The Michigan Wolverines’ path to a national title officially starts against either UMBC or Howard on Thursday in Buffalo, New York after they were officially announced as a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
The Wolverines have shown there can be a different leading scorer on any given night, and head coach Dusty May is unafraid to use anyone on his roster in a big moment. But they do have one glaring advantage heading into the tournament that will make it immensely difficult for most teams to match up against them — Aday Mara.
Last year, Mara was coming off the bench and averaging just 13 minutes per game at UCLA. Recognizing he could be better utilized elsewhere, the Spaniard joined Michigan’s transfer class alongside Elliot Cadeau, Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr., forming a supersized front court that has dominated all season.
Mara has made his presence known on both ends of the floor. He led the Big Ten in blocks per game (2.6), placing him fifth in the country, while also averaging 11.3 points on 67.3 percent shooting. His defensive dominance earned him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors, and it has been said all season that the team goes where Mara goes.
“They screened better away from the ball, and so they were able to get some opportunities. But Aday, I mean, he’s got sticky hands, the finishes around the rim, he makes them look easy and routine,” May said after the win vs Ohio State on Friday. “I don’t know if in 25 years if I’ve ever coached anyone else that can make those type of plays other than maybe Vlad (Goldin) last year. He’s just a really unique talent and we’re still finding different ways to utilize his skill set and add weapons, even though it’s March.”
An X factor isn’t just someone who shows up in the stat sheet — it’s also someone whose absence is felt when things go downhill. Take the loss to Duke for example: the Wolverines were out-rebounded, outplayed in the paint and stripped of second-chance opportunities because of Mara’s foul trouble.
“I wish, in hindsight, we wouldn’t have (put Mara back in with two fouls),” May said after the Duke loss. “But when you say, ‘Can we really go the next 15 minutes without Aday, and can he play well in the second half if he sits for 15 minutes?’ So we trusted him. We trust our guys.”
After sitting for a large chunk of the second half, Mara returned and scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and made two blocks. But his absence had already done its damage, and May has been careful since that game to not to let Mara take himself out of the game because of foul trouble.
With a 7-foot-7 wingspan, Mara has found unique ways to force opponents into the lowest field-goal percentage at the rim. Whether he’s jumping at the three-point line to disrupt the shooter’s vision or swatting at the ball in the paint, his presence forces opponents to rethink their entire game plan before facing Michigan.
“He really impacted both ends,” May said of Mara’s performance against Ohio State. “His rim protection late in the first half — uncharacteristically, they got a couple of layups that they don’t normally get. I think once the guys felt that he had the rim protected in the second half, they were able to push up into the ball a little bit more, stay aggressive and get (Bruce) Thornton inside that 12-to-15-foot range.”
“Man, I think that guy is the best rim protector I’ve ever seen in my life,” Lendeborg said after the semifinal win vs Wisconsin. “He does a really good job warming up and blocking the shot. All year we’ve really been relying on him down there, a lot of us play aggressive defense, and we rely on him to have our back, and he has been. So him doing that and doing it on the other side of the floor too was really what led to this win, honestly, he kept us in it when we were down.”
As long as Mara stays out of foul trouble, there is arguably no better defender in college basketball and no more important player to the Wolverines’ championship hopes.