ATLANTA — Late in the second half on Saturday, John Beilein worked the Michigan sideline, his jacket off, his sleeves rolled up, his tie loosened. He crouched. He leaned. He clapped and shouted, pointed and jumped. It looked a little like aerobics.
After some 35 years in coaching, with stops at what seemed like every level, from high school to Division I, Beilein stood on the cusp of the national championship game of the N.C.A.A. tournament. He did not stand still.
His Wolverines, the university's best outfit since the Fab Five era and one of the country's youngest and most talented teams, built a lead and withstood a late rally against Syracuse for a 61-56 victory. When it ended, guard Trey Burke thumped his chest as fans tossed seat cushions on the court.
Syracuse closed to 57-56 late in the second half after guard James Southerland, off target for most of Saturday, drained a 3-pointer. Burke missed one of two free throws.
With the ball and a chance to tie, guard Brandon Triche drove the right side of the lane. Michigan forward Jordan Morgan slid over, in Triche's path, and an official whistled Triche for a charge. It was Morgan, too, capping the victory with an emphatic dunk in the final seconds, who put Beilein into the championship contest after all those years and all those stops.
Michigan (31-7) will play Louisville in the final Monday night.
"I was just trying to make a play for the team," Triche said. "I probably should have made a better decision. I probably should have pulled up."
Early into the second half, Syracuse (30-10) missed three consecutive shots from in close. Guard Michael Carter-Williams tried to throw the ball off an opponent and stepped out of bounds. Southerland clanged another jumper off the rim. The sequence was indicative of the way the game unfolded, of Michigan's defensive prowess and Syracuse's offensive ineptitude. The Wolverines controlled the pace, sped the tempo, forced the Orange out of their comfort zone, in this case the 2-3 defense Syracuse made famous. Michigan was too athletic. Too fast. Too tough.
"I thought we got off to really bad start defensively in the first half," Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. "Michigan took advantage of it."
He added, "Our offense was not good in the first half or the second half."
Mitch McGary always seemed to force his way into the thick of it. He presented Syracuse with a conundrum: how to defend a player with the bulk of a center, the size of a forward, the skills of a guard and the nimble feet of a ballerina. The answer for the Orange was not well, as it turned out.
In one second-half sequence, McGary tossed a no-look pass to forward Glenn Robinson III, who dunked the ball. On Michigan's next possession, McGary received a feed from Burke and jammed home a slam. Boeheim called for a timeout. He held his hands out in frustration.
Still, Syracuse closed the gap to 45-41, as Michigan went cold and McGary took a breather. The Orange leaned on C. J. Fair, who by that point had scored nearly half of their points (18). Another Fair jump shot cut the deficit to 48-45.
The game featured perhaps the best player in the country in Burke and a defense among the best in this N.C.A.A. tournament in Syracuse.
In this tournament, the Orange 2-3 zone resembled an octopus, the players the tentacles, their long wingspans spread across the court, their movement coordinated, suffocating. Syracuse held Montana, Indiana and Marquette to their lowest point totals of the season.
Syracuse spent much of Friday chirping throughout its news conferences — about confidence and swagger, about Michigan and the pressure on the Wolverines, who were slightly favored in most quarters. It did not go unnoticed, even after the game when Burke entered the locker room and shouted, "We're not done yet!"
And yet, Michigan appeared to present something of a challenge for the Orange. Ever since the first basketball team rolled out a zone defense, dribble penetration and marksmanship from long range have ranked among the most effective counter methods. With its slew of skilled guards, an up-tempo offense and a post player in McGary adept at scoring and passing, the Wolverines seemed to fit snugly into the role of zone buster.
Burke connected on only one field goal in the first half, a long 3-pointer that ballooned Michigan's lead to 36-25, where it stood at halftime. The Wolverines as a team made six 3-pointers, though, including two apiece from Michael Albrecht and Caris LeVert, two freshmen without any noticeable nerves.
McGary took care of the rest, his game decidedly old-school, versatile, efficient, as if he should have arrived here clad in Converse high tops. He often handled the ball in the middle of the zone, flinging passes to open teammates. He muscled his way inside for baskets. His first half read like a Magic Johnson box score: 6 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, a little of this and a little of that, to propel Michigan ahead.
While McGary boosted his N.B.A. draft stock — and raised plenty of questions as to whether he should return next season — Syracuse's stars struggled. Boeheim noted earlier in the week that the Orange would not beat Michigan the way it beat other teams in this tournament, without scoring many points. At halftime, Southerland and Carter-Williams had combined for all of 2 points.
The 11-point deficit marked Syracuse's largest this season at the break. The Orange closed it, but did not surmount it, and Michigan advanced.
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