How Michigan stormed back on Loyola to clinch a spot in the national title game

Michigan is back in college basketball’s national championship game. In a national semifinal at the Alamodome on Saturday, the Wolverines ended Loyola-Chicago’s dream run and got themselves to a second title game in five years. The final score was 69-57.

A win on Monday against either Villanova or Kansas would give the Wolverines the second title in program history. The Wolverines had to be resilient to get there. They struggled badly over the first 20 minutes and change, and it looked for a while like 11th-seeded Loyola would become the lowest-seeded team to ever appear in the title game. A furious Michigan comeback means that nobody seeded lower than No. 8 has ever made the national final.

Michigan appeared to be in deep trouble in the second half. Then the Wolverines’ offense woke up from a terrible funk.

Just more than seven minutes into the game, Michigan led 12-4. After that, the Wolverines stopped making shots. Loyola mounted a 37-19 run over the next 18:18 of clock time. During that span that stretched almost half the game, Michigan’s offense played at a hair better than a 40-point pace. The low point was a 1-for-10 stretch from the field.

But then Michigan started chugging. After trailing by 10 at the 41-31 remaining mark, the Wolverines went on their own run. The game was tied seven minutes later, when center Moritz Wagner drained a three-pointer. Wagner was Michigan’s most reliable scoring threat all night, which was indicative of long stretches throughout UM’s season.

Michigan just kept churning after that. Loyola’s offense stopped doing anything (more on that in a moment), but look at the transformation in the Wolverines’ shooting down the stretch. Michigan was 10-of-35 from the field with 18 minutes left to play. After that, the Wolverines were 15-for-24. They flipped a 10-point deficit into a 10-point lead in 11:22. Wagner played a starring role throughout the Wolverines’ charge back.

Michigan’s D didn’t care what a great story Loyola was.

The Wolverines were the villains in this game, not because they’re anything particularly unlikable about them, but because there was so much that was likable about the Ramblers.

An 11th seed from the Missouri Valley with a 98-year-old nun is more compelling on its face than a defensively minded team from the Big Ten that’s only a few years removed from playing in a national title game.

But beneath its Cinderella story, Loyola was a really dangerous team, with some of the best shooting in the country and more athleticism than their players will probably ever get credit for. This could’ve been a championship team, and it nearly was.

In the second half, it was the Wolverines’ defense that catalyzed a comeback. The offense went from a dumpster fire to pretty effective, but that only mattered because Loyola’s hot-shooting offense turned to dust. Loyola shot 6-of-19 over the final 11 minutes. Michigan shot 57 percent in the second half compared to 29 in the first, and that was a massive change, but the reason it mattered was Loyola’s offense getting stuck in neutral.

It doesn’t get any easier now, but the Wolverines are going to be well-positioned to take on whichever giant they play on Monday.

A No. 1 seed awaits in the championship game. Whether that’s Kansas (with one of the country’s best offenses) or Villanova (with one of the only offenses that’s better), the Wolverines will play an even more talented team on Monday than they did on Saturday.

The short story: Michigan’s defense gives it a chance to beat either of those teams. The longer story: Kansas doesn’t have much front-court depth, and Moritz Wagner could have a big night if Udoka Azubuike finds himself in any degree of foul trouble. Villanova is nearly a perfect college basketball team, but the Wildcats do rely a good bit on the three-pointer, and Michigan guards the arc as tenaciously as any team in the country.

Michigan’s season almost ended on the opening weekend of this tournament. This is only happening because of one of the most shocking buzzer-beaters in recent college hoops history. The Wolverines have the feel of a team of destiny right now, but that undersells why they’re so good. A defense like this doesn’t need March magic to win it all.

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