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A March Madness masterpiece might be on tap.Get your popcorn, kick up your feet and get ready for what shapes up to be an epic showdown in the Final Four nightcap on Saturday night.Michigan and Arizona, top-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament after being at or near the top of the AP Top 25 all season, will face off with a spot in the championship game on Monday night at stake.The nation's top two teams in KenPom rankings will be on the same court at the Final Four for just the second time since 2015.Michigan was favored on Thursday by 1 1/2 points against Arizona and was a slight favorite over the Wildcats to win the national title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Connecticut and Illinois will meet in the first game Saturday night in Indianapolis.The Wolverines and Wildcats, who are a combined 71-5, are not used to playing in closely contested games. Since the tournaments expansion to 64 teams in 1985, this is the first Final Four matchup with teams that won each of their four previous games by double digits.And as the point spread suggests, the game looks like it will be up for grabs.Michigan averages 87.7 points, barely a point more than Arizona scores per game. The Wildcats allow 68.8 points a game, eight-tenths of a point less than the Wolverines give up a game.Here's a look at some of the matchups:Wolverines, Wildcats feature balanced offenses with star powerMichigan opened the season scoring 69 points in the first half of a 121-78 win over Oakland and didn't cool off.The Wolverines are the first team to score 90-plus points in four double-digit wins in the NCAA Tournament. They have scored 381 points entering the Final Four, trailing just Kentucky's 388 points in 1993 and Oklahoma's 387 in 1988.Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg, an Associated Press All-America player, has 20-plus points in three straight games, including a 27-point performance against Tennessee in the regional final.Five of his teammates are scoring in double figures and a sixth is averaging 9.5 points on a pass-happy team.Arizona, likewise, is very balanced offensively.Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley, honorable mention AP All-America players, combine to average nearly 30 points a game as part of a starting lineup with five double-digit scorers. Seven players in the regular rotation have scored at least 20 in a game, and eight players have shared or led the team in scoring in a game this season.The Wildcats ranked No. 4 nationally in paint points during the regular season at 42.7 per game and were 360th of 365 Division I teams by attempting just 16 3-pointers per game, seven fewer than the average team.Pounding the ball inside also helps them get to the line. Arizona is shooting 18-plus more free throws than opponents in the tournament.Tall, disciplined defense will be on display in this Final Four matchupArizonas size has been an advantage all season, but Michigan also has length in the frontcourt.The Wildcats' defense is anchored by 7-foot-2 Motiejus Krivas, an adept shot blocker, and he will likely square off with 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara.Arizona also has 6-8 freshman Koa Peat and 6-8, 250-pound reserve Tobe Awaka to create problems for opponents. The Wildcats' guards are big and agile, able to play aggressively up top because of the size behind them.Coach Tommy Lloyd wants the Wildcats to play tough defense without fouling something they've succeeded at, making more free throws than opposing teams have attempted.Michigan turns defense into offense, pressuring the ball all over the court to cause turnovers and trigger its fast break.Mara has 100 blocks, setting a single-season record, and the team has blocked at least eight shots in each of its four games in March Madness. Morez Johnson, a 6-9 forward, and Lendeborg have combined to block 70 shots to give the team three players to protect the rim.The Wolverines also throw an array of traps at teams, forcing turnovers that allow them to turn up the tempo.Coaches Lloyd and May are rising starsBoth coaches might be high on North Carolina's wish list to replace fired coach Hubert Davis.Lloyd spent 21 years as an assistant at Gonzaga, helping coach Mark Few turn the Zags from a mid-major from eastern Washington no one had heard of into a national powerhouse. He has been excellent at making adjustments, allowing the Wildcats to turn close games at halftime into lopsided wins as they did by overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit to beat Purdue 79-64 in the Elite Eight.Michigan coach Dusty May had made the most of the transfer portal, plucking players out of it in each of his two years to remarkably rebuild a program that lost a school-record 24 games two years ago before firing former Fab Five player Juwan Howard.May's staff looks for players who like to pass, believing it's an unselfish characteristic that paves the way to be a good teammate. The former student manager at Indiana under Bob Knight is making his second trip to the Final Four as a head coach, following Florida Atlantic's improbable run in 2023.Deep benches for Michigan and ArizonaAwaka and sharpshooter Anthony DellOrso were starters last season, but shifted to bench roles with the influx of talent on the roster.Awaka makes the most of his 21 minutes per game by grabbing rebounds and providing a physical presence. He leads Arizona with 9.1 rebounds per game and his offensive rebounding percentage of 20% leads the nation.DellOrso had some midseason struggles, but regained his shooting touch late in the season, providing a huge lift when he enters the game.Freshman Dwayne Aristode is one of the most athletic players on the team and can score in bunches as he did when he made 6 of 9 3-pointers in an 18-points performance against Northern Arizona.Trey McKenney, a freshman guard, nearly averages double figures as Michigan's top player off the bench.If Elliot Cadeau's allergic reaction limits his playing time, McKenney or senior Roddy Gayle would see more action. Gayle, who is in his second season with the Wolverines after two years at Ohio State, averages seven-plus points a game.May said Cadeau, who averages 10.2 points and 5.8 assists, is fine" after being driven to Indianapolis by a Michigan staffer.Will Tschetter provides depth in the frontcourt and is one of two holdovers, along with starting guard Nimari Burnett, from Howard's final season.Intangibles abound for Wolverines, WildcatsThe Wildcats seem to play better when theres more at stake or in the face of adversity. Arizona opened the season with a six-point win over reigning national champion Florida and took down a gauntlet of ranked opponents the rest of the season.Bradley has been a superb point guard in his third season at Arizona, orchestrating the offense while making big plays at the big moments. Hes had a knack for taking over in tight games and hit a difficult game-winning jumper at the buzzer in Arizonas win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.Lendeborg seems to be getting better every game and the point forward has a chance to cap his remarkable story, which includes playing just 11 games of high school basketball and validating his mother's belief that he could be a college basketball player.The Wolverines have been relatively relaxed and loose all season, dancing together to pop songs when they warm up for games and celebrating teammates particularly seldom-used reserves when they get a chance to play during games.___AP Sports Writers John Marshall and Josh Dubow contributed.___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt was named The Associated Press women's basketball Coach of the Year on Thursday after turning the Commodores into one of the top teams in the nation.Ralph led a team that returned just one starter to the most successful season in school history. The team went 29-5, with 13 of those wins coming in the regular season against a rugged Southeastern Conference schedule. The Commodores finished tied for second in the conference, which matched the best finish in program history. They earned a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16.It's wild. Its hard to wrap my mind around it. This whole year we havent slowed down, Ralph told the AP. I love basketball, I love the group that I coach.I love they stayed with me. Its been hard and its been challenging, but in a good way.Ralph received 23 votes from the 31-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. UCLAs Cori Close, who was the AP Coach of the Year last season, was next with four. Ralphs mentor at UConn, Geno Auriemma, received two votes while Mark Kellogg of West Virginia and Kara Lawson of Duke each received one.The thing I love the most of where I'm at is the vision never changed," Ralph said. That's really important to me. Do it at a high level at Vanderbilt is really improtant to me. They've shown what that looks like to invest in women. Really invest in women. The resources and money, but also the development and academics.Ralph is the first Vanderbilt coach to win the award, which was launched in 1994-95. Her team, which won seven more games than the year before and was ranked as high as No. 5 in the AP poll, was led by All-America guard Mikayla Blakes.Shes someone you would want to run through a brick wall for, Blakes said. She has bought so much into us that its only right that we continue to fight in this game for her, and shes someone who in tough moments you want to lean on. And thats the reason why I came here.Vanderbilt started out 20-0 and had seven wins over ranked teams this season. I think truly we never talked about it, Ralph said of the undefeated start. I chuckled to some of my staff members this is what Im used to. I feel comfortable here. Keep kicking their butts in practice and challenging them and keep preparing the same way no matter what our record is.___AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this story.___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Gian van Veen has launched a scathing attack on Luke Littler following their fiery Premier League Darts quarter-final encounter in Manchester this evening.The Dutch player had established a commanding 4-1 advantage before Littler fought back to level the contest at 5-5.Tensions flared when both competitors were poised on a finishing double. Van Veen accused the teenage sensation of celebrating when he narrowly missed double 15 on the inside.TRENDINGStoriesVideosYour SayThe Dutchman also criticised Littler, who performed a mocking, crying gesture during the heated exchange.Van Veen ultimately secured victory after Littler squandered three attempts at a double to close out the match.Speaking to Dutch broadcaster Viaplay, Van Veen detailed the confrontation: "I'm on 90 and miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him cheering towards the crowd. I don't think that's normal."And then he makes that crying gesture too...He is a great darts player, but today he shows that he is not a good loser."He added: "Cheering over an opponent's miss really annoys me. So that's why I gave him an angry look."That he then misses three darts at a double, that's his problem."The triumph held particular significance for Van Veen, who was competing in his first Premier League fixture since undergoing surgery to have kidney stones removed.He told Viaplay: "The last few weeks have been very tough. And to beat Luke Littler now feels really good. The way it happened, that doesn't really matter to me."LATEST SPORT NEWSLuke Littler shocks fans as he storms off stage after defeat to Gian van Veen in Premier LeagueFifa charges thousands for World Cup final tickets as England fans rage at 'ridiculous' costJockey defends actions during controversial ride after official investigation openedSky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle offered his analysis of the flashpoint.He said: "I know exactly what happened. Gian van Veen went inside on D15 and Luke was happy about that so kind of gave it the Simon Whitlock 'well done'.Mardle added: "You shouldn't do that. You have got to say that Gian handled it better."Supporters took to social media to condemn Littler's behaviour during the clash.One fan wrote: "Of all people, he tries picking out Gian van Veen, the most innocent and respectful man on tour, what an absolute t****r Luke Littler is."Another declared that Littler "hasn't covered himself in any glory at all there, behaved like a complete muppet."Further criticism poured in, with one viewer branding his actions "pathetic" and urging him to "get a grip."A fourth supporter remarked that the teenage star had "made himself look like a right mug" following the controversial scenes at the Manchester venue.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Gerywn Price secures victory in Manchester after Gian van Veen accuses Luke Littler of being "out of order" on night nine of the Premier League.

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