Rare opening-week title game rematch doubles as a familiar warning: UConn is yet again a national title threat

No. 4 UConn defeated No. 16 Michigan 85-77 on Friday night at TD Garden in Boston, a rematch of the 2026 national championship game that Michigan won 69-63 seven months earlier. Michigan (1-1) trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half before cutting the deficit to eight in the closing seconds. The Wolverines outscored UConn 47-42 in the second half after trailing 43-30 at halftime. Trey McKenney led Michigan with a career-high 22 points, all in the second half, on a career-best eight made field goals and four three-pointers. J.P. Estrella added 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting with nine rebounds, narrowly missing a second consecutive double-double. Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 18 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Moustapha Thiam opened the scoring with an alley-oop slam off a feed from Estrella. Elliot Cadeau scored five straight points to tie the game at 7-7 early, then converted a layup through contact to bring Michigan within four at 13-9. Gayle sparked a stretch with consecutive layups and a three-point play, and Estrella added a tip-in and drew fouls to put Michigan in the bonus. Six of Michigan's next eight points came at the line, cutting the deficit to 25-22 with 7:47 left in the half. Michigan then went scoreless over the final 4:30, and UConn closed the half on a 9-0 run over the last 2:12, including a last-possession three-pointer. Estrella and Gayle scored on Michigan's first two possessions of the second half before a three-minute drought. UConn used an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 18 points with 16:23 remaining. The teams traded baskets and free throws, with Quinn Costello hitting his first points on a corner three. McKenney and Ricky Liburd sparked a push that cut the deficit to 13 with 11:10 left. Michigan held UConn without a field goal for more than seven minutes while McKenney hit three three-pointers to bring the Wolverines within nine and force a Huskies timeout at 8:09. McKenney scored 13 points over the final eight minutes. Michigan added six points in the last 35 seconds, highlighted by an Estrella dunk and a Gayle layup, but could not complete the comeback. The all-time series is now tied 3-3. This was the 11th time since 1996 that the previous season's national finalists met the following season; Michigan also played in the second-most recent such rematch, beating Villanova 73-46 on Nov. 14, 2018. It was Michigan's fifth appearance in Greater Boston and first in nearly 19 years (Dec. 1, 2007), and the first neutral-site contest there, moving the record in the region to 2-3. Michigan faced a ranked UConn team for the fifth consecutive meeting dating to 2009, and just the second time both programs were ranked in the AP Top 25. Freshman Costello played in his home state, less than two miles from his prep arena. The game was the first of four November matchups against Big East opponents, with games remaining against Marquette (Nov. 11), Villanova (Nov. 21) and Creighton (Nov. 24). It was the first ranked matchup for head coach Mike Boynton Jr. since March 13, 2021, with Oklahoma State. Michigan returns to Crisler Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11, against Marquette at 7 p.m. on FS1.