Losing will not be not an option for Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg when the No. 1 seed Wolverines take the court in Buffalo to open the NCAA Tournament.
That’s the mindset the Wolverines preached after Howard beat UMBC on Tuesday night to claim the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region. That sent the Bison to a Thursday afternoon first-round date with the Big Ten regular-season champions.
“Everybody is a threat. For them to get here, they have to win the championship,” Lendeborg said. “I’ve been in that predicament before when I was a mid-major.”
Michigan (31-3) ranks in the top six in offensive and defensive efficiency, a balance that invites plenty of people filling out brackets to pencil the Wolverines in for a Final Four trip to Indianapolis. But head coach Dusty May, who coached Florida Atlantic to the Final Four prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, doesn’t believe his 6-3 record coaching in the NCAA Tournament has any bearing on what’s to come for either side.
If anything, May strolls into Buffalo wondering if the long string of routs on Michigan’s resume could work against the Wolverines.
“This year we had so many blowouts. We weren’t in very many close games so we didn’t get to learn as much about ourselves as we did in the Big Ten tournament,” May said, pointing to his team’s 80-72 conference tournament loss to Purdue.
“Obviously we’re still doing deep dives into when we’ve played well and when we haven’t and what’s been the difference. I think we’ve been getting 10 to 20 possessions less over the last month of the season than we got before that. So teams have slowed down tempo, teams have tried to restrict our freedom of movement, they’ve tried to get more physical with us. So we haven’t adjusted to that rugged play as well as we need to if we’re going to be as good as anybody in the country.”
Lendeborg led the Wolverines in scoring (14.6 points per game), just ahead of Illinois transfer Morez Johnson, a beast on the glass with agility and a jumper. Johnson averages 13.1 points per game and team-high 7.2 rebounds, narrowly in front of Lendeborg’s average (7.0 per game). Both are 6-foot-9 but play a vastly different style.
Howard (24-10) found its way through the First Four with a tightly contested win over UMBC in Dayton, Ohio. Head coach Kenny Blakeney said nobody owes his team an apology for the early workout in Buffalo hours after wrapping the 86-83 win in the First Four. Bryce Harris, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds and helped seal the win with a turnaround jumper with 12.7 seconds left, said the Bison pride themselves on being adaptable.
What might it take to slay top-seeded Michigan?
“I think it’s just staying composed. Aside from our coach’s extensive experience in the NCAA Tournament, I’ve actually been in this position before. We played Kansas my sophomore year as a 16 seed in Des Moines and one of the biggest things coming into the game, looking at the older guys, was just how composed they were,” Harris said.
“We talk about the lights kind of being a distraction, understanding you’re playing in the NCAA Tournament. It’s like, yeah, but it’s still a basketball game. You know what I mean? Rather than shying away from the energy and the hypeness around the game, you should embrace it. Embrace it, understand that you’re prepared for the moment.”
Harris and Cedric Taylor III each average 17.1 points per game entering the First Four. But they’re part of a starting lineup with only one player (the 6-7 Taylor) over 6-6.
Blakeney, who won a national title as a player with Duke, is no stranger to the stage awaiting his team. But slowing down Michigan will not be a simple task. Their three losses by a total of 16 points came against No. 2 seed Purdue, No. 5 seed Wisconsin and the top seed in the tournament, Duke.
Blakeney was present at the Duke-Michigan game in February after Howard played earlier in the day. He said he took a break that included a few tequila shots at a cigar bar before checking out the big boys in a sold-out setting in Washington, D.C.
“Instead of looking at the game like a coach, I wanted to just veg out and look at the game like a Cameron crazy,” Blakeney said. “So I was there as a fan cheering my brains out, enjoying my day, and just kind of taking it all in to be a fan.
“I saw they were big as hell. I was really impressed how fast they were in transition. Not really seeing them this year, I’m seeing 6-9. 6-10 guys sprint to the 3-point line, and then seeing them knock down threes. That was as high a level a game as I’ve seen in person in a very long time, just as a fan and as a spectator.”
The clock is ticking for Blakeney and Howard to transition into challenger mode, taking on Michigan less than 48 hours after beating UMBC.
“For us, it’s going to be certainly a challenge, but I think we’ll have fun trying to figure out the puzzle,” Blakeney said.
