Ann Arbor — If anyone needed more evidence for Yaxel Lendeborg’s case to be the Big Ten Player of the Year, he provided quite the closing statement.
In Sunday’s regular-season finale against Michigan State, Lendeborg turned in one of his best performances as a Wolverine. He carried the offense and served as a point forward at times. He guarded any and every position. He rarely sat or got a breather.
He delivered from start to finish with another stat sheet-stuffing outing: 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting, a perfect 6-for-6 on foul shots, a season-high five 3-pointers, three assists, three rebounds, a steal, a blocked shot and several highlight-reel plays in 38 minutes.
“I think it’s pretty obvious why he’s (Big Ten) player of the year,” Michigan coach Dusty May said during an on-court interview with CBS after the game. “He does everything on the basketball court and he’s incredibly unselfish while doing it. He’s just scratching the surface of how good he can be.”
Lendeborg kept Michigan afloat in the first half with big man Aday Mara and forward Morez Johnson Jr. in foul trouble. Mara sat the final 13:18 after he picked up his second foul. Johnson joined him after he drew his second whistle at the 5:16 mark.
The Wolverines needed Lendeborg and he came through. He buried a 3-pointer off the dribble over Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler. He backed down Kohler and scored on a tough turnaround shot. He drained a deep ball from straightaway off the dribble. He drew a foul and got to the free-throw line.
On Michigan’s final two possessions of the half, Lendeborg put Coen Carr on skates before scoring on a finger roll. He followed that up by driving into the lane, collapsing MSU’s defense and firing a pass to Nimari Burnett for a corner 3-pointer. When halftime arrived, he had 19 of Michigan’s 42 points.
“Yaxel was every bit as good as the billing. … He can guard it. He’s got pretty good foot speed. He’s 6-foot-9. He’s 230, 240 pounds,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said before stating Lendeborg’s talent is obvious to see.
“What makes him good? Are you blind? Everything. Everything made him good. He handled it, he passed it, he shot it.”
Lendeborg continued to show that in the second half. He met Michigan State’s Carson Cooper at the rim and blocked his dunk attempt. He used a hesitation move to get by Carr on a baseline drive and threw down a reverse jam. He knocked down a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer and set up Trey McKenney for another.
When the Spartans tried to claw back late, Lendeborg staved them off. After Michigan State cut the deficit to three with 3:47 to go, he countered with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the right corner.
When the Spartans scored again to cut it to four, Lendeborg answered once more. This time, he used a pump fake to get by his defender and lobbed a pass to Johnson for an alley-oop dunk, sparking a 7-0 spurt that put the game out of reach.
“I think Yaxel has a lot more in his tank and I think it’s my responsibility to keep pushing him,” guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said. “Yaxel is an incredible player, especially when he’s not in his head and he’s just playing ball freely. I truly believe Yaxel is the best player in the country, without a doubt. I think these big games in March, he steps up.”
Lendeborg certainly did with a big-time performance that might’ve separated him from the other leading candidates in the running for the Big Ten Player of the Year honors, namely Illinois’ Keaton Wagler and Fears, which will be announced Tuesday.
Lendeborg himself certainly feels that way. Following the Michigan State win, he said he made three promises when he arrived at Michigan: a Big Ten regular-season title, conference player of the year and a national championship.
“Two of them got accomplished,” said Lendeborg, who felt the Big Ten Player of the Year award was on the line against Michigan State. “Today was the day that I was going to prove it to everybody and do whatever I had to do to make sure that I’m the best player in the conference.”
None of Lendeborg’s season stats are gaudy: 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in 29.8 minutes while shooting 34.3% on 3-pointers, 65.2% on 2-pointers and 82.7% on free throws.
Yet, numbers don’t always tell the full story. Given Michigan’s quality depth, Lendeborg doesn’t need to shoulder the scoring load or put up a ton of shots. The Wolverines have six to seven guys who are capable of leading the team in scoring on any given night. The system doesn’t rely on just one or two star players.
Still, Lendeborg impacts every game on both ends at a high level and is the top player on dominant team that had a record-breaking Big Ten regular season. That’s a pretty strong case that can’t be argued.
“I’ve been around this game for a long time, and I’ve been around players for four years that don’t leave a great legacy,” May said. “With us, we want these guys — if they’re here for one year or five years or six years, barring an injury — to leave this place better than they found it. We want them to have an impact. When you walk around Ann Arbor and you ask anyone about Yaxel Lendeborg and the type of imprint he’s left here, it’s phenomenal because of who he is.
“I’m excited for the (Big Ten) awards to come out because I think he’s going to be justly recognized for how important he’s been to our team and the University of Michigan.”
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
@jamesbhawkins
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg makes strong closing statement for Big Ten POY
Reporting by James Hawkins, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
