COLLEGE PARK — There had been signs.
A 31-point performance in an exhibition with Cincinnati in October. A double-double in a tight win over TCU. A team-leading 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 40-point blowout against Gonzaga. Just a few of the games in which graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg — the No. 1 transfer portal prospect last offseason — has demonstrated his capability to be the major contributor to the success of the No. 2 Michigan men’s basketball team.
But whether it was due to a 25-point plus margin or a well-rounded team effort that made his numbers on the stat sheet blend in with the rest, no such game for the Wolverines had come down to simply whether or not Lendeborg had shown up to play. Not until Saturday night.
Under heavy fire from a Maryland perimeter attack that wouldn’t quit, Michigan found itself on its heels for the first time since before their trip to Las Vegas several weeks prior. It was Lendeborg’s unmatched 29 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals that kept the Wolverines afloat more than anything else Saturday. Whenever the Terrapins caught a spark, Lendeborg was there to smother it with a fire blanket. And that was clear from his first shot of the game.
With the Wolverines up 2-0 a minute into the contest, Maryland guard David Coit nailed a 3-pointer — his first of an eventual eight — to give the Terrapins their first lead of the night. Michigan wasted zero time on the ensuing inbound, finding graduate guard Nimari Burnett at half-court who then zipped a chest pass into Lendeborg’s waiting hands in the corner before any Maryland player could get back on defense. Lendeborg squared up and fired, draining the shot and the Terrapins’ energy for the moment.
That trey ball kicked off a night for Lendeborg that was all about answering Maryland’s attempts at streaking away. When Coit or a fellow Terrapin found luck from beyond the arc or made one of many high-effort plays elsewhere, Lendeborg would drive the lane on the other end, drawing fouls that stopped play and put points on the board, or feed guys like sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. and junior center Aday Mara down low for easy buckets of their own.
As the game progressed and Coit showed no signs of slowing, Lendeborg started picking him up in the half court, attempting to stunt the Maryland attack at its source. Coit’s production fell off majorly in the second half due to such increased pressure.
“(Coit) was pretty much a one-man army,” Lendeborg said. “So honestly, my whole campaign was just not letting him touch the ball at all, (because) he’s their only offense.”
What was a solid 13-point, four-assist first-half performance from Lendeborg wasn’t enough for the Wolverines to outscore a potent Maryland offense, and Michigan trailed five points at the recess — its largest halftime deficit of the season.
It was uncharted territory for the Wolverines, a team that had grown so used to expanding upon leads in the second half rather than building them. More of the same wouldn’t be enough for Michigan this time. It was going to take Lendeborg in full form.
And that’s exactly what the Wolverines got. After the Terrapins came out of the half and banged in two consecutive 3-pointers, Lendeborg swiftly answered with a pair of his own that kept the contest within reach and set the tone for his 16-point half.
By the halfway point in the second half, Lendeborg’s scoring streak was enough to draw extra defensive attention on him, which he used to find even more open looks for his teammates. That led to a one-minute stretch beginning with the Wolverines up just three in which Lendeborg dished out three consecutive assists for a total of eight Michigan points, establishing the Wolverines’ largest lead of the night up until that point.
“I know what it’s like to be the only hope on offense,” Lendeborg said in reference to his last two seasons at UAB. “I just took it into my hands to reenact it like it was last year.”
Finally out to an almost double-digit lead as Maryland’s offensive attack eventually simmered down, Michigan was back in its comfort zone. That lead expanded to 18 by the final buzzer, at which point the Wolverines had amassed 28 total assists with six players finding themselves with nine or more points in the contest.
But only Lendeborg was one point shy of 30, his career high. Only Lendeborg was one assist and two rebounds shy of a triple double. Only Lendeborg kept Maryland at bay. Saturday may have once again ended as a team effort win for Michigan, but it was one only made possible by Lendeborg’s one-man show.
