Each game day during the NCAA tournament, the Post’s Marc Raimondi, Anthony Sulla-Heffinger and Justin Terranova will be providing you with their input for that day’s games.
For Monday’s National Title game, Sulla-Heffinger is going to ride with the Wolverines, who haven’t met a defense they cannot crack yet.
(1) Louisville vs. (4) Michigan: 9:23 p.m., CBS
Whether it was VCU’s vaunted “havoc” defense or Syracuse’s legendary zone, there has not been a defense yet that has been able to stop Trey Burke and Mitch McGary.
When the two teams take the floor on Monday night, Burke will be the best player on the court even though he shot a paltry 1-for-8 from the field against Syracuse. The National Player of the Year’s skill set goes much further than just scoring and he will frustrate Louisville’s Peyton Siva all night and fuel the entire Wolverine offense in the process.
Add to the mix McGary, who has had his coming out party on the biggest stage of them all, and the Wolverines will be able to exploit any potential weakness in the Cardinals’ defense, whether it be on the perimeter or in the low post. Louisville lucked out by getting significant contributions from Luke Hancock, Tim Henderson and Montrezl Harrell against Wichita State on Saturday night and it simply cannot expect to get 34 points from its bench against this Michigan team.
Prediction: Michigan 79-71