With the 82-76 loss to the Louisville Cardinals in the national title game, the best season in 20 years for the Michigan Wolverines came to an end on Monday night.
Michigan vs. Louisville, 2013 NCAA Championship: Wolverines unable to get things going in 2nd half
Aside from Trey Burke, no Michigan player was able to slow down the Louisville momentum in the second half.
Kevin C. Cox
Although the early heroics of Spike Albrecht had some feeling that Michigan was a team of destiny, Louisville quickly responded due to the shooting from Luke Hancock.
After the halftime, the game belonged to Louisville, and as SB nation’s Michigan blog Maize n Brew points out, that was partly because Trey Burke had little supporting help over the final 20 minutes.
The second half would see Michigan struggle to consistently execute as Louisville had all the right moves. The lead would slowly grow despite the efforts of Trey Burke, who finished with 24 points despite spending 14 first half minutes on the bench. Mitch McGary, the tournament's breakout star, would score just six points and pull in six rebounds while getting into foul trouble midway through the second half.
Louisville won because of pressure, which forced Michigan into a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, and offensive rebounding in the second half.
In the end, Michigan fell short of both a Big Ten and NCAA title, but the season was still the best the school has had since the Fab Five. The attention now turns to which Michigan players will return for next season.
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