Yaxel Lendeborg Dominates As Michigan Blows Out Tennessee, Advances To First Final Four Since 2018

The Big Ten Player of the Year became the first Wolverine to score 20 or more points in three straight NCAA tournament games since Juwan Howard in 1994. Michigan was uneven through the opening nine minutes before erupting with a 21-0 run that effectively ended the contest. The Wolverines shot the ball with precision throughout, scoring 90 or more points for the fourth time in as many tournament games. Elliot Cadeau recorded a game-high 10 assists, becoming the first Big Ten player to post seven or more assists in four consecutive NCAA tournament games since Trey Burke in 2013. Aday Mara contributed 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks despite playing much of the game with two fouls. We start off every practice pretty much with hibachi passing, Lendeborg said. Nobody cares about their stats on this team. Tennessee managed just 15 first-half points and shot 5-of-26 from three-point range. Senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie led the Vols with 21 points, but foul trouble hampered their frontcourt throughout. The defeat dropped Tennessee to 0-3 in Elite Eight appearances under coach Rick Barnes, who last reached the Final Four with Texas in 2003. Simply, we all have to get better, we all have to keep working at it, Barnes said. We certainly know what it takes to get here, and now we've got to figure out getting through to the next level. Coach Dusty May, in just his second season after inheriting a Michigan program that won only eight games the prior year, reached his second Final Four in four seasons after previously guiding Florida Atlantic in 2023. We have a sign in our locker that [reads] 'April Habits,' May said. From day one, we challenged these guys to develop championship-level habits that would allow us to win a Big Ten championship, and would also allow us to turn the calendar from March until April. Now we've put ourselves in position to do that.