The Michigan Wolverines secured a hard-fought victory in a thrilling matchup, showcasing the grit and determination that defines modern Big Ten basketball. Head Coach Dusty May, along with standout student-athletes Elliot Cadeau and Yaxel Lendeborg, reflected on the intense contest, highlighting the team’s resilience, clutch performances, and the valuable lessons learned.
A Game of Grit and High-Level Execution
Coach May described the game as a “fabulous basketball game,” characterized by intense competition, with both teams “fighting, clawing, scrapping, competing at the highest level.” He emphasized that beyond the physicality, his team also delivered “high level shots and plays.” The victory was a testament to the countless hours his players invest in practice, a dedication that the game ultimately rewarded.
“Very, very proud of our guys,” May stated. “When you see them make the big shots that they made tonight, you just think back to how much work they put in in the gym after practice, before practice, in the mornings, whatever the case, on the weekends, and the game rewards that behavior. These guys deserved — I feel like both of them hit game-winning shots. They deserved that because of what they’ve done up to this point.”
The Game-Winning Shot: A Moment of Composure
Yaxel Lendeborg recounted the pivotal play that sealed the victory, marking the first game-winning shot of his career. “This is my first game winner,” he shared. “I’ve hit a couple of game tie-rs in overtime. The play call was for me to get the ball down low in the post. I didn’t do a good job sealing. AC had a driving angle. I tried to clear it out for him, and he kept his composure. Didn’t force up a bad shot, made the one more to the open guy, and I happened to be there to make the shot.”
When asked about maintaining composure during Wisconsin’s late-game surge, Lendeborg highlighted the team’s self-belief. “We know we’re a pretty good team,” he explained. “We had some guys just hyping each other up a little bit, getting rowdy, but it’s all in the love of the game.” He acknowledged that these high-pressure situations are crucial learning experiences. “This is all like a learning point for us. We’re going to do a lot better next game or whenever it happens again to take advantage of that moment and punching them right back in the mouth instead of taking a couple hits and a couple hits.”
Defending Wisconsin’s Drive-and-Kick
Both players acknowledged the difficulty in defending Wisconsin’s potent drive-and-kick offense. Elliot Cadeau attributed this to the opposing guards’ skill. “I just think their guards are really good,” Cadeau said. “They could get downhill pretty much at will. They’re just really fast. Once they get downhill, they’re good passers, and they have a lot of shooters surrounding them. That’s kind of what makes their offense good.”
The Mental Fortitude of a Shooter
Cadeau also discussed his ability to bounce back from a missed shot, hitting a crucial three-pointer shortly after. “Yeah, I feel like the past probably two years of my life I haven’t been wired like that, but thanks to my coaching staff, I’m now wired like that,” he stated. “I was wired like that in high school. So them just giving me confidence, my teammates giving me confidence to just shoot it again even if I miss, they don’t care if I miss again.”
Rim Protection: A Defensive Anchor
The Wolverines’ strong interior defense was a key factor in their success. Lendeborg praised Aday’s exceptional rim protection. “I think Aday has the best rim protection I’ve ever seen in my life,” he exclaimed. “He does a really good job walling up, blocking the shot. All year we’ve really been relying on him down there. A lot of us play aggressive defense, and we were allowing him to have our back, and he has been. Him doing that and doing it on the other side of the floor too is really what led to this win honestly. He kept us in it when we were down.”
Navigating the Emotional Rollercoaster
The game presented a significant test of the team’s emotional resilience, with significant swings in momentum. Cadeau recognized the novelty of such an experience. “Yeah, that was definitely a new situation, but we’ve definitely been in situations where we’ve been up and teams went on crazy runs,” he noted. “Like at Michigan State that happened, and that was on the road. We’ve kind of been in positions sort of like that already. We know just to keep our head low — stay level headed, and we know just to keep our composure in those moments.”
A Season of Growth and Personal Best
For Yaxel Lendeborg, this season has been transformative. “This has been the best year of my life honestly,” he reflected. “I’ve had so much fun. I’ve had a lot of learning points as well. There’s been times where I had a really bad game that I couldn’t really get out of my head. Today, for example, I was really down on myself first half because I felt like I was letting my team down.”
He credited Coach May for his unwavering support. “Coach was really letting me know he has my back regardless. He wants me to be more aggressive. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Just how much I’ve learned this year in general has really helped me out and is really molding me to be better in the future no matter what I’m doing in my life. So I’m really grateful that I made the decision to come here and get coached by Coach Dusty.”
The Frustration of Facing a Hot Hand
Both players expressed the difficulty of facing an opponent who gets into a rhythm. Cadeau acknowledged the skill of the opposing players, stating, “They’re just really good players. We can’t call it like luck or anything because the same players, the same two players did that to us last game. It’s kind of something that we kind of expected them to do because they did it last game. It was just like a feeling like we’ve got to close out better, like take away the attempt.”
Lendeborg found it particularly frustrating. “For me I would say it’s very frustrating,” he admitted. “We play super hard defense, and then he gets open for a split second, makes one, and now all of a sudden he made six. It’s like what are we doing right now? What happened? You just feel helpless. I feel hopeless honestly. I’m trying to find where he is, I can’t find him, and next thing you know he’s shooting a wide open 3. It’s definitely a bad feeling.”
Adjustments and the Power of Aggression
Coach May highlighted key adjustments made in the second half that contributed to the improved offensive flow. “That and then Yax was much more aggressive,” May noted. “Then we started getting Aday into the post, and then he got going, and then we felt like we were getting a little bit static. They did a good job of digging and getting it out of there. So a combination of all those things.”
He also emphasized the team’s ability to manage emotions during intense moments. “This was a game, I think, we’ve talked about being in close games, well, we haven’t been in a close game like this all year where there was a lot of friction in our huddles,” May said. “The emotion was pouring out late in the game because there were such extreme runs. There’s always runs. These were extreme runs. I was proud of our guys. They were able to regulate their emotions, get back together, and figure out a way to win.”
May also lauded the contributions of several players who stepped up, including Rapp and Bieliauskas, whose unique skills create opportunities for others. He also praised Nick Boyd for his consistent high level of play.
Facing Wisconsin: A Tough Matchup
When asked if Wisconsin presents a tough matchup for Michigan, Coach May acknowledged their quality. “When you have Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, you’re a tough matchup for 364 teams in the country, you’re a tough matchup,” he stated. He reflected on the previous loss to Wisconsin, citing execution errors and defensive lapses. “We were disappointed because I thought our game plan was much better than it was in Game 1. The game plan and the execution and the contingency plans. But we let them get to their strengths, rejecting the corner ball screens. They rejected three, and they made us pay for all three of them.”
May also pointed to specific plays that, despite solid defense, allowed Wisconsin to capitalize. “The one that was disappointing, was we got a late clock, and they literally bowling passed it across the court. It was a two-side, we had two defender in that area. I don’t know if they took their eye off the ball or relaxed, for them to get a 3 and that really super charged them, and after that he made some big, big shots.”
Learning from Adversity and Player Empowerment
Coach May revealed that he learned significant lessons about his team’s dynamics during the game. “Yes, absolutely. I’d rather keep some of that in house, but I liked it,” he said. He stressed the importance of constructive criticism and how player personalities fit together. “Our guys, we haven’t been in this moment, so we haven’t seen that come out, and I thought it was really, really healthy because it was constructive, there was thought and intent behind it, and none of it was selfish. None of it was about myself. It was about what this team needs to do to win.”
He emphasized empowering his players to think like coaches on the floor. “Trust me, like I, we, the staff, we need help from our players. They’re in the battle. So when they come over and say, hey, they’re doing this, this, and this, Coach, can we look at this? Absolutely. We’re going to empower them to make those decisions and think like coaches on the floor because, when they’re in it, they’re able to contribute more than I think people give them credit for.”
Halftime Words of Encouragement
Regarding a halftime conversation with Yaxel Lendeborg, Coach May shared the team’s mindset. “Actually, the staff encouraged me and gave me a couple bullet points, and then I said them in my own words with my own delivery,” May explained. “The gist was that, look, we’re big boys here. We can live with whatever the results are, but we’re not going out like that. We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to be afraid of failure. We’re going to let it rip, being us.” He stressed the importance of focusing on the process and the journey of player development.
The Final Possession: Trusting Instincts
On the final possession, with ample time on the clock, Coach May opted not to call a timeout, trusting his players’ instincts. “We had a play. We didn’t execute it. Credit Wisconsin,” he stated. “We thought Yax had a matchup in the post. He went to it, and then we had a timeout, and at 3.8 I looked, and I did a quick scan. I thought Elliot Cadeau, the floor’s busted, they’re out of their shell, they’re scrambling, I think he’s going to make something good happen. That was it.” He explained that in such situations, trusting experienced players to make the right decision often yields better results than a designed play against a set defense.
On the Verge of History
The Wolverines are on the cusp of achieving a significant milestone: becoming repeat champions of the Big Ten tournament, a feat not accomplished since John Beilein’s Michigan team in 2017-2018. Coach May acknowledged the historical context but remained focused on the present. “It means we’re going to go out there and watch this game and scout the best we can and come out here and compete together as well as we can for 40 minutes tomorrow,” he said.
He highlighted the team’s collective effort and the contributions of every player, referencing Will Tschetter’s impact in the first half. “When we do well, it doesn’t take the shine off of anybody else. When he plays well, it doesn’t take the shine off of him,” May emphasized. He stressed that the team embraces the idea that “someone is going to have a big game, it’s going to be their moment, and everybody else is going to embrace that and be just as happy for them as they would be themselves.”
Managing Foul Trouble and Player Development
Coach May also addressed the challenge of early foul trouble, particularly for Elliot Cadeau. “When he’s in neutral, he’s an elite process and thinker,” May observed. “Because he’s so competitive, sometimes a jersey grab, a push gets him out of his stuff. We’re just trying to get him to in that moment just freeze, take a deep breath, and get recentered because that usually carries — like the foul, we thought there was a play that happened before. He responds to the foul, grabs his jersey, and now it’s two.”
He stressed Cadeau’s importance to the team, especially with L.J. out, and noted the invaluable minutes gained by Trey McKenney playing point guard. “This is very, very healthy for us to be where we are right now, still finding some things out about ourselves and discovering new ways to win.”
