INDIANAPOLIS – There are two major injuries to keep an eye on in Monday’s national championship game. 

Two starters, Connecticut shooting guard Solo Ball and Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, could be severely limited, although neither is on the availability report. 

Ball suffered a sprained left foot in Saturday’s win over Illinois and was in a walking boot on Sunday. He didn’t practice. Lendeborg is dealing with a sprained left ankle and sprained MCL ligament and bone bruise in his left knee. Both continued to play after sustaining the injuries in the first half. Lendeborg, Associated Press first-team All-America, received an MRI that came back clean. He was noticeably limited after returning Saturday against Illinois.

“I’m sure he’ll give it a go [Monday] but that will be entirely up to him and the medical staff,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “He played the second half like a 38-year-old at the YMCA — and a really good 38-year-old at the YMCA.

“Whatever version of Yaxel we get, it’s going to be somebody that helps us play better basketball.”

As for Ball, the junior said, “I’m feeling all right, right now. Just leaving it up to the medical staff.”

The southpaw later added that he’s “still going to play.”

Ball scored 13 points in 28 minutes in the victory over Illinois.

Duke superstar freshman forward Cameron Boozer was named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Naismith Player of the Year on Sunday. On Friday, he was announced as the Associated Press Player of the Year.

The projected top three NBA draft pick is the second straight Duke freshman to win all the major honors given to the top player in the country. Cooper Flagg received those awards last season. Boozer averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in leading the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight.

He suffered multiple fractures around one of his eyes during Duke’s loss to Connecticut. Boozer is opting against surgery thus far.

“I’m just going through the healing process,” he said. “It hurt in the game, but I wish the outcome would have been better, but that’s not really what I’m here to focus on. We had a great year.”

Florida center Rueben Chinyelu was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year on Sunday. St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor was a finalist. The Naismith Coach of the Year award went to Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd.

What seemed like a heated, controversial interaction was just a moment of affection between two people with a long-standing relationship.

So claims Dan Hurley, the UConn coach who went forehead to forehead with referee Roger Ayers in the aftermath of Huskies freshman Braylon Mullins hitting a miracle March Madness 3-pointer with less than one second remaining to defeat Duke and send the Huskies to the Final Four.

“It was not, well — head hug? I don’t know. You ever see reindeer where they kind of, with each other’s nose … more of a nuzzle, an affectionate nuzzle,” Hurley said Wednesday on “Pardon My Take.”

Hurley, who is trying to lead UConn to a third national championship in four years, has a fiery personality and has been hard on referees, but he insists there was no ill intention behind the viral moment.

“With Roger — see, all these refs are different. They’ve all got different thresholds or personalities,” Hurley said. “Roger’s very playful. The guy is one of the greatest refs ever. He don’t mess up a lot of calls. When you’re going too far, he’ll give you a look. He’ll T your ass (give a technical foul), but he’s playful, he’s funny, he messes with you during a game, you bust his chops back. I would say that there’s a lot of coaches that he refs that you have a much different type of a relationship with Roger than you do with pretty much every other official.”

Ayers also downplayed the incident in comments made to ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg, the former Virginia Tech head coach.

“He’s a tremendous communicator. And he refereed a ton of my games. There were games he put his arm around me, walked me back to my bench. There were times where he said, ‘Seth, that’s enough,’” Greenberg explained Monday on ESPN.

“But that situation right there, that is absolutely nothing. I talked to Roger today. He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He literally didn’t know what I was talking about. He said, ‘Nothing happened. The ball went in. I was running back. They were celebrating. Danny leaned in and said something to me. I said something to him. It was absolutely nothing.’”

Ayers was not selected to work the Final Four, where No. 2 UConn will play No. 3 Illinois Saturday at 6:09 p.m. in Indianapolis. No. 1 Michigan will face No. 1 Arizona afterward.

The semifinal winners will play for the national championship Monday night.

Elite Eight battles are set, with Michigan vs. Tennessee deciding who takes the Final Four spot for the Midwest region. The Vols are in the Elite Eight for a third straight year, despite an underwhelming season and a March Madness run where they’ve been underdogs.

The team booked its Elite Eight spot with a win over No. 2 Iowa State on Friday. The top-seeded Wolverines defeated No. 4 Alabama 90-77 on Friday to secure a spot against the Vols. It’s a game of historical import for the Vols, as they look for their first ever berth in the Final Four.

Michigan vs. Tennessee predictions

Michigan is a 7.5-point favorite to win this matchup against Tennessee, per DraftKings. Here are the remaining odds for the game from DraftKings.

Moneyline: Michigan -310, Tennessee +250

Spread: Michigan -7.5 (-112), Tennessee +7.5 (-108)

Total o/u: Michigan U 146.5 (-110), Tennessee O 146.5 (-110)

Although the Wolverines come into the game as the overwhelming favorites, Tennessee isn’t expected to be a walkover, entering the contest with a 25-11 record.

Michigan vs. Tennessee preview

Tennessee leads the country in offensive rebounding and will use turnovers to its advantage when facing Michigan. On the defense, the Vols are among the top teams nationally in three-point percentage allowed.

Michigan needs to win the rebounding battle to defeat Tennessee, avoiding turnovers while controlling the pace of the game. The Wolverines have the upper hand in shooting, being No. 2 nationally in two-point shooting percentage and No. 29 in three-point shooting percentage.

Tennessee, on the other hand, has a poor shooting record, ranking 149th nationally in two-point percentage and 175th in three-point percentage. The Vols have largely depended on their dominance in rebounds to win games. The Wolverines can cut their rebounding advantage and force them to take difficult shots.

Michigan has a historical advantage, with a 7-5 record against the Vols, including 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines are favored to extend this record, with high-scoring forward Yaxel Lendeborg leading Dusty May’s team.

The senior is averaging 14.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game this season.

Where to watch Michigan vs. Tennessee

Michigan vs. Tennessee will tip off at 2:15 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Mar. 29, 2026, at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. It will be broadcast live on CBS, with options to stream on March Madness Live App, Paramount+, and HBO Max.