Huskies Battle To End In Title Game Setback

Monday, April 6

Indianapolis, Ind.

8:50 p.m.

University of Connecticut

34-6,17-3Big East

Michigan

37-3,19-1Big Ten

UConn

Michigan

4/6/2026 11:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS – Despite its worst shooting night of the season, the two-seed UConn men's basketball team (34-6) fought to the bitter end of a 69-63 defeat to one-seed Michigan (37-3) in the National Championship game on Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. Alex Karaban led the Huskies with 17 points and grabbed in 11 rebounds in the final game of his storied career in National Flag Blue and White.

Tarris Reed Jr. also posted a double-double in the setback, his fourth of an incredible NCAA Tournament run that saw the big man average 19.5 points and 13.2 rebounds over a six-game stretch. He became the second player in NCAA Tournament history to post at least 117 points and 79 rebounds in a single six-game run at the Big Dance, only previously accomplished by National Player of the Year Zach Edey in 2024. For their efforts, Karaban and Reed Jr. were both named to the 2026 All-Tournament Team.

The Huskies trailed by four after a first half beset by foul trouble and fell down as many as 11 early in the second half. UConn never wavered and scratched and clawed its way as close as four inside of the final minute before ultimately running out of gas. The Huskies held a Wolverine offense that had scored more than 90 in each of its first five tournament games to 38.2 percent shooting from the field, but could not find enough baskets in a season-low 30.9 percent effort of their own. Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins rounded out four Huskies in double-figures with 11 points apiece.

How it Happened

The Wolverines jumped out to early leads of 7-2 and 9-4, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Ball and Karaban helped UConn pull even at 11-11 at the 11:57 mark of the first. At 10:20, Karaban hit again from downtown to give the Huskies their first lead of the day and go up 16-13.

At 6:06 of the opening stanza Mullins connected from three off a feed from Malachi Smith, and a Reed Jr. bucket inside at 4:30 gave Connecticut a 25-23 advantage. Michigan answered with a 6-0 mini-run, aided heavily by the charity stripe, and UConn called for time down 29-25 with 2:24 to play in the first. A Ball 3-pointer off the stop quelled the run, and the Huskies went to the break down 33-29 despite a cold shooting half and foul trouble.

Early in the second half, the Wolverines stretched their lead to the largest of the day and went up 41-33 with a three-point play wrapped around a timeout at 15:16. At 12:56, UM snapped an 0-of-10 start from three with its first 3-pointer of the game and UConn called for time down 48-37 with 12:47 to play.

Karaban ripped a steal away under the UM basket and went coast-to-coast for a tough two through traffic at 9:05, and following a Silas Demary Jr. lay-in the Huskies were back within five, down 50-45, with 8:24 on the timer. Michigan answered with a 6-0 mini-run to go back ahead double-figures. Mullins drilled his second three of the day to stop the run, leading to a UConn snap timeout with 5:21 remaining and the Huskies down 56-48.

Michigan got a put-back off the stop before Mullins connected again from deep to pull within seven. Karaban drilled a deep 3-pointer at 2:33 which slimmed the edge to 62-56, but a Michigan triple with 1:49 remaining put the Wolverines back up 65-56 before UConn's final timeout. With 37.2 seconds remaining Ball banked in a 3-pointer to cap a 7-2 run that got it within four at 67-63. After a stop UConn had it back with a chance to pull within a possession, but could not convert before Michigan went back to the line with under 20 seconds to play to salt the game away.

Inside The Numbers

The Huskies shot a season-low 30.9 percent (21-68) from the floor and hit at a 27.3 percent (9-33) clip from 3-point range, while holding the Wolverines to 38.2 percent (21-55) and 13.3 percent (2-15) marks
Michigan used a significant advantage at the free throw stripe in its favor, connecting on 25-of-28 from the line while UConn was 12-of-16
UConn held a 46-39 edge on the glass and grabbed a season-high 22 offensive rebounds, leading to a 19-14 advantage in second chance points
The Huskies were -1 in turnover margin but out-scored the Wolverines 8-4 off miscues
Michigan held a 36-22 edge in paint points and led bench points by a 13-9 margin

News and Notes

UConn falls to 2-3 all-time against Michigan, tonight is the first postseason meeting
The Huskies are now 77-34 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 6-1 in title games and 13-2 on the Final Four Stage
Dan Hurley drops to 20-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 18-4 at Connecticut
Karaban concludes one of the greatest careers in UConn history
- Program record holder for games (151), games started (150), 3-pointers made (292), wins (126) and minutes logged (4,909)
- Finished sixth on UConn's all-time scoring list with 1,880 career points, 42 shy of Ray Allen (1,922) for top-five in program history
- Totaled an 18-2 record in the NCAA Tournament, with 18 wins the second-most as a starter in the modern era (1979-on) of the Big Dance, tied with Bobby Hurley and behind only Christian Laettner (21)
- Scored in double-figures for the 97^th time – third most in program history behind only Chris Smith (107) and Corny Thompson (101)
- Posted his second double-double of the year and his fourth career
- The final line for Karaban's illustrious 151-game career: 1,880 points, 758 assists, 309 assists, 145 blocks and 107 steals
Reed Jr. finished the 2026 NCAA Tournament with 117 points and 79 rebounds
- He recorded his fourth double-double of the NCAA Tournament, his 14^th of the season and the 24^th of his career
- The big man finishes his 135-game career with an East Regional MOP, an NCAA All-Tournament Team nod, 1,256 points, 917 rebounds and 201 blocks
It was UConn's first loss in seven trips to the national title game
In addition to Karaban and Reed Jr., fellow Huskies Dwayne Koroma, Alec Millender and Smith exhausted their final years of eligibility on Monday