line. A flagrant-1 foul assessed to Alex Karaban for a hook and hold against Morez Johnson, Jr. shifted momentum toward the end of the frame, putting Michigan in front to stay, but the Huskies remained within four points at the intermission.

All told, UConn was on the short end of an 11-5 difference in fouls called through the first 20 minutes, but Hurley refused to blame the officiating on the final result.

“That’s an all-star group there,” he said of the officials. “It’s such a physical game, Michigan is so physical. It’s not the reason why we lost the game. A problem for our team has been undisciplined fouling at times, but it’s hard to ref that game. If I could have those three guys ref every game the rest of my career, I would sleep well at night.”

UConn was never able to get over the hump in the second half, but the Huskies did battle back when it appeared Michigan had finally broken free. The Wolverines opened an 11-point lead seven minutes into the second half after hitting their first 3-point shot of the night, but between Reed, Alex Karaban and Braylon Mullins, UConn refused to stay down until the final seconds, when a gritty last stand came up empty and delivered a championship to Ann Arbor for the first time since 1989.

“They’re legit,” Hurley conceded, praising Michigan. “They definitely deserved to win the national championship, they’re clearly the best team in the country this year. They’re just so hard to score against at the rim, they just made it so tough on us. That was probably what got us, more than the missed threes.”

While UConn’s bid to be the first school since UCLA to win three championships in a four-year span was denied, the realization of making it to the final night of the season was not lost on the man responsible for steering the Huskies there, despite the adversity he and his group endured over five months to get there.

“This is where you wanted to be,” Hurley emphasized. “It’s hard to have a level of disappointment where it literally just came down to we just didn’t make enough shots. Eventually, it’ll hit you that you were close to pulling off what would have been an historic third championship, but this team just gave us so much this year. We just didn’t make enough shots.”