Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg hit a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to lift top-seeded Michigan to a 68-65 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the first Big Ten Conference tournament semifinal Saturday in Chicago.
Lendeborg finished with 12 points for No. 3-ranked Michigan (31-2), which advanced to Sunday’s title game against the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between sixth-seeded UCLA (23-10) and seventh-seeded Purdue (25-8).
Aday Mara racked up 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks while Elliot Cadeau scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half to keep the Wolverines alive for their second consecutive Big Ten tournament championship as well as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They also defeated the only Big Ten team they failed to knock off during the regular season.
Austin Rapp paced No. 23-ranked Wisconsin (24-10) with 18 points as the Badgers rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit to take a four-point lead. Nick Boyd added 14 points and five assists while John Blackwell contributed 13 points and four assists as the Badgers’ five-game winning streak ended.
Lendeborg’s clutch shot enabled the Wolverines to overcome a superhuman shooting stretch by Rapp, who did not score in the first 30 minutes. The stretch five began his spree with Michigan holding a 56-47 lead. Starting at the 6:51 mark, Rapp sank five 3s on five consecutive possession to give Wisconsin a 62-58 lead with 3:50 to go.
Michigan responded with seven straight points, capped by Cadeau rattling home a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to forge a 65-62 edge. Boyd answered with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to tie the score. Michigan didn’t call a timeout and ran the clock down before finding Lendeborg open from 24 feet away on the wing.
Both teams endured a sluggish start. The score was just 6-6 after nearly seven minutes had elapsed as they combined to shoot 4 of 22 (18.2%) with seven turnovers.
Things picked up when Blackwell, Cadeau and Aleksas Bieliauskas drilled 3-pointers in a 40-second stretch, but the first half’s defining moment came when Cadeau, Michigan’s point guard, picked up his second foul at the 11:38 mark and left for the rest of the half.
When Boyd picked the pocket of new backup point guard Trey McKenney and broke away for a layup at the 9:43 mark, Wisconsin seized an 18-11 lead. The Badgers pushed their advantage to 26-18 on Blackwell’s 3-pointer with 4:26 to go, but Michigan forged a 28-28 tie at the break as Lendeborg swished a 3-pointer from the corner with 11 seconds left –his first points of the game.
Cadeau returned for the second half and made an immediate difference with seven points in the first 5:40. When he drilled a 3-pointer with 14:20 to go, he extended Michigan’s lead to 42-31. After the Badgers pulled within six, the Wolverines started pounding the ball into the 7-foot-3 Mara. He ignited a 12-3 run with a 3-point play, then fed Lendeborg for a layup and a dunk before backing down his defender for a lefty scoop that made it 54-39 with 9:50 to go.
