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Trey Burke |
After a year filled with upsets, buzzer-beaters, coach firings and craziness here they are: the final two teams playing for a championship. It will be the Louisville Cardinals, motivated by their tragic loss of Kevin Ware against the Michigan Wolverines, a team who can't stop scoring. The Cardinals managed a close win over Wichita State yesterday thanks to a huge game from Luke Hancock. They will continue to need contributions from their bench without their sixth man Ware. Russ Smith has had an amazing tournament. He can score on a dime, with his ability to attack the rim and hit shots on the perimeter. The Wolverines also have their hands full trying to defend Peyton Siva who is just as dangerous with the ball in his hands. Meanwhile, Michigan has their fair share of players who can score. It begins with sophomore Trey Burke, the Wooden Award winner. Burke is speedy quick and has fantastic handles. He has also shown his ability to hit shots from deep (see the Kansas game) and always finds the open man. The Wolverines have done a great job using ball-screens with freshman Mitch McGary to free up Burke to make plays. McGary is really the reason that Michigan finds themselves here. He has been dominant the past couple of games. We always knew he would go after every loose ball and is a great rebounder, but he is scoring a ton this tournament, which has been huge considering the struggles of Jordan Morgan. John Bellein also possesses an array of great three-point shooters with Tim Hardaway and Nik Stauskas. The key to this match up could come down to if Burke and the rest of the Wolverines' against Louisville's press. Burke played well against Syracuse and he has a lot of talent surrounding him. If the Cardinals can't force Michigan to commit a bunch of turnovers this one could be a comfortable win for Michigan. Louisville also needs a better game form Gorgui Dieng, who struggled against Wichita to shut down McGary in order for Rick Pitino to snatch up a championship. This one should be a fast-paced, up-tempo battle to find the champion. It comes down to turnovers and whoever wins the war in the paint.
Louisville, 72 Michigan, 68
Starting Lineups
Louisville
G Peyton Siva
G Russ Smith
F Luke Hancock
F Chane Behanan
C Gorgui Dieng
Michigan
G Trey Burke
G Nik Stauskas
F Tim Hardaway
F Glenn Robinson
C Mitch McGary
1 comment:
Sorry McGowanMania, I think Michigan handles the Louisville pressure and has to many shooters to be denied.
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