SAN ANTONIO — Loyola Chicago has been the story of the Final Four, the first true mid-major to reach the sport’s premier event in five years, with its Sister Jean good-luck charm and a balanced group that reminds some of the Brad Stevens-coached Butler teams that reached back-to-back championship games in 20☂10 and 2011. Michigan, meanwhile, has been an afterthought, despite entering Saturday having won 15 of its past 16 games.
Here’s a look at how the teams match up:
Point guard
Redshirt junior Clayton Custer, Loyola’s leading scorer and distributor, will have his hands full with dogged Michigan lead guard Zavier Sim💛pson, the 6-foot linchpin to the Wolverines’ eighth-ranked defense. Then again, Cu🍸ster has been brilliant throughout the tournament against quality defenders, sinking the game-winning shot against Tennessee and averaging 11.5 points and 4.0 assists.
Edge: Loyola
Shooting guard
Ben Richardson is coming off the game of his life, a 23-point masterpiece in Loyola’s Elite Eig🐭ht win over Kansas State. Matching up with Michigan’s versatile defensive-minded senior, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, will be a challenge🦄 for the sharpshooting senior. Abdur-Rahkman keyed the Sweet 16 rout of Texas A&M with 24 points and made the play of the tournament so far, setting up Jordan Poole’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Houston in the second round.
Edge: Michigan
Small forward
It’s been a breakout NCAA Tournament for Kentucky transfer Charles Matthews after an extended offensive slump to close the regular season. Michigan’s redshirt sophomore is averaging 16.5 points pe🐭r game. He’ll have the size advantage over New Jersey native Marques Townes, a guard playing on the wing for Loyola. But the 6-foot-4 Townes has faced bigger opponents throughout this tournament and produced 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the past two contests.
Edge: Even
Power forward
Skilled and tough, Loyola’s Donte Ingram plays bigger than his 6-foot-6 frame. While his game-w🤡inning 3-pointer in the tournament opener against Miami has been his most memorable moment, his defense and rebounding have been crucial to this run. His counterpart, beefy 6-foot-7 forward Isaiah Livers, can stroke it from deep, but has been a non-factor so far in this tou𒉰rnament.
Edge: Loyola
Center
Freshman Cameron Krutwig performed so well for Loyola, he moved senior Aundre Jackson to the bench as a super-sub. An under-recruited 6-foot-10 ball-moving big man, Krutwig surpassed expectations, but it will be asking a lot for him to handle Michigan 6-foot-11 junior Mo Wagner, a projected first-round NBA draft pick who shoots 39.6 from 3-point𒐪 range.
Edge: Michigan
Bench
Keep an eye on two skilled wings, Michigan’s Duncan Robinson and Loyola’s Jackson, both capable of scoring in bunches. Jackson, a starter entering the season, has even led the Ramblers in scoring in the tournament, averaging 12.2 point🎐s per game. Both teams will go nine-deep, bri🥃nging plenty of shooting off the bench. Michigan 7-footer Jon Teske can be vital as well, as he showed by scoring 14 points in the Big Ten Tournament final against Purdue.
Edge: Michigan
Coach
It was no coincidence Michigan hammered Texas A&M when coach John Beilein had five days to prepare for the Aggies. Arguably the best in-game coach in the sport, he’ll have had a full week to get ready for Loyola, a major edge for the Wolverines. The Ramblers’ coach, Porter Moser, however, has proven to be quite෴ adept at in-game adjustments and diagramming final second plays in his first NCAA Tournament as a head coach.
Edge: Michigan
Prediction
Of the three double-digit seeds to reach the Final Four, none have advanced to Monday’s national championship game. That trend will continue. Michigan has too much size, too much athleticism and will be too well-schooled on Loyola by Beilein to be the Ramblers’ latest victim. Wag🉐ner takes over late and Simpson limits Custer to his worst game of the tournament.
Michigan 68, Loyola 60