INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg returned to Saturday's Final Four game against Arizona after exiting in the first half with ankle and knee injuries, and he immediately made an impact.
The first-team All-American was back on the court to start the second half. That came after he gingerly went through a series of warmup exercises at midcourt to test his left ankle, including running backward, shuffling side to side and repeatedly
jumping — grimacing and biting his lip as he pushed through the exercises.
Lendeborg also wore a brace on his left knee, and TBS reported on the broadcast that he had an MCL sprain.
Nonetheless, Lendeborg buried a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the second half to show he could be effective even when hobbled in a matchup of the NCAA Tournament's remaining No. 1 seeds.
Lendeborg had a rough start with two quick fouls and then exited after he stepped on the foot of Arizona big man Motiejus Krivas and twisted his left ankle, the same one he had tweaked during the loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Lendeborg left the bench for trainers to retape his ankle and treat it with ice, returned briefly, then went back to the locker room.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Lendeborg entered the game averaging 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
