ATLANTA - Trey Burke has won nearly every player of the year award, and he managed seven points. Tim Hardaway Jr. is the son of a former NBA star, an accurate shooter, and he missed 12 of 16 attempts from the floor. Nik Stauskas hits nearly 45 percent of his three-pointers, and he clanked all five of his shots.
Those portions of Michigan’s performance in Saturday night’s national semifinal should have meant doom, particularly because Syracuse has burrowed into the heads of so many opponents over the past month with its unrelenting defense.
But what gave the Wolverines a 61-56 victory over the Orange - and put Michigan in Monday night’s national championship game against Louisville at the Georgia Dome - was their versatility. Pick a player, and he provided something.
Mitch McGary, the freshman forward who started just his seventh game Saturday, scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds - and that doesn’t get to his passing in the middle of Syracuse’s zone.
Glenn Robinson III, another son of a former NBA star, scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
And the Wolverines (31-7), a team that averages better than 77 points per game, somehow ground out a victory over the Orange (30-10), who got the pace they wanted, but struggled much of the night on offense before pulling within one with 40 seconds left.
But when Brandon Triche, a four-year starting guard, drove the lane with his team trailing by two, Michigan forward Jordan Morgan stepped in and took a charge, fouling out Triche in the process. Jon Horford only made 1 of 2 free throws, though, so Syracuse had one more chance with 15 seconds left.
The shot off a drive by Trevor Cooney, Triche’s replacement, slipped off the side of the rim, and when Morgan finished it with a thunderous dunk, Michigan had points from eight players and a date in the title game.
So what is left for Monday will be a floor full of talent, one of those finals that will pit plenty of future professional rivals and teammates against each other. Louisville and Michigan were ranked No. 1 at some point during the season. Now one will finish there.
The Orange arrived in Atlanta anchored by their unwavering defense, a zone that has been examined and dissected but not solved. It has been reliable all year, but it had gotten better in the tournament. In the four-game run to the Georgia Dome, Syracuse allowed opponents to shoot just 28.9 percent from the floor, and 15.4 percent from three-point range. The zone amounted to a roundhouse right, stunning opponents, knocking it back.
Michigan, though, had the counter punch. In their four NCAA Tournament games, the Wolverines had made nearly half of their field goal attempts (49.4 percent) and shot 40.2 percent on three-pointers. Michigan scored at least 71 points in each of its tournament games. Syracuse hadn’t allowed more than 60. The trends were well-established. What would give?
One thing the Wolverines had going for them: Coach John Beilein, whose familiarity with Jim Boeheim’s zone defense goes back to his days at LeMoyne College, a Division II school in Syracuse, N.Y. Boeheim used to watch Beilein’s practices, and when Beilein was up for jobs thereafter - whether they be at Canisius, at Richmond or West Virginia - Boeheim was always ready with a recommendation.
But in the end, it didn’t matter, only that the Wolverines got it done.
Sports, Pages 30 on 04/07/2013