Final Four 2013: Michigan, Louisville advance

As SB Nation’s Michigan blog Maize n’ Brew writes, this game -- and this team -- wasn’t just about Trey Burke:

On the other end of the scoreline, Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician is left to ponder a “confusing” game:

Wichita State had a 12-point lead over Louisville with just over 13 minutes to play, but the ninth-seeded Shockers couldn’t hold off the No. 1 seed Cardinals in the final minutes. Louisville mounted a comeback that ended with a slim victory for the favorites. Just like that, as Mid-Major Madness put it, “the magic ran out.”

SB Nation’s home for mid-major news and commentary has followed Wichita State all the way through the tournament, and they have a detailed post up looking at how close the Shockers came to the championship game.

Wait, who?

Turned out, he kinda has. Before transferring to Lousville, Hancock spent two years at George Mason. For those without an extraordinary 2011 tournament memory, YouTube reveals that this isn’t the first time that he’s been the hero of a tourney game.

The second largest crowd to ever attend a Final Four session got its money’s worth on Saturday, as Wichita State flirted for two hours with one of the biggest upsets in semifinal history, and Michigan avoided a last-minute collapse to hang on and beat a game Syracuse squad.

Here are five major takeaways from all that was at the Final Four on Saturday.

First, he scored nine of the Orange’s 14 points. Then with Michigan threatening to pull away later in the game, he scored a quick six points as part of a 10-3 run to bring Syracuse to within 48-45 with under eight minutes to play. Fair finished with a game-high 22 points.

Michigan will play Louisville Monday night for the National Championship. The title game will air on CBS and will tip shortly after 9:20 p.m. ET.

With just under 4 minutes remaining, Syracuse is coming down to its last chances.

• 10 things you should know about the Final Four

Expecto PaTreynum

Accio rebound

The Wolverines lead 48-45 with less than eight minutes left, but nobody on the team should be breathing easy.

• 10 things you should know about the Final Four

A mild 7-3 run by Syracuse to open the half seemed to indicate that they were about come back from an 11-point halftime deficit. Then Michigan upped the tempo with two dunks and a barely-missed alley-oop, and Jim Boeheim had no choice but to call an incredibly quick timeout with all the momentum with the Wolverines.

• 10 things you should know about the Final Four

• 10 things you should know about the Final Four

• Rick Pitino’s elusive title

Despite adding “15-20 new plays” to fight the Syracuse zone, according to the CBS broadcast, Michigan is struggling against the zone in the early going, hitting a couple outside shots but failing to penetrate whatsoever.

Tim Hardaway Jr. showed a flash of what the Michigan offense needs to do, beating the defense down the floor and dishing to Mitch McGary for the easy dunk. However, the transition opportunities are few and far between.

What’s the best way to stop a Final Four team from scoring?

On offense, Michigan mostly stayed on the perimeter to take advantage of the Orange’s 2-3 zone, but they’ve been erratic, making just 3 of 10 of their field goals. National Player of the Year Trey Burke has been held scoreless so far. The one big advantage Michigan has had is in offensive rebounds, but they haven’t been able to capitalize on their second chances.

The Wolverines and Orange are tied 7-7 at the under-16 TV timeout.

We could’ve seen the Louisville-Wichita State game decided on the court, without the intervention of officials. I think this was the desired outcome, no matter what would’ve happened: We all want to see the players play, and a chance for a late shot to tie or win a game is the most exciting part of basketball. We didn’t get that on Saturday thanks to a controversial jump ball call that gave Louisville possession, allowing the Cardinals to ice the game.

In order to understand the situation, we have to go back a bit. This was the Butterfly Effect play that led to the game’s conclusion.

The Cardinals held on to avoid an upset and move on to the national title game on Monday. After the final buzzer, Ware was feeling much better about the outcome:

It was certainly a quick call, and it could very well have been a travel or a foul on Hancock, but the tie-up gave the ball back to the Cardinals on the alternating possession with under seven seconds to play. Hancock’s heads-up attempt at the ball may have won the game for Louisville, which now advances to the championship game Monday night.

Hancock, a junior in his first year playing for the Cardinals after transferring from George Mason, was 6-of-9 from the floor with two key baskets late to send the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed to within 40 minutes of a national championship.

Louisville trailed by as many as 12 early in the second half, but it came back once it finally figured out how to turn over the Shockers. After a turnover with 13:04 left in the first half, Wichita State didn’t cough it up until the 6:42 mark in the second half—a stretch of 26 minutes and 22 seconds of game-time that kept the Shockers in the game despite shooting under 40 percent.

Louisville is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and is currently in a dogfight with ninth-seeded Wichita State in the National Semifinal.

With the Cardinals unable to put the Shockers away, the frustration is starting to show for Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

With a spot in the national championship game up for grabs, an instant classic has broken out in Atlanta.

It seems the Shockers may be unraveling a bit here in the closing minutes. This is a team that has refused to go away throughout the NCAA Tournament, but this is easily their biggest challenge yet.

Move over, Gangnam style. Step aside, Harlem shake. In Atlanta, it’s all about the shocker. Ignore whatever kid-unfriendly meaning it had before, it now represents the thrilling Wichita State team which is on the verge of upsetting number one overall seed Louisville.

The Shockers lead 55-51 at the under-eight timeout. Do they have another stunning upset left in them? Stay tuned.

• 10 things you should know about the Final Four

With Louisville on the wrong side of a run to begin the second half, the Cardinals responded with a couple of big three-pointers. The only problem: Their vaunted defense isn’t looking so great.

Wichita State has been able to get to the rim with ease, and they’re controlling the glass on both ends. If the Shockers go on to win, they’ll look back at an offensive rebound that led to a three-pointer from Cleanthony Early as a possible changing point in the game.

Jim Boeheim is at Philips Arena for a game of his own, yet feels more comfortable watching the preceding Wichita State-Louisville game hunched over a tiny TV like “The Thinker” than stepping out to observe in person:

Hey, that’s fine, Jim. Just wanna make sure you know there’s other stuff on:

The Wichita State Shockers are dominating the second half. An 11-2 run gives them a 43-32 margin with 14:16 to go, their biggest lead of the game.

• 10 things you should know about the Final Four