NCAA Tournament: Here are the players to watch in the men’s Final Four

Though the big teams mostly kept Cinderella away from this year’s NCAA men’s tournament, the Final Four is loaded with talent.

Illinois and UConn will go head-to-head Saturday (6:09 p.m.), with Michigan and Arizona to follow (8:49 p.m.) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Here’s a look at some of the top players on each team.

Everyone is talking about Huskies freshman guard Braylon Mullins right now, thanks to his epic game-winning three-pointer in the regional final against Duke. But the players who got UConn to that point are a pair of veteran big men.

Philadelphia saw this up close when Connecticut won its first two games here — as if it hadn’t seen enough already from clashes with Villanova. Reed pounded Furman in the first round with 31 points and a stunning 27 rebounds, then had another double-double against UCLA. After that, he delivered 20 points against Michigan State and poured in 26 against Duke.

Karaban is the Huskies’ soul, a rare senior on the big stage. He scored 22, 27, and 17 points in the first three rounds before going cold against Duke. But when he finally hit a three in that game, it cut the Blue Devils’ lead to one point with under a minute to go. Then he had the smarts to pass to Mullins for the game-winner.

» READ MORE: A look back at Tarris Reed, Jr.'s big game against Furman in Philadelphia

He’s one of a slew of Illinois players who bring both size and skill. In fact, in a starting group with 6-foot-9 forward David Mirković and Tomislav Ivišić, he’s almost short at 6-7. But he’s far from unnoticed, as Illinois’ No. 2 scorer at 13.6 points per game.

To top things off, his father is three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojaković. If you’re of a certain age, you remember him as an outstanding shooter for 13 seasons in the league, most famously with the Sacramento Kings.

» READ MORE: Even after a blowout loss to Illinois, Penn’s Fran McCaffery has already won. And he can’t wait to get back to work.

But there’s one thing Peja didn’t do: play college basketball. He grew up in the former Yugoslavia, started his pro career in Europe, and moved to the NBA in 1998. Now Andrej has put the family on the March Madness stage.

For all the hype that Michigan, UConn, and Duke understandably got in March, remember that Arizona started the season 20-0, including wins over the Huskies, Florida, UCLA, and Alabama. The Wildcats have also beaten highly ranked Iowa State, Houston, and Brigham Young twice in conference play.

» READ MORE: Kevin Willard said getting to the NCAA Tournament was a good ‘first step’ at Villanova. What’s next?

Burries is the straw that stirs the drink. The 6-4 freshman guard is Arizona’s leading scorer with 16.1 points per game, including 40.2% three-point shooting. He’s also No. 3 on the team in assists (2.5 per game) and isn’t afraid to hit the glass with 4.9 rebounds per game.

This one’s obvious, but it’s still the right choice. The former Pennsauken High forward has been on a tear throughout the tournament, with 20-plus points in three of the Wolverines’ four games.

His stat line in the regional final rout of Tennessee: 27 points on 10-for-19 field goal shooting, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, one steal, and just one foul.

» READ MORE: Yaxel Lendeborg played one season of varsity at Pennsauken. Now he’s Michigan’s star forward.

Michigan was picked to win the title in many brackets even before Duke fell in the Elite Eight. Arizona will be a tough test, and it should be a terrific game. But if you had Lendeborg’s crew before, you’ve got plenty of reasons to still be confident.