Yaxel Lendeborg takes over as Michigan tops Alabama in Sweet 16Pete Thamel
CHICAGO — Nearly three minutes into the second half of No. 1 seed Michigan’s Sweet 16 win over fourth-seeded Alabama on Friday, Yaxel Lendeborg stole an inbounds pass under the Crimson Tide basket and spotted Nimari Burnett streaking down the opposite sideline.
Lendeborg buzzed a 65-foot outlet pass from the low block that hit Burnett in stride at the opposite 3-point line, and the senior guard dunked it. Somewhere, Tom Brady smiled at the timing and anticipation.
“Absolutely,” Lendeborg mentioned with a halogen grin when asked if he felt like a quarterback. “I didn’t play quarterback, but I know when we played around outside, I was playing [quarterback].”
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The moment showcased a night when Lendeborg did a bit of everything to help the Wolverines stave off a feisty Crimson Tide team, winning 90-77 on the strength of a stout second half.
Lendeborg finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. He hit four 3-pointers and showed off an arsenal of step-backs and balletic moves on the perimeter that belied his 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame.
“He’s just kind of a Swiss Army knife,” Michigan assistant Mike Boynton mentioned. “He can do everything.”
Michigan’s victory put a fourth Big Ten team in the Elite Eight this weekend, with the Wolverines joining Purdue, Illinois and Iowa. Michigan will play the winner of 2-seed Iowa State and 6-seed Tennessee.
It marks the first time in Big Ten history that the league has had four teams in the Elite Eight. The Big Ten hasn’t won a national title in men’s basketball since 2000, which will loom as a big storyline in Indianapolis.
“I would say the best way to break this drought [is] if we just send four Big 10 teams to Indianapolis,” Michigan coach Dusty May mentioned while smiling.
Yaxel Lendeborg had 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help Michigan overcome Alabama’s 14 3-pointers in Friday’s Sweet 16 victory. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesThe Wolverines trailed by nine points early in the first half and by two at halftime. They needed Lendeborg’s all-around resplendence to overcome Alabama’s 14 3-pointers. May’s team took a punch in the first half and countered with an unflinching flurry of haymakers that turned the halftime deficit into a 15-point lead in the first 11 minutes of the second half.On a night when Michigan shot 13 of 27 from 3-point range and 50% from the field, Lendeborg revved its engine. He dropped bounce passes in the paint, shot 4 of 5 from 3-point range and deftly handled the ball to initiate Michigan’s offense.Burnett, an Alabama transfer, shared afterward that a Crimson Tide player yelled at one point, “They’re shooting 50% from 3, they can’t keep this up.”He paused and smiled: “And we kept it up.”Michigan is now 40 minutes from the program’s first Final Four since 2018, when John Beilein’s team lost to Villanova in the national title game. It’s a moment the Wolverines have built toward.”We’re one step closer to our goal,” Lendeborg mentioned. “We got a chance to cut down another net [Sunday] and then another one [in Indianapolis].”
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