Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg turns left ankle and injures knee in Wolverines' Final Four win
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg stood at midcourt with a Michigan staffer, going through the paces of a halftime warmup at the giant Final Four midcourt logo. He jogged lightly forward, backward, then shuffled side to side before hopping around.
He spent much of that time grimacing or biting his lip. And he didn't look much more comfortable when he did return to start the second half Saturday night against Arizona.
The good news is Michigan didn't need much from the first-team All-American as it cruised to an unexpectedly lopsided 91-73 win in a matchup of the NCAA Tournament's last two No. 1 seeds, not with the Wolverines' depth simply overwhelming the Wildcats. The question now is how Lendeborg's injuries might affect him for Monday night's NCAA title game against UConn.
Lendeborg said he rolled his left ankle and sprained his MCL. He also was emphatic when asked if there was any chance he would miss the Wolverines' first appearance in the championship game since 2018.
“Absolutely not,” he said at his locker, surrounded by multiple rows of reporters. “Unless I wake up and I get up and fall off my feet, I'm going to be in that game.”
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Lendeborg entered the game averaging 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists, offering strength and size with versatility to chase on the perimeter. He finished with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting in 14 minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers in his hobbled post-halftime minutes.
For much of the second half, he rode an exercise bike behind the Michigan bench, clapping for baskets or screaming with glee as the Wolverines made big play after big play.
He also spent time late in the game sitting on the court near the end of the bench and almost alongside the photographers on the baseline before having an ice pack wrapped around his left knee. He wore that for the final minutes and still had it on as he carefully made his way through the postgame handshake line with the Wildcats.
But he stayed engaged throughout, climbing to the raised court to greet teammates with high-fives as coach Dusty May emptied the bench in the final minute.
“Our team has extreme depth,” guard Roddy Gayle Jr., said. “We have the ability to feel happy when other people are being successful. Then, even when you're having a bad night, you're able to lean on your teammates for extra help.”
Lendeborg had to count on his entire team to carry the load without him.
Lendeborg had a rough start with two quick fouls and then exited after he stepped on the foot of Arizona big man Motiejus Krivas and twisted his left ankle, the same one he had tweaked during the loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
Fear hit hard in that moment.
“I tried my best to get up as quickly as possible to try to not dwell on that feeling. I tried to walk it off,” Lendeborg said, adding with a chuckle: “It didn't get walked off.”
Lendeborg left the bench for trainers to retape his ankle and treat it with ice, returned briefly, then went back to the locker room again.
“I was going to give it a go but there was like five minutes left (before halftime) so they advised it was best to get treatment right away,” he said. “I sat there, got treatment, got ice. I did the best I could to analyze the situation. I was watching the game and trying to make it feel better.”
Lendeborg wore a brace on his left knee when he returned for the second half.
Lendeborg checked out at the 13:02 mark and headed to the bike. He returned again at the 7:10 mark after Arizona had cut a 30-point deficit to 20, saying he wanted to be a secondary ballhandler.
Why did May put him back in with the big lead?
“Well, apparently you missed the UConn-Duke game,” May said, referencing the Huskies' rally from 19 points down to stun the tournament's No. 1 overall seed in the Elite Eight.
Lendeborg said he told his teammates he would largely work around the arc and avoid crashing into the interior to raise the risk of aggravating the injury. He also said he wanted to get a feel for how he might be able to function with the Wolverines headed for one more game.
Michigan had more than enough to put away Arizona, notably with 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara going for 26 points to lead five players in double figures. Michigan shot 47.8% and made 12 of 27 3-pointers. Now, Lendeborg will race to be ready for the shot at leading Michigan to its first national title since 1989, as well as the first by a Big Ten school since 2000.
“For me, it's a lot of treatment, a lot of time with the trainer, a lot of time away from my teammates which I'm not going to like,” Lendeborg said.
Whatever it takes.
“I'm playing,” he said. “I have to.”
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
