Under the bright lights of Las Vegas, Sunday night’s title bout featured a heavyweight battle between two talented frontcourts.
In one corner was Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson, Moussa Diabate and Brandon Johns Jr. In the other corner was Arizona’s Christian Koloko, Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo.
The latter group packed a powerful punch and proved to be too much to handle as the Wildcats pounded the No. 4 Wolverines, 80-62, in the Roman Main Event championship game at T-Mobile Arena.
Fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks scored 14 and Dickinson had 11 points and seven rebounds for Michigan (3-2), which shot 1-for-14 from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers. The Wolverines reached the final after beating UNLV, 74-61, on Friday.
Koloko finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and four blocks shots and Tubelis had 13 points and eight rebounds for Arizona (5-0), which shot 50% from the field (33-for-66) and finished with 54 points in the paint. Bennedict Mathurin added 16 points and Dalen Terry scored 13.
After trailing by as much as 10 in the first half, it didn’t take long for the game to start teetering for Michigan. Turnovers continued to be a problem the Wolverines and the Wildcats turned defense into offense, using a pair of free throws from Tubelis to give Arizona a 45-33 lead with 17:54 remaining.
Johns hit a 3-pointer — the team’s first of the game after a 0-for-7 start — to momentarily quell the momentum, but Michigan had no answers for Arizona on either end as the Wildcats made their first nine shots of the half.
Tubelis threw down a thunderous dunk. A turnover from Diabate led to a fast-break slam from Terry. Koloko swatted a shot by Diabate at the rim that led to a 3-pointer during a 10-2 flurry that put Michigan in a 59-42 hole with 13:18 to play.
Things only continued to get worse for the Wolverines as they struggled to pick themselves up off the mat and get anything going on offense against the Wildcats’ interior length. Koloko essentially delivered the knockout blow by scoring 10 straight points and throwing down numerous dunks for Arizona over a 3-minute, 13-second stretch to make it 72-52 with 5:27 left.
From there, the Wolverines could barely put a dent in the deficit before they emptied their bench in the final minutes and were handed their second loss this week.
The teams were throwing punches early during a fast-paced, back-and-forth start. Arizona used its size and speed to score its first five baskets in the paint and force some uncomfortable possessions.
Michigan used a 10-4 spurt that was fueled by the freshmen, featuring a jumper from Moussa Diabate, an up-and-under layup from Caleb Houstan and a strong drive by Frankie Collins, to take a 16-12 lead with 11:58 left in the first half.
Turnovers, though, became an issue for the Wolverines as unforced errors and offensive fouls led to a string of empty possessions. The Wildcats took advantage with a 7-0 run that Koloko capped with a short hook to pull ahead, 19-16, at the 10:10 mark.
Grad transfer guard DeVante’ Jones stopped the run with a running floater and Dickinson tipped in his own missed shot to regain 20-19 edge before things started to go sideways. Jones picked up his second foul at the 8:21 mark, Dickinson was given little room to operate, and the Wolverines struggled to find a rhythm and create good looks in the half court, making just three baskets over the final 7:57.
Arizona went right back to its big men to go back on top, with Koloko scoring on a hook and throwing down an alley-oop during an 11-2 spurt that put Michigan in a 32-23 hole with 2:59 left in the half. An offensive rebound and putback put the Wildcats up 10 before a late layup from Brooks cut the deficit to 37-29 at the break.
