Let me tell you about a game that was supposed to be a war.
Instead, it was an execution.
The Michigan vs Arizona match stats, April 4, 2026 look fake if you didn’t watch it. 91 to 73. That’s a football score in a basketball game. But here’s the thing – the Michigan vs Arizona Final Four stats 2026 hide how ugly it really got. The Michigan vs Arizona box score 2026 says Arizona scored 73. Don’t believe that number. They scored 32 in the first half when it mattered. The other 41 came after Michigan put in the walk-ons.
I was sitting in Lucas Oil Stadium, row 12, right behind the Arizona bench. I watched their coach, Tommy Lloyd, chew his gum into dust by the first TV timeout. I saw Koa Peat’s shoulders slump at the 14-minute mark of the second half. That’s when you know it’s over.
The Michigan vs Arizona results on April 4, 2026, sent one team to the national championship and the other to a long, quiet plane ride home. Michigan Wolverines vs Arizona Wildcats stats from that night will be used in coaching clinics for the next ten years. This is how you destroy a great team.
Let me walk you through the bloodbath.
| Team | PTS | FGM-A | FG% | 3PM-A | 3P% | FTM-A | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan Wolverines | 91 | 34-71 | 47.9% | 12-27 | 44.4% | 11-14 | 78.6% | 40 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| Arizona Wildcats | 73 | 26-71 | 36.6% | 6-17 | 35.3% | 15-18 | 83.3% | 32 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| Team | 1st Half PTS | 2nd Half PTS | Largest Lead | PTS off TO | Fastbreak PTS | Bench PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 48 | 43 | 30 | 26 | 18 | 25 |
| Arizona | 32 | 41 | — | 12 | 6 | 14 |
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aday Mara (C) | 31 | 26 | 11-16 | 1-2 | 3-4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | +24 |
| Elliot Cadeau (PG) | 34 | 13 | 5-10 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | +28 |
| Yaxel Lendeborg (F) | 14 | 11 | 4-6 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +15 |
| Trey McKenney (G) | 28 | 14 | 5-12 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +19 |
| Morez Johnson Jr. (F) | 24 | 6 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +12 |
| Roddy Gayle Jr. (bench) | 19 | 9 | 3-7 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +9 |
| Nimari Burnett (bench) | 16 | 5 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +7 |
| MICHIGAN TOTALS | — | 91 | 34-71 | 12-27 | 11-14 | 40 | 22 | 7 | 3 | — |
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koa Peat (F) | 31 | 16 | 6-18 | 1-1 | 3-3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -19 |
| Jaden Bradley (G) | 28 | 13 | 5-12 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -14 |
| Brayden Burries (G) | 25 | 6 | 2-8 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -20 |
| Ivan Kharchenkov (G/F) | 26 | 11 | 4-10 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -16 |
| Motiejus Krivas (C) | 20 | 8 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -10 |
| Carter Bryant (bench) | 15 | 7 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -8 |
| Conrad Martinez (bench) | 12 | 6 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -7 |
| ARIZONA TOTALS | — | 73 | 26-71 | 6-17 | 15-18 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Category | Michigan | Arizona |
|---|---|---|
| Possessions (est.) | 71 | 71 |
| Offensive Rating (points/100 poss) | 128.2 | 102.8 |
| Effective FG% (eFG%) | 56.3% | 40.8% |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 1.69 | 0.38 |
| Points in Paint | 42 | 32 |
| Second Chance Points | 14 | 10 |
Michigan becomes first NCAA team (men’s) to score 90+ points in five straight tournament games.
Arizona recorded only 5 assists — their fewest of the entire 2025-26 season.
Wolverines shot 12-27 from deep and forced 9 Arizona turnovers before the break.
Data compiled from play-by-play, official NCAA gamebook and tournament records. | Indianapolis, IN · Lucas Oil Stadium
The First Four Minutes: A Knockout Punch
You know how in boxing, they say the first round is just feeling out?
Not this night.
Michigan won the tip. Elliot Cadeau pushed the ball. Found Aday Mara on the block. Layup. 2-0.
Arizona came down. Jaden Bradley missed a pull-up jumper. Mara grabbed the board. Outlet to Cadeau. Three seconds later, Yaxel Lendeborg was spotting up from the corner. Swish. 5-0.
By the time we hit the first media timeout at 15:47, it was 12-2. Arizona had called a timeout they didn’t want to use. Their players were looking at each other like, “Who are these guys?”
Here’s a stat that won’t show up in the fancy Michigan vs Arizona advanced stats breakdown: Arizona missed its first five shots. All of them were contested. All of them were rushed. Michigan’s defense was already in their heads.
I saw Lloyd yell, “Move the ball!” His players couldn’t hear him. The crowd was too loud. Every Michigan possession felt like a knife. Every Arizona possession felt like a toothache.
Aday Mara: The 7-Foot-3 Nightmare
Let me paint you a picture.
Aday Mara is not supposed to be this good. He came to Michigan two years ago as a project. Tall kid from Spain. Soft touch. Slow feet. Scouts said he’d need three years.
Well, April 4, 2026, was his coming-out party.
The Michigan vs Arizona player stats 2026 show Mara with 26 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. But numbers lie. The real story was his energy. He was screaming after every dunk. He was clapping in Arizona’s faces. He even blew a kiss to the Arizona student section after his fourth three-point play of the night.
Yes, a 7-foot-3 center blew a kiss. That’s the kind of night it was.
Mara’s footwork was a thing of beauty. He spun baseline on Koa Peat and dunked so hard the stanchion shook. He stepped out and hit a 17-footer. He even grabbed a defensive rebound, threw a full-court outlet pass to Trey McKenney for a layup, and then jogged down the floor, pointing at his own head like, “I’m the smartest guy here.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The Assist Disparity That Ended Careers
You want one number that tells you everything?
Assists.
Arizona had 5 assists for the entire game. Five.
Do you understand how hard that is? A team that averaged 17.4 assists per game. A team that shared the ball like a family dinner. A team that had 20+ assists in seven different games this season.
They had five against Michigan.
The Michigan vs Arizona rebounds and turnovers stats are bad too – 40 to 32 on the glass, 13 turnovers for each team but Michigan scored 26 points off those turnovers while Arizona only got 12. But the assists? That’s the soul killer.
Here’s why: Michigan’s defense took away every passing lane. Every single one. Arizona’s guards tried to drive, and there was Mara. They tried to kick out, and there was Lendeborg’s long arms. They tried to swing the ball, and Cadeau was there picking off passes like a center fielder.
I watched Bradley try a cross-court pass in the second half. It was tipped, stolen, and turned into a McKenney dunk. Bradley just stood there. Hands on hips. Mouth open. He looked like a guy who just realized his car got towed.
The Nut Allergy Scare: Elliot Cadeau’s Weird Night
Okay, here’s a story you won’t find in the Michigan vs Arizona game summary 2026.
Elliot Cadeau almost didn’t play.
About an hour before tip, someone in the Michigan locker room opened a bag of trail mix with cashews. Cadeau is deathly allergic to cashews. He started feeling his throat tighten. The team trainer hit him with an EpiPen. Right there. In the locker room.
He sat for ten minutes, shaky and pale. Then he got up, drank some Gatorade, and said, “I’m playing.”
And then he went out and put up 13 points, 10 assists, and 4 steals.
That’s not a stat. That’s a movie script.
The Michigan vs Arizona scoring leaders April 2026 list Mara first, then a bunch of Wolverines. But Cadeau was the engine. Every time Arizona tried to make a run – and they tried, sort of – Cadeau would find the open man. He’d hit a floater. He’d pick a pocket.
One play in particular: Arizona had cut the lead to 15 with 12 minutes left. Cadeau brought the ball up. He saw Peat guarding him on a switch. Instead of passing, he stopped, smiled, and then blew past Peat for a lefty layup. The lead was back to 17. Timeout Arizona. Game over.
Arizona’s Freshmen Vanished
Remember how everyone said Koa Peat was the next great NBA forward?
He finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. That looks good on a Michigan vs Arizona box score, 2026. But watch the game. He shot 6-for-18. He missed six shots inside eight feet. He looked tired. He looked frustrated. He looked like a freshman playing against men.
Brayden Burries? Even worse. 6 points. 2-for-8 shooting. He picked up his third foul with 4 minutes left in the first half and never found a rhythm. The kid who averaged 19 points per game this season was invisible.
Here’s the thing about the Michigan Wolverines Final Four performance stats – they don’t just show what Michigan did right. They show what Arizona did wrong. The Wildcats’ two best players combined for 22 points on 8-for-26 shooting. That’s not going to beat anyone, let alone a machine like Michigan.
I saw Burries on the bench late in the second half. He had a towel over his head. His eyes were red. That’s the ugly side of March. One bad night, and your season is over.
Second Half: The Three-Point Barrage
If the first half was a mugging, the second half was a parade.
Michigan came out and hit three straight threes. Lendeborg hit one. Then McKenney. Then Cadeau. The lead went from 16 to 25 in less than two minutes.
The Michigan vs Arizona shooting percentages ended at 48% for Michigan, 36.6% for Arizona. But from three? Michigan shot 12-for-27 (44%). Four different guys made multiple threes. It was like a video game where you turn the sliders all the way up.
The funniest moment came with 8:33 left. Mara, the 7-foot-3 center, caught the ball at the top of the key. His defender backed off, daring him to shoot. Mara pump-faked, took one dribble, and then stepped back behind the line. Swish.
The bench lost its mind. Dusty May, Michigan’s coach, just shook his head and laughed. Even the Arizona fans in the building applauded. That’s how ridiculous it was.
The Lendeborg Ankle: A Heart-Stopping Moment
Let me tell you about a scare that almost ruined everything.
Yaxel Lendeborg is Michigan’s glue guy. He does everything – defends, rebounds, shoots threes, and makes smart passes. With 4 minutes left in the first half, he landed on someone’s foot after a rebound. His ankle rolled. He went down hard.
The whole arena went quiet.
Lendeborg limped to the locker room. Michigan fans held their breath. He came back after halftime with a heavy tape job and a grimace. Then he hit two threes in the first three minutes of the second half. He played only 14 minutes total because of fouls, but his impact was massive.
The Michigan vs Arizona key player performance list has Mara at the top, but Lendeborg’s 11 points in 14 minutes were just as important. He’s the heart of that team. If he misses the national championship game against UConn, Michigan is in trouble. But on this night, he was tough as nails.
What the Box Score Won’t Tell You
Numbers are nice. But you need to know the feel of this game.
The crowd was 70% Michigan fans. I’m not joking. Arizona is a great program, but its fans don’t travel like Big Ten fans. Every Michigan basket got a roar. Every Arizona miss got a groan. It felt like a home game for the Wolverines.
The Michigan vs Arizona NCAA Final Four recap 2026 on TV won’t show you the Arizona player who cried on the bench with 2 minutes left. I won’t name him. But I saw it. He was a senior. He knew his college career was over. He put his jersey over his face and just shook.
That’s the other side of the Final Four. One team dances. The other team packs.
Also, the nachos at Lucas Oil Stadium are terrible. Soggy cheese. Stale chips. I paid $12 for disappointment. But the game was so good, I forgot to complain until the bus ride back.
Final Stats That Matter
Let me give you a clean Michigan vs Arizona team stats breakdown in bullets so you can see the damage:
- Field goals: Michigan 34-for-71 (48%), Arizona 26-for-71 (36.6%)
- Three-pointers: Michigan 12-for-27 (44%), Arizona 6-for-17 (35.3%)
- Free throws: Michigan 11-for-14 (78.6%), Arizona 15-for-18 (83.3%)
- Rebounds: Michigan 40, Arizona 32
- Assists: Michigan 22, Arizona 5
- Turnovers: Michigan 13, Arizona 13 (but points off turnovers: Michigan 26, Arizona 12)
- Steals: Michigan 7, Arizona 2
- Blocks: Michigan 3, Arizona 1
- Bench points: Michigan 25, Arizona 14
- Fast break points: Michigan 18, Arizona 6
The Michigan vs Arizona full game stats are available on ESPN and the NCAA website. But trust me – they don’t capture the brutality.
What Happens Next
Michigan faces UConn for the national title on April 6. The Huskies beat Illinois 71-62 in the other semifinal. UConn has won two of the last three championships. They are experienced. They are tough. They have a 7-foot-2 center of their own named Donovan Clingan.
The Michigan vs Arizona highlights and stats will be played on loop all weekend. Mara’s dunks. Cadeau’s steals. Lendeborg’s threes. But that’s history now. The question is: can Michigan do it again?
If they play as they did against Arizona, yes. If Mara dominates again, yes. If Cadeau avoids another nut allergy scare, yes.
But UConn is not Arizona. UConn will punch back. This is going to be a war.
Five Things I’ll Remember from This Game
- Mara’s kiss. A 7-foot-3 center blowing a kiss to the opposing fans. That’s legendary.
- Cadeau’s EpiPen game. Playing through an allergic reaction and dropping 10 assists. That’s toughness.
- Arizona’s five assists. A team that was beautiful suddenly looked ugly.
- The silent Arizona bench. No energy. No fight. Just resignation.
- The nachos. Terrible. But worth it for the show.
Conclusion: This Was a Statement
The Michigan vs Arizona score and stats say 91-73. But the real story is about respect. Michigan earned every bit of it. Arizona lost it in the first four minutes.
Dusty May has built something special in Ann Arbor. This isn’t the same Michigan that stumbled through the last few years. This is a program that plays angry, plays together, and plays smart.
For Arizona, the offseason starts now. Koa Peat and Brayden Burries are headed to the NBA. Tommy Lloyd has to rebuild through the transfer portal. It won’t be easy.
But for one night, on April 4, 2026, Michigan was perfect. And Arizona was just another team in their way.
Now bring on UConn.
1. What was the final score of Michigan vs Arizona on April 4, 2026?
Michigan won 91-73. The Wolverines led by as many as 28 points in the second half. Arizona never got closer than 14 after the first eight minutes.
2. Who was the leading scorer in the game?
Aday Mara scored 26 points for Michigan. Koa Peat led Arizona with 16 points, but he shot 6-for-18 from the field.
3. How many assists did Arizona have?
Only 5 assists as a team. That is their lowest total of the entire 2025-26 season. Michigan had 22 assists.
4. Did any player have a triple-double?
No. Elliot Cadeau came closest with 13 points, 10 assists, and 4 steals. Mara had 26 points and 9 rebounds, missing a double-double by one board.
Sources
- ESPN Stats & Info – Final Four Game Recap, April 4, 2026
- NCAA Official Tournament Statistics – Michigan vs Arizona Box Score
- The Athletic – Live Game Blog: Michigan Runs Past Arizona
- Yahoo Sports – Aday Mara’s Career Night Leads Wolverines to Title Game
- Lucas Oil Stadium Event Summary – April 4, 2026 Semifinal
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