Michigan sweeps Saint Louis to reach the Sweet 16, Yaxel Lendeborg shines
BUFFALO, N.Y. – No. 1 Michigan’s defense stepped up and earned a 95-72 win against No. 9 Saint Louis to send the Wolverines back to the Sweet 16.
The Wolverines have now reached the second weekend in each of the program’s last seven tournament appearances dating back to 2017. Saint Louis was seeking its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 1957.
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All-America forward Yaxel Lendeborg led Michigan with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Center Aday Mara had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a team-leading 4 blocks.
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Saint Louis was led by guard Dion Brown’s 13 points. Playing in his final college game, center Robbie Avila scored 9 points on just 3-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-10 from 3-point range.
The Billikens came into Saturday ranked eighth nationally with 87.7 points per game after beating No. 1 Georgia. 9 for 102-77 in the opening round.
This matchup of two powerhouse offenses lived up to expectations early on, with a back-and-forth pace that left Saint Louis ahead 27-25 midway through the first half.
But UM’s defense began to assert itself as the Wolverines’ size on offense affected the Billikens’ ability to get to the basket. After scoring 66 points in the paint against No. 1 Georgia. 8, SLU had a similar 16 points at the break while UM had six blocks, four by Mara.
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Overall, SLU shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 5 of 17 3-pointers in the first half, which ended with Michigan leading 48-39 after a pair of free throws by Lendeborg with 5.6 seconds left. The first 20 minutes featured seven draws and three lead changes.
The pace picked up as the break came out. The two teams combined for 29 points in the first five-plus minutes of the second half, including four 3-pointers by SLU, to leave Michigan ahead 61-55 with 14:17 left.
UM pushed its lead to 66-57 with 11:44 left on an emphatic transition slam by Lendeborg, who rose from well outside the rim and dunked SLU guard Quentin Jones. The lead would grow to 15 points at 73-58 just over a minute later and then to 81-63 on a Morez Johnson Jr. layup with 7:30 to play.
Needing to spark a comeback, the Billikens turned to long-range play but couldn’t connect: SLU finished shooting 12-of-27 from 3, including 5-of-15 in the second half after making four of its first six coming out of halftime.
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Lendeborg would give UM its largest lead, at 25 points, with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 89-64 with just over five minutes left.
Michigan will next face the winner of No. 1 Alabama. 4 and Texas Tech no. 5 in the Midwest region. The program of seven Sweet 16 berths in as many tournament appearances features three coaches — John Beilein, Juwan Howard and Dusty May — and gives May two trips to the Sweet 16 in as many years since he was hired by Florida Atlantic.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan advances to Sweet 16 with blowout win over Saint Louis