How Michigan Beat UConn 69 To 63!

Michigan beats UConn 69-63 to win the 2026 men’s college basketball championship, and we break down why the game turns into a test of defense, fouls, and late game poise. We walk through the keys we laid out beforehand, what held up on the floor, and the moments that made Michigan the tougher team when the shots stopped falling.
• My pregame expectations and why Michigan meets them
• The health questions around Yaxel Lendenborg and Solo Ball
• Why Terrace Reed Jr. gets slowed and what Ade Mara changes
• How Michigan’s defense switches and controls the game
• Elliott Cadeau out-dueling the guards and earning FMOP
• First half swing plays including the hook-and-hold flagrant
• Second half foul trouble and the runs that keep it tight
• The 67-63 moment and how Michigan closes at the line
• My bigger takeaways from the season and tournament entertainment
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Transcript

Welcome And Game Setup

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What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about the 2026 men's college basketball championship game. The recap, right? Now, if y'all listen to the latest episode that I dropped about men's college basketball, y'all know what my expectations were, right? I said that Michigan was gonna win, and I did get that one right. They did end up winning 69 to 63. But I stated a couple things, right? For starters, Michigan's, and I gave reasons why Michigan and both Yukon could win the game. Michigan had to make sure that their best player, Yaxel Lindenberg, was healthy. They also needed to avoid early foul trouble, and they needed to attack the paint. And guess what? All three were true. They all happened. So again, they won the matchup. Now, UConn, they needed their best player, Terrace Reed Jr., to dominate, Braylon Mullins and Alex Carbon to be aggressive, and the bench got to be able to get a bucket. And only one of those things happened, which would be Mullins and Caribon being aggressive. Terrace Reed was not able to dominate, even though he gave a 13-point game and 14 rebound effort. And don't get me wrong now. That's quality stats, right? That's very quality stats. However, he's usually been dominating a little bit more, especially efficiently, than what he displayed. Going four for four of twelve, that's not really what he's been doing this season, just to be clear. He's shooting 60% from the field, okay, during the during the season. But there were a couple question marks, like for example, well, I mean, besides me being a Duke fan, wondering how are we not here instead of Yukon, but this one does kind of hurt too, as I think about it. Because we beat Michigan during the regular season. But that's another discussion for another day. But Yaksel Lindenborg and Solo Ball's health. Yaxel played for Michigan, Solo played for Yukon. Were they both going to be healthy? Because they got injured in the final four. Both ended up playing the full game, so cool. That question mark was good to go, right? Because both were pretty influential, especially on the defensive end. Next, I had to question: would Terrace Reed Jr. be slowed down? And like I told you all, he was in fact slowed down. Ade Mara did his job. 7'3, 255 pounds. Won't be bad at all. They didn't even have to try to use Malik Corden, who, by the way, is a freshman, 7'2, 275. Michigan could be interesting over the next couple seasons. Just saying. But Michigan's defense, I had to question, would it be elite enough? The answer, ladies and gentlemen, is yes, it was. Like, oh my gosh. I started actually questioning how in the world did we actually beat them? And I watched the game. Like, during the like I actually saw my Blue Devils beat Michigan during the regular season. And I'm over here wondering, because Michigan played such elite defense, how in the world did we win? Then I also looked at the point guard duel, right? And again, these were my question marks and focuses going into the game. I was questioning if Silas DeMary Jr. and Solo Ball would be able to outduel Elliott Cadeau. And you can you might be able to throw in Trey McKinney in there as well, too, but I was really focusing on Elliott Cadeau. And I was focusing on, I guess, impact and not turning the ball over. So having less turnovers, if you will. And I gotta say, Elliot Cadeau outplayed both guards. We don't even need to get to Trey McKinney, honestly. Like Elliot Cadeau outplayed both guards to the point that he became the final's most outstanding player. The final four most outstanding player. And I gotta be honest with you, I it was kind of well deserved. I mean, in the final four, he was inefficient, but still got like what, six rebounds, ten assists, four steals. Like he played pretty well. So it was well deserved. So again, my expectations were in fact for Michigan to win. And my reasons why they would win came true. They hit everything across the board. And keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, Michigan's been a pretty decent shooting team. They made two of thirteen, two of 15 three-pointers, to be clear. Shooting 13% is kind of a that's kind of insane. All right, that's kind of insane. And mind you, Yukon actually shot 13 more shots than Michigan. They just happened to tie Michigan in makes. And then Michigan ended up going to the free throw line 12 more times, making 13 more makes. That's how you like this was a gritty game, which championship games usually become gritty. And the grittier team usually does prevail. Now, you do have some players who are like just studs, right? And just can get you over the hump. You had some of those players, but again, ladies and gentlemen, Grit and Grime got this championship done for Michigan. So I'm gonna take y'all through my my whole game analysis just to give you an example of what I was looking at and what I was thinking during the game. Off top in the first half, right, we had Mores Johnson Jr. Buddy gets like a quality eight points because everybody else is focusing on Ade Mara, Yaksel Lindenberg, Elliott Cadeau, that Morez just lollygagging his ass on into the paint and getting buckets. Alright. Like hey, Mores was out there getting a bucket. And then not to mention, like I told you all, Terrace Reid Jr., he only had about two points going up against Ade Mara. Now, Mores ended up finishing up with 12 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks. So he was in running for the most outstanding player of this game, to be clear. But Elliott Cadeau, I think, ended up winning it end of day rightfully, like I said. But again, Morez didn't do bad. And now we got to talk about Michigan, right? Because I was questioning in the first half, should they be up more than one point at the seven-minute mark because of how the game was flowing. Michigan's defense was looking very stout. And UConn really wasn't really able to capitalize. But Michigan also wasn't able to capitalize on things as well, too. I'm sorry, Michigan, Yukon couldn't get their offense really flowing the way they wanted to. Michigan just couldn't capitalize. Now, I also noted that Braylon Mullins off Yukon, very solid athlete. Like, buddy did not get the rebound, did not get no put back dunk. But I I thought he was gonna. I thought he was gonna. He ends up getting the offensive rebound, to be clear. But there were two of them where I was like, hey, yo, he gets up there. It reminded me of the movie White Men Can't Jump, but they can. Like he gets up there a little bit. So then this is when I start realizing that no Michigan's defense is elite, ladies and gentlemen. They were able to switch everything and garden the guards differently, whether they're going over the screen, under the screen. That drop coverage screen, like it was just seamless, ladies and gentlemen, how they were doing it. They knew exactly who to do what against. That's an excellent job at coaching. And then we see that Elliott Cadeau, who I told you was the final four most outstanding player, he gets into foul trouble. He gets two fouls and has seven points at the six-minute 24-second mark. He goes out. After that, I start realizing, dang, Alex Carabon has a quiet eight points right now. This is pretty good. Then, right as I note that Alex sits up there and did a hook and hold flagrant call on Morez Johnson. So now he goes to the free throw line and makes both of those flagrant shots. So now at the half, we got Michigan up 33 to 29. And keep in mind, Michigan can be happy with the fouls that were committed by UConn, plus the fact that they didn't make a single three-pointer in the first half. That's disgusting work. Meanwhile, UConn can be happy with the four-point delta in scoring, despite the struggles, plus their threes made. That kind of gives you some hope. Like, okay, maybe we can carry on the three-point shooting in the second half. And it wasn't like they were shooting elite from the second from the three-point line. Just decent. So hopefully that can hold out and then you might be able to win the game, right? So the second half comes in. Cool. Again, Michigan's defense is elite. That's what I'm realizing. We get 15 minutes left. UConn players are in foul trouble. We got Terrace Reed with three, solo ball with four, and Silas DeMary Jr. with three. All of those are starters, ladies and gentlemen. And now I start to realize, you know what? Elliot Cadeaux is playing some good ball right now. He's three of 10, a three of seven for 10 points, three rebounds, one steal. Like, all right, cool. Then a couple possessions later, like two. I'm like, dang, Elliot Cadeau is playing some good damn basketball right now. Like, it's crazy. Because now he had 15 points with three rebounds, one steal. I'm like, I ain't never, ever, ever, ever seen you get buckets like this before. And then again, Mores Johnson Jr. starts playing some good ball right now defensively. And again, I go back to seeing Michigan's defense is elite. Then I'm like, Dag, Moraz Johnson Jr. is playing some good basketball right now. The crazy thing about all of that is you just heard me highlighting Michigan's team, and Yukon just would not leave the game alone. Like they still kept it close, even though the advantage was not favoring them. Now, Caribon and McKinney hit back-to-back three-point plays. So it's like, yo, at one point in time, you think Yukon is about to storm back. Then Trey McKinney off Michigan hits a three. Back-to-back plays. Michigan has a turnover. Yukon misses the layup. Then Michigan gets the ball back. Almost gets another turnover just to make a trade, just for Trey to hit a trade ball. Like it was pretty good. And at this point in time of the game, I was saying Elliott Cadeau has got to win Final Four, most outstanding player. Now here's the crazy thing. Right as I said that, solo ball off UConn ends up banking in a tough contested three. I want to say by Trey McKinney or Yaxel Lindenboard. They both kind of look very similar. Just Trey's like a miniature version of Buddy. I ain't gonna hold you. But he banked solo ball banks in a three. And I'm like, there's no way. As soon as that happens, I'm like, there's no way they win this. They come back and win this game like this again, man. That's immediately what I said. Because the score is now 67 to 63. Again, I told y'all a lot about Michigan. So you would have thought that it was a blowout win. No. And now when it's 67-63, I'm starting to question, well, should Mara be in the game for Michigan? Because if I'm Michigan, I'm just gonna run everybody off the three-point line and have them come inward for Mara. Because Mara's already been proven that, hey, he's doing well against Terrace Reid. Terrace looks different now. He looks a little more human. But Mara didn't need to be in the game. Because eventually, Trey McKinney, the freshman, ends up getting fouled with 13.2 seconds left. You gotta make at minimum one, both of them to make the game over almost. And at the end of the day, Trey McKinney, the kid from Flint, Michigan, is able to seal the deal by knocking down both free throws, making the game 69 to 63. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I told y'all this game should be entertaining, and I do favor Michigan. Again, Michigan's defense, even though they only won by six, it looked elite. And again, to be clear, Yukon is still a tough team. Like, I still think Duke should have been there. We definitely should have. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is without question. If not the best team in basketball, and you gotta say that because they won the championship. But they've been the best team in basketball, or considered the best team, for like a large part of the season. And for them to win it, that speaks volumes to everybody across the team, coaching staff, players, everybody. So again, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I gotta tip my cap off to Michigan. They only lost three games in the season, won 38 games. I'm proud to say my Blue Devils are one of three teams to beat Michigan this season. Because that means a lot. Because also, to be clear, hell, the game felt like it was an it felt like it was a home court advantage for for Michigan. I'm not gonna lie to you. It really truly did. But Wisconsin, ourselves, Duke meaning, and Purdue. We were the only teams to beat them. And it's actually kind of funny because we actually beat Michigan 68-63. They beat UConn 69-63. Yukon beats us 73-72. I really truly hate that, man. It's an ugly triangle right there. And and shout out to Michigan, I guess, for getting our payback. Because I really was not trying to have UConn win this game. I really won't. That was gonna be so annoying. Seeing Dan Hurley win three titles, championships in four seasons, seeing them just go that much further away from Duke in the championship count out. Like, man, I'm not trying to do that personally. So thank you, Michigan. Thank you. It's y'all first title and I don't know how long. I appreciate it. Like, like, I get it. 1989 has been a minute. I get it. I hear you. I appreciate y'all for winning. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm curious what you all thought about this college basketball season, this college March Madness tournament, and the title game. Where you all entertained. Unbiased aside, did you not like the Final Four or the Elite Eight or the Championship games? Did you not like, did you not like anything about it? I'm curious again, take your fandom out of it and just answer that question. But, ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey, I'm the host of Good Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.