Yaxel Lendeborg’s mom flipped him into ‘attack mode,’ and now Michigan is on brink of Final Four

CHICAGO – Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg looked for the green light. He couldn’t catch Dusty May’s eye. So the Big Ten Player of the Year sent it anyway.

Not a shot.

A line.

“Honestly, I kind of felt a little disrespected having a freshman guarding me,” Lendeborg said at the podium with his head coach a mere feet away, as the 23-year-old, do-it-all graduate forward explained why he posed like he did after breaking the ankles of Alabama forward Amari Allen and knocking down a momentum-shifting 3-pointer in Friday’s NCAA tournament Midwest regional semifinal.

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That triple swished 51 seconds into the second half of a 90-77 Sweet 16 victory. It gave the top-seeded Wolverines a lead they had lost to the No. 4 seeded Crimson Tide while missing their final five field-goal attempts before halftime.

“I feel like a lot of us weren’t playing as good as we wanted to, so naturally your confidence goes down a little bit, but after seeing somebody come out, make somebody fall and hit a 3 in their face, that definitely gives you some confidence,” junior point guard Elliot Cadeau said in the locker room postgame.

Michigan was in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. After trailing for more than 15 minutes in the first half, May’s Wolverines were in front the final 19 minutes and nine seconds of a win that reserved their spot in the Elite Eight, where they’ll face No. 6 seeded Tennessee on Sunday.

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Lendeborg was the tone-setter — on both ends and in both halves.

He followed up that highlight-reel, second-half 3 with a pair of steals that he converted into assists, playing a seismic part in Michigan’s mid-game defensive revival.

Long before that, Lendeborg helped dig the Wolverines out of an early nine-point hole. He made his first four attempts from the field, including a confident one from long range in the wake of the game’s first media timeout.

“Today, his aggressiveness was probably the best I’ve seen all year, and that’s saying something…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/yaxel-lendeborgs-mom-flipped-him-into-attack-mode-and-now-michigan-is-on-brink-of-final-four-153151678.html

Author : Andy Backstrom

Publish date : 2026-03-28 15:31:00

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