INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Tarris Reed Jr. sat at his locker Thursday, fielding questions about his run as the interior-scoring, rebound-snagging force in UConn’s latest Final Four push.
Yet he wasn’t the main attraction.
That’s because across the room, an even bigger gaggle of reporters waited for freshman guard Braylon Mullins 鈥� the Indiana kid who 鈥� to return for his own round of interviews.
鈥淕uards are the ones that hit the big shots,鈥� Reed said Thursday when asked about big men getting their due, adding with a grin: 鈥淲e just do our job, we do the dirty work 鈥� and we’re used to doing it our whole life so we have fun doing it.鈥�
Maybe so, but there’s no minimizing the impact of size this week in Indianapolis. Not with the Final Four boasting its biggest quartet of teams going back roughly two decades, starting with guys such as Reed, Michigan’s Aday Mara, Arizona’s Koa Peat and Illinois’ 7-foot Ivisic twins as anchors to lineups with size radiating all the way out to the perimeter.
Length, height and bulk
The average height of the Final Four teams is nearly 79.1 inches, or roughly 6 feet 6, according to KenPom鈥檚 analytics site. That edges last year鈥檚 average of nearly 78.3 inches for the biggest of any Final Four going back to the start of KenPom鈥檚 data in 2007.
Illinois (28-8) is Division I’s tallest team with an average roster height of nearly 6-7 (80 inches), while Arizona (36-2) is seventh at nearly 6-6 (79 inches). Michigan (35-3) and UConn (33-5) are in the top 30 nationally with nearly identical averages slightly behind the Wildcats.
Consider it a sign of the premium each team put on building a roster to overwhelm teams inside, on the glass and with game-altering length spanning the gaps between.
That kind of size, strength and wingspan creates trouble cascading through the matchups. ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock said teams are also thriving by finding power forwards and centers capable of stepping outside to stretch defenses further and create space, eliminating the ability for a defense to simply collapse on a lone big man.
鈥淕uards still win in March,鈥� said Hancock, the most outstanding player of the 2013 Final Four in Louisville鈥檚 later-vacated title run. “But I think these guys have become almost like a necessary component. If you want to win championships, you need a big 4 and a monster 5.鈥�
And it’s manifesting in several ways as March Madness reaches its final act.
Defensive edge
The Illini have had the while dominating the glass to complete those stops. Their roster includes , including Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro.
The Illini also brings 6-9, 235-pound graduate Ben Humrichous off the bench, while the outlier in the big lineup is 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell as a strong backcourt defender.
The South Region champion has allowed .976 points per possession in the NCAA Tournament to lead the remaining four teams. Throw in the fact that Illinois is outrebounding opponents by 16.3 per game, and it’s been a perfectly timed boost to an already elite offense with those forwards and centers capable of hitting from behind the arc, too.
“Playing in the summer, you could tell it鈥檚 a little bit harder to do some things just because you鈥檝e got Z at the rim, who鈥檚 7-foot-2 and a great shot blocker,” 6-6 forward Jake Davis said. 鈥淵ou got Tommy down there. So anybody you鈥檙e going up against in practice is super tall. … We鈥檝e just got a bunch of length everywhere. And you could tell early on that we could cause problems for other teams.鈥�
Reed鈥檚 presence
The Illini will be tested against Reed, a 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior whose scoring (21.8) and rebounding (13.5) averages in the tournament are the best of any player still standing.
That included opening the tournament with a video game-type stat line of , making him the first player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Houston鈥檚 Elvin Hayes did it twice in 1968.
He鈥檚 coming off a 26-point showing in the comeback from 19 down to stun Duke in the Elite Eight.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a monster,鈥� said UConn senior Alex Karaban, who was part of the Huskies鈥� 2023 and 2024 title winners. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been so dominant. He鈥檚 really playing like the most dominant player in college basketball right now.鈥�
Wearing them down
When it comes to the No. 1 seeds, the Wolverines have hummed with 90-plus points in four tournament wins. The Wildcats have been right behind in offensive efficiency despite being shooting fewer 3-pointers than just about every other Division I team all season.
Their meeting Saturday matches strengths.
Michigan has used the 7-3, 255-pound Mara to protect the paint, flanked by a pair of versatile 6-9 forwards in (240 pounds) and Morez Johnson Jr. (250).
鈥淥ur size definitely makes it tougher for smaller guards,鈥� Lendeborg said. 鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e so versatile … we can switch and guard point guards, make their life a little harder. And you know, we鈥檙e all strong bodies too. So we try to wear down teams.
鈥淎nd then, toward the end of the game, that鈥檚 when we usually make our runs when we need it.鈥�
Michigan will be tested against the Wildcats with 7-2 center Motiejus Krivas (10.4 points, 8.2 rebounds) and Peat, a 6-8, 235-pound freshman considered a strong NBA prospect.
鈥淚f you don’t have the big to defend other bigs, you can’t compete at this level in my opinion,鈥� Hancock said.
鈥淗ow do you make it so you’re really tough to guard and you have an advantage? It鈥檚 the 4-men in this Final Four who are just so talented and the diversity of their skill sets 鈥� they can do so many things. That is the ultimate to me.鈥�
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