Michigan
Yaxel Lendeborg’s biggest shot shows why Michigan basketball needs him
How Michigan basketball survived Big Ten Tournament test vs OSU
Free Press’ Tony Garcia and Carlos Monarrez discuss Michigan basketball’s tough game vs. Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
CHICAGO – Where was Yaxel Lendeborg?
The Big Ten player of the year was nearly invisible on the scoring sheet in Michigan basketball’s quarterfinal opener against Ohio State, and then again in the first half of a tight semifinal against Wisconsin at United Center on Saturday, March 14.
Then Lendeborg emerged. The true Lendeborg who has had so many big moments this season had one more, perhaps his biggest, when he appeared at the elbow with the clock ticking down.
Lendeborg took Elliot Cadeau’s pass and calmly launched a 3-pointer that swished in for the winning score with 0.4 seconds left. The Wolverines won, 68-65, improved to 31-2, and advanced to Sunday’s final against the winner of the Purdue-UCLA semifinal.
A day earlier, Cadeau said the Wolverines were the best team in the country even when Lendeborg wasn’t scoring. But on this day, it was clear U-M needed its best player in a showdown with the hot-shooting Badgers, who made 16 3-pointers (besting the 15 3s they made when they beat Michigan in Ann Arbor in January).
Austin Rapp led Wisconsin with 18 points and took over the game late, making five consecutive 3-pointers to pull Wisconsin ahead, 62-58, with 3:50 left. The Australian almost single-handedly erased the 54-39 lead Michigan built by coming out hot after from a 28-28 tie at halftime.
Wisconsin should have come in tired – and probably too tired to make so many 3s – after going to overtime against Illinois in Friday’s quarterfinal.
But feisty point guard Nick Boyd refused to even entertain the idea of fatigue or the need for rest.
“Ain’t no rest, you know what I’m saying? No rest,” he said Friday. “You’ve got to keep going. You get to play –Michigan, right? No. 3 or No. 2 team in the country. By the time you get out there and the lights is bright, ain’t nothing to think about.
“You talk about rest? We’ll play X amount of games and you’ve got to come out fighting. If you’re not excited and ready to go for a game like tomorrow, don’t even lace ’em up.”
Well, the Badgers laced ’em up, all right. And their footwear looked more like jackboots than sneakers as they started putting their foot on the Wolverines’ throats early, burying 3 after 3.
Even though the first half felt a lot more like a brick show to start off, Wisconsin established its perimeter offense early and started to distance itself from Michigan midway through the first stanza.
The Badgers were again spectacular on 3-pointers, hitting seven of 17 attempts – 41.2% – compared to the Wolverines’ 26.7%: four makes on 15 attempts.
Aleksas Bieliauskas led the Badgers with nine points in the first half, all courtesy of his 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc. He was also effective in Wisconsin’s January win, when he was 5-for-10 on 3s.
After Cadeau got into foul trouble – his second came just 8½ minutes in – and had to sit, the Wolverines looked less organized and the Badgers took advantage, pushing their lead to 18-11 with 9:43 left, then to eight, 26-18 with 4:26 left.
It was almost a miracle the Wolverines managed to enter halftime tied, 28-28. But they clawed back by going on a 10-2 run in the final 3:52 and playing tighter defense, led by Morez Johnson Jr.’s steal and block down the stretch, which was punctuated by Lendeborg’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left – for his first points of the half on 1-for-5 shooting.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
One of Michigan State football’s leaders for the last few years has found a landing spot in the NFL. MSU safety Malik Spencer will be joining Michigan State center in the nation’s capital, signing with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent.
We knew that there was interest in Spencer from the NFL clubs, as the Patriots hosted him for a 30 visit before the NFL Draft. Instead, it was the Commanders who swooped in and grabbed the former Spartan.
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Spencer was a four-year letterwinner with MSU and started in 29 games at safety, recording 173 career tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks, and two interceptions.
The Commanders must have had some scouts around the MSU program, as they also used draft capital to bring in center Matt Gulbin, and now will add Spencer to their defense.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State safety signing UDFA deal with Washington Commanders
EAST LANSING, MI – OCTOBER 25: Michigan Wolverines linebacker Jimmy Rolder (30) celebrates a first half sack during a college football game between the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines on October 25, 2025 at Spartan Stadium in East Lan
DETROIT (FOX 2) – Another former Michigan Wolverine was drafted by the Detroit Lions on Saturday as the fourth round kicked off the final day of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.
The Lions selected linebacker Jimmy Rolder with the No. 118 overall pick in the fourth round.
With Alex Anzalone having departed Detroit, the Lions needed to find a successor at the position.
In 2025, Rolder played in 12 games for Michigan and led the Wolverines with 73 tackles. He also recorded two sacks, seven tackles for loss and an interception. He earned All-Big Ten honors, was a Butkus Award semifinalist and won the Roger Zatkoff Award, given to Michigan’s most outstanding linebacker.
It marks back-to-back selections of former Wolverines for the Lions. The team traded up to the No. 44 overall pick Friday night to select Rolder’s teammate, edge rusher Derrick Moore, in the second round. Moore had 10 sacks in 2025 and joins fellow Wolverine Aidan Hutchinson on the Lions’ defensive line.
Lions trade up to pick Michigan’s Derrick Moore
The Lions on Friday traded up to the no. 44 overall spot and made their second-round pick, choosing Michigan edge rusher Derrick Moore. Moore had 10 sacks in the 2025 season, joining fellow Wolverine Aidan Hutchinson on the Lions defensive line. According to his scouting report, Moore is effective with a bull rush, consistently generating pressure and sacks. In 2025, he was a first-team All-Big Ten selection, recording 10.5 tackles for loss.
First Round Pick:
On Thursday, the Lions opened the 2026 NFL Draft by selecting Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller with the No. 17 overall pick.
Miller, from Strongsville, Ohio, played for Clemson from 2022-25 and set the program record for career snaps from scrimmage with 3,778 over 54 games.
What’s next:
The Lions have two picks in the fifth round (Nos. 157 and 181 overall), two picks in the sixth round (Nos. 205 and 213 overall) and one pick in the seventh round (No. 222 overall).
The Source: Information for this story came from Detroit Lions and NFL.
Derrick Moore, Michigan edge, was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the NFL Draft.
Lions trade up to No. 44 for Michigan’s Derrick Moore, a powerful pass rusher with 14 sacks in two years.
Jaishawn Barham, who made the move from linebacker to edge rusher early last season, was the third Michigan player selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.
Barham was selected in the third round by Dallas with the 92nd overall pick on Friday night. Edge Derrick Moore was the first Michigan player taken in the draft, selected in the second round at No. 44 overall by Detroit. Tight end Marlin Klein went late in the second round at No. 59 overall to Houston. Moore, Barham and Klein were projected Day 2 selections.
By late September last season, Barham, who was nicknamed “Superman” by former interim head coach Biff Poggi and “Killa” by offensive lineman Nathan Efobi, had moved to edge.
“That’s ‘Killa’ right there, the man who doesn’t smile,” Efobi said jokingly to reporters last season. “I’ve gotten him to laugh a couple times, just by me being me. But that’s ‘Killa’ — always serious, always ready to hit somebody, always ready to kill at any moment.”
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Barham transferred to Michigan from Maryland and played his final two seasons for the Wolverines. He finished with four sacks and was honorable mention All-Big Ten last season. Former Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was asked last season about Barham’s intimidating demeanor.
“That’s who he is. That’s his personality,” Martindale said last fall. “I think some people take him being quiet and just looking at you as being mean, and he’s just trying to figure people out just like we all do. But he hits, and those guys are unique. Once you get to know him, it’s a back and forth, it’s a trust, it’s a relationship. And he’s fun to be around. But if anything happens, I’m glad he’s on my side.”
NFL Network’s draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said recently on a conference call with reporters that several NFL teams he spoke with liked Barham because he’s still new to the position and can be developed.
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@achengelis
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