The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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24 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2026 tive. He made two of his three triples and brought the energy on both ends. "I just think despera- tion," Gayle explained after yet another out- standing tournament game. "Win or lose … lose, you go home. Ob- viously, being my senior year, my goal is just to make it a game and win. That's every one of our goals meeting together in the summertime. "I would say there's no change. I just look at it as a new season, no stats, no percentages. Just go out there and play free and play hard for each other." It started on defense, Johnson added. "In the locker room we talked about get- ting stops, playing our basketball, knowing that they hit a big [three-point] shot going into halftime," he said. "We can't hang our heads on it. We've got to keep playing basketball. "[My offense] … it was just coming to me. My teammates were putting me in the right spots." To get back to Chicago, though, they needed to get past a Saint Louis team that eviscerated Georgia in the 8-9 game and looked scary doing it. The Billikens looked like giant killers in a 102-77 win that wasn't even that close, and coach Josh Schertz — May's good friend — had his team playing its best ball. May stressed before the game that staying alert on defense was going to be critical given how well the Billikens cut and moved, along with staying on the shooters. Big man Robbie Avila, espe- cially, was one to watch. But after Saint Louis cut a nine-point halftime deficit to four, the Wolverines came alive. Lendeborg was dominant, notching 25 points and continuing his hot shooting with three triples in five at- tempts. Center Aday Mara added 16, and junior point guard Elliot Cadeau played an elite floor game with 12 points and 7 as- sists in quarterbacking tourney win No. 2. Avila, meanwhile, made only 3 of 13 field goals to finish with 9 points. The Wolverines did a number on him defen- sively, too. But Lendeborg was the story. His sec- ond half, coast-to-coast dunk in traffic put the rest of the field on notice. "He just has such a high ceiling," May said about his All-American. "The one play … he obviously had about 50 great plays, and man, he's a special player — special person. But to see his growth and to see how great of a teammate he is for the situation is even more impressive. "I think he's done an unbelievable job of giving what the game has given him and playing smart, practical basketball all year. That's not easy to do to play two different styles and especially learning a new system. … He's had to learn a lot, and he's had to be two different people for us." CUTTING THE NETS, PART I But "Dominican LeBron," as his team- mates called Lendeborg, was just get- ting warmed up when the Wolverines traveled back to the Windy City, just two weeks after the loss to Purdue. They had the same locker room but took different spots and changed things up, trying to ensure the bad juju from the last visit to the United Center didn't continue to plague them. For the first few min- utes, it didn't seem to matter. Alabama, their Sweet 16 opponent, dic- tated the tempo early, started knocking down triples out of the gate, and ran out to a quick 11-2 lead. Lendeborg scored a quick seven to keep it from getting away, but the pace was one the Crimson Tide wanted, and it resulted in a 49-47 halftime lead for the opponent. But the triples weren't as easy to come by in the second half. Cadeau blocked a couple in the first few minutes of the half, and his teammates also closed better on the shooters. Four and a half minutes into the second half and after another Lendeborg triple, Michigan had a 60-51 lead and a strong U-M fan contingent awake and behind them. "We tried to get into an offensive match with those guys," said Lendeborg, who led the Wolverines with 23 points and added 12 rebounds and 7 assists. "We're not that kind of team. They're a way better offensive team than we are. "We started slowing the game down and being a lot more physical, trying to dominate the paint. We found a lot more success. Our defense really started com- ing alive, and it helped us out and helped our confidence." It helped, too, that freshman shoot- ing guard Trey McKenney found his stroke in the first half, scoring 12 of his 17 points (including 3 triples), and that Gayle showed up yet again. Gayle notched three of four triples on his way to 16 points, and Cadeau put up 17 points and 7 assists to lead Michigan to a 90-77 win. They were one victory away from the Final Four. Tennessee, an upset winner over Iowa State, helped clear out many of the Cy- clones fans who made the drive, and Michigan fans bought many of their tickets for the Elite Eight contest. "This is not a team Michigan is going to be able Junior Aday Mara helped cut down the net after the NCAA championship game while draped in a flag of his native Spain. Two days earlier, the 7-foot-3 center scored a career-high 26 points in U-M's blowout of Arizona in the semifinals. PHOTO BY ERIC BRONSON / MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY