Party like it’s 1989: Michigan joins Illini in Final Four with convincing win
When Michigan won its only men's basketball national championship in 1989, the run included a colossal, 37-point victory over Virginia in the Elite Eight.
Sunday's Midwest regional final at the United Center had a similar feel. The top-seeded Wolverines took control with a 21-0 run in the first half and had no problem putting away six-seed Tennessee 95-62, behind Yaxel Lendeborg's 27 points.
Michigan radio analyst Terry Mills was a key piece on that '89 squad and this felt like déjà vu to him.
“I've just been living the dream through this team,” Mills said. “Winning the way they did today, that was us beating Virginia, going to the Final Four. This is a special group, glad we're clicking on all cylinders right now.”
There's another gigantic similarity to 1989 — both Michigan and Illinois will be in Indianapolis next weekend. Duke was also in the '89 Final Four, but was knocked out by UConn in the East Regional final Sunday.
Back then, Michigan and Illinois played in the semifinals, with the Wolverines pulling out a 2-point win on Sean Higgins put-back basket in the waning seconds. The game was memorable for all, but crushing for the Illini.
That year, Illinois won the Big Ten and beat Michigan twice in the regular season. This time, the Wolverines were Big Ten champs and won the lone previous meeting in Champaign.
Another difference is the Big Ten foes are on opposite sides of the bracket. They could meet in the title game, but both have strenuous tests in the semifinals. Michigan will face Arizona for the highest-rated game ever based on KenPom rankings, while Illinois will face UConn.
Somebody check on Kendall Gill to make sure he's OK. That Flying Illini squad of 1989 may have been the best in school history (the 2005 runner-up team has a claim), but suffered the bitter ending in possibly the Big Ten's most famous game.
“I do stay in touch with those guys,” Mills said. “I talk to (Stephen) Bardo quite a bit, I run into Nick (Anderson) every now and then. Marcus Liberty, I talk to him quite a bit.
“I haven't seen Kendall in some time. Kenny Battle, I see him every now and then. Good times. They beat up on us twice, but at least we can say we got the one that counted.”
Michigan coach Dusty May gave the '89 team a shout out in his postgame news conference. An Indiana native, May said he was recently asked what teams he grew up watching.
“The '89 Michigan team was one of the first teams I remember,” May said. “The Fab Five (a few years later) did as much culturally for our sport since I’ve been alive as anyone other than MJ. So very, very grateful that all those people poured in to allow us to represent Michigan, to have all the resources necessary to get here.”
The teams that gave Michigan trouble this season were the 3-point heavy lineups that could play five on the perimeter, like Wisconsin and Nebraska. Tennessee's roster is loaded with big bodies, so the Vols set out to turn this game into a rugby scrum right away.
It worked for a little while, but no team has been able to match Michigan's front line this season. Even with center Aday Mara and Illinois transfer Morez Johnson Jr. getting two early fouls, the Wolverines took control once they started pushing the pace and hitting 3-pointers. Tennessee shot just 24.3% from the field in the first half, 31.6% for the game.
“Tennessee does a great job on the glass, and I think we did a good job of team rebounding and stopping their possessions,” Johnson said. “Their first-shot offense isn't really that good and when we took away their second-chance baskets, we really went on a run.”
One sequence in particular summed up how this game turned. After a Tennessee miss, the rebound was tapped around among several big bodies. Michigan's Will Tschetter finally came down with it, pushed it ahead to Lendeborg and he finished a fast-break reverse scoop and 3-point play to make it a 6-point lead. Roddy Gayle Jr. knocked down a 3 on the next trip and the lead quickly kept growing.
The Wolverines led 48-26 at halftime, and the spread was 30-plus for much of the second half, giving the Michigan-heavy crowd plenty of time to celebrate the school's first Final Four since 2018, when it beat Loyola in the semifinals.
“More than anything else, I think the beautiful brand of basketball became contagious,” May said. “You could see these guys feeding off each other. When you have a big-time stop, four guys block out and you get the rebound, then you lead the break and all five guys have a part in beautiful basketball, it just feels so much greater for all of us.”