CHICAGO – The No. 1-seeded Michigan Wolverines are moving on into the Elite 8 after taking down the No. 4-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide 90-77 in the Sweet 16 inside the United Center in Chicago.
The Elite 8 appearance is Michigan’s first since 2021.
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With the victory on Friday (March 27), head coach Dusty May surpassed former head coach John Beilein for most wins in a single season at 34.
May, ahead of the game, said he has leaned on Beilein’s experience and insight throughout the season, describing the veteran coach as a valuable resource.
He said the two stay in regular contact, with Beilein offering advice and support while being mindful of the demands of a coaching schedule.
Beilein, a National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame coach, frequently shares observations and reminders based on his knowledge of the game, according to May, so passing him was a huge honor.
May added that having access to a coach who is not only familiar with his team but also with the competition provides a unique advantage.
Michigan looked to bounce back from their previous appearance inside the United Center, where they fell to the Purdue Boilermakers in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
After a defensive stop, Lendeborg got fouled and went to the line like his teammates and missed the first free throw, but made the second for his 23rd point of the game.
The atmosphere was electric as the pro-Michigan crowd could be heard from pre-game warmups to the end of the matchup.
Lendeborg said there would be “extra juice” for him facing Alabama, reflecting on the recruiting process that initially passed him over as he entered the transfer portal from the UAB Blazers last season.
He said there was no bad blood, but he played with an extra pep in his step as he finished with 23 points, scoring 12 in the first half, and a quick 10 to open the second half.
Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau both finished with 17 points each, followed by Roddy Gayle Jr., who added 16 points in the victory.
1st half
Michigan won the tip, but couldn’t convert at the rim, while Alabama got a stop.
They nearly shot an airball on their possession, but saved the ball before it went out of bounds off of Aday Mara with 19 seconds on the shot clock.
Detroit native Aiden Sherrel scored the game’s first three points, but Yaxel Lendeborg made a contested layup at the rim.
Latrell Wrightsell made another three-pointer as Alabama took a 6-2 lead.
Lendeborg turned the ball over and then committed a foul on the defensive end of the floor with 17:42 to play.
London Jemison made an uncontested layup to take an 8-2 lead.
After a defensive stop, Sherrel drained another three-pointer.
Elliot Cadeau got on the board with a contested floater as Alabama took an 11-4 lead, and there was a timeout with 15:38 to play.
Out of the timeout, Lendeborg drilled a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 11-7.
He contested a three-point shot that was deflected, leading to a rim run and a foul on the other end.
Lendeborg stepped to the line and made both to cut the deficit to 11-9, before Trey McKenney subbed in for Nimari Burnett.
After a defensive stop, Cadeau drew a foul, prompting the insertion of Roddy Gayle Jr. into the game.
Mara hit a jumper to tie the game, before Wrightsell hit a jumper to retake the lead.
McKenney gave Michigan its first lead of the game following a three-pointer to take a 14-13 lead.
Gayle Jr. drew his first foul, sending Wrightsell to the line, where he converted both to retake the lead.
McKenny turned the ball over on the next possession.
Mara got stripped on the following possession after Alabama missed a three-pointer, leading to Will Tschetter entering the game.
After a defensive stop, McKenney drained a three-pointer, but Labaron Philon Jr. hit a three-pointer of his own as Alabama took an 18-17 lead.
Officials timeout with 10:59 to play.
Michigan went on a 9-0 run to cut back into the lead in under a minute of play early in the first half.
Cadeau was called for a foul on Amari Allen, sending him to the line for two, and he made both to take a 20-17 lead.
Morez Johnson Jr. caught a lob from Cadeau to get his first two points of the game, but Allen got a clean dunk on the other end, followed by a Philon Jr. three-pointer to take a 25-22 lead over Michigan.
McKenney got a steal and was tripped before Lendeborg drilled a three-pointer to tie the game.
Johnson turned the ball over, but Cadeau turned the ball over, leading to a three-pointer by Houston Mallette, as Alabama took a six-point lead.
Johnson made a dunk to cut the deficit to four before Cadeau hit a jumper to cut the lead to two.
Jemison made a three-pointer before Mara cleaned up the glass for a put-back jam.
Philon Jr. made a jumper before Cadeau made a three-pointer.
Philon Jr. made another three-pointer as Michigan trailed by five.
Mara got a huge block leading to a Lendeborg layup, but Sherrell made a buk off a lob to go back up five.
Cadeau drew a foul on Jemison before an official’s timeout with 5:02 to play in the first half.
The Crimson Tide were 8-17 from deep while Michigan shot 5-11 as they trailed 38-33 with 5:02 to play.
Michigan was also losing the turnover battle 6-3 in the first half, leading to the five-point deficit.
Out of the timeout, Gayle Jr. made an unbelievable floater as the shot clock expired to cut the deficit to three.
McKenney got hacked on a rim-run, but the referees didn’t call a foul as Michigan trailed 38-37.
As the pro-Michigan crowd started booing, Cadeau got called for his second foul of the half as the crowd jeered even louder before an official’s timeout with 3:54 to play.
Michigan got a defensive stop, leading to a Lendeborg rebound and assists to Gayle Jr. for a three.
Wrightsell hit a three, then McKenney hit a three, then Gail Jr. hit another three to take a 46-41 lead as the “Let’s Go Blue” chants started ringing around the arena.
McKenny got fouled, splitting the pair as Michigan led 47-41, but Lendeborg picked up his second foul on a Philon Jr. blow-by and near and-one.
He went to the line and made the first one as Tschetter got inserted into the game for Lendeborg. Philon Jr. made the second to cut into the Michigan lead.
Gayle Jr. missed a contested layup, but Johnson Jr. missed a bunny, leading to a Philon Jr. foul, sending him to the line for two, making both as Michigan led by two.
Johnson Jr. missed a contested layup before Burnett got dropped by Philon Jr., who tied the game at 47-47 with 31.3 to play in the first half.
Timeout Michigan.
Philor Jr. had 17 points in the first half while Lendeborg and McKenney had 12 as Michigan got the ball with 31.3 remaining.
Michigan got a bad shot by Mara, leading to a Philon Jr. drive and bump, sending him to the line for a one-in-one, and the first made the first to retake the lead with 6.6 to play.
He made the second as Alabama took a 49-47 lead into the half.
What will Michigan do at the half to be prepared for the Crimson Tide’s fast-paced tempo, as they ran Mara off the floor?
For halftime entertainment, the Duke vs. St. John’s game was shown on the jumbotron, and fans were cheering at the score as Duke trailed 60-56.
2nd half
Michigan trailed by two as they entered the second half, looking for a better start than they got off to in the first half.
Alabama opened the half with the ball, but couldn’t convert on a three-pointer.
Lendeberg tried to draw contact, but the ball went out of bounds before crossing up his defender and drilling a three-pointer to take a one-point lead.
Johnson Jr. got a defensive stop, followed by a Lendeborg offensive put-back as Michigan opened the half on a 5-0 run.
Cadeau got a block, but Sherrell made a layup to stop the run.
Trailing by one, Alabama got the ball, but Gayle Jr. got a block on a three-pointer.
Lendeborg got a steal and threw an outlet pass to Burnett, who put down a two-hand slam, leading to a timeout by Alabama, as Michigan led 54-51 with 17:04 to play.
May deployed a full-court press out of the timeout, but Gayle Jr. got called for his third foul of the game while pushing through a screen.
Lendeborg got a deflection, which led to a Johnson Jr. steal, and the ball was then transitioned to Gayle Jr. from Lendeborg as he was fouled at the rim, completing a three-point play.
A defensive stop by Michigan led to a Lendeborg three-pointer as Michigan took a nine-point lead, but Philon Jr. quieted the noise with a three-pointer of his own as Michigan led 60-54.
May leaned on Lendeborg, who made a contested layup, but Tayulor Bol Bowen made a three-pointer, followed by a Gayle Jr. three-pointer.
McKenney made a layup followed by a Cadeau three-pointer to take a 70-57 lead, but Wrightsell Jr. hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 10 before a defensive foul was called on Alabama, as the “Let’s Go Blue” chants started to flow around the arena.
Timeout with 12:09 as Michigan led 70-60.
Michigan opened the first 9:11 of the second half on a 23-11 run to take a double-digit lead, sparked by Lendeborg, who scored 10 points during that run.
Out of the timeout, Michigan fed the ball inside to Johnson Jr., who missed a contested jump-hook attempt and then got called for his first foul of the game with 11:48 as an official’s timeout was called to the dismay of the fans in attendance, as Duke went on to beat St. John’s 80-75 to silence the crowd in attendance for the Michigan vs. Alabama and Iowa State vs. Tennessee matchups in the Midwest region.
With game action resuming, Cadeau played good defense, leading to a foul on the other end of the floor, which was called on Sherrell.
Cadeau missed the first one, but made the second as Michigan took an 11-point lead with 11:07 to play in the half.
Johnson Jr. missed another contested lay-up attempt, but Michigan got saved as Mallette missed a wide-open three-point attempt.
Michigan turned Alabama’s next possession into a defensive stop and an offensive gain as Cadeau ran the floor and fed Mara with a lob to take a 13-point lead.
After Alabama couldn’t convert on the offensive end, McKenney ran the floor and got fouled at the rim, going to the line for two, making both to take a 15-point lead with under 10 minutes to play.
Wrightsell Jr. put on his Curly Neal impression and dribbled the ball to the floor, got back on his feet, and got fouled by Burnett on an and-one attempt, but couldn’t convert.
Alabama played good defense and found Philon Jr., who got hacked at the rim, sending him to the line for two, which he made as the Alabama faithful got back into the game.
Lendeborg found Mara for a lob attempt, but he got hammared, falling to the floor as Michigan made one field goal in the last five minutes of game action.
Burnett missed a three-point attempt as the Wolverines’ cold spell continued.
McKenney deflected the ball out of bounds as an official’s timeout was called with eight minutes to play.
Michigan led 75-64, but Alabama hung around as they survived the Wolverines’ early blitz.
Alabama came out of the timeout and found Philon Jr. for a wide-open three-pointer, but Mara cleaned the glass to end the scoring drought as Michigan led by 10.
After a defensive stop, Michigan fed Lendeborg, who found Gayle Jr. in the lane, but missed the contested floater.
McKenney drove to the lane under duress and drew a foul with 6:34 to play.
He missed the first free throw, but made the second as Michigan led 78-67.
Allen was called for an offensive foul on Cadeau, sending him to the line for a one-and-one, which he missed to the dismay of the fans.
Alabama turned the ball over, leading to a Johnson Jr. hack at the rim, sending him to the line; he missed the first, but made the second as Michigan led by 12.
Michigan got the ball after a defensive rebound, and Cadeau made a floater to take a 14-point lead, but Philon Jr. drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead to 11 with under five minutes to play.
Cadeau drilled a three-pointer to go back up by 14 points as the Maize Rage got back into the tense game with the taste of the Elite 8 on their lips.
Lendeborg found Johnson Jr. for an uncontested dunk, but Philon Jr. made a layup on the other end.
Cadeau hit Gayle Jr. for a dunk, but Johnson Jr. fouled Philon Jr. on an and-one.