\n<\/p>\n
Not a shot.<\/p>\n
A line.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I kind of felt a little disrespected having a freshman guarding me,\u201d Lendeborg said at the podium with his head coach a mere feet away, as the 23-year-old, do-it-all graduate forward explained why he posed like he did after breaking the ankles of Alabama forward Amari Allen and knocking down a momentum-shifting 3-pointer in last Friday\u2019s NCAA tournament<\/a> Midwest regional semifinal.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That triple swished 51 seconds into the second half of a 90-77 Sweet 16 victory<\/a>. It gave the top-seeded Wolverines a lead they had lost to the No. 4 seeded Crimson Tide while missing their final five field-goal attempts before halftime.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like a lot of us weren’t playing as good as we wanted to, so naturally your confidence goes down a little bit, but after seeing somebody come out, make somebody fall and hit a 3 in their face, that definitely gives you some confidence,\u201d junior point guard Elliot Cadeau said in the locker room postgame.<\/p>\nMichigan was in the driver\u2019s seat the rest of the way. After trailing for more than 15 minutes in the first half, May\u2019s Wolverines were in front the final 19 minutes, 9 seconds of a win that reserved their spot in the Elite Eight.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Lendeborg, who sniffed a triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, was the tone-setter \u2014 on both ends and in both halves.<\/p>\n He followed up that highlight-reel, second-half 3-pointer with a pair of steals he converted into assists, playing a seismic part in Michigan\u2019s mid-game defensive revival. Two days later against No. 6 seeded Tennessee, Lendeborg delivered a similar two-way impact with a trip to the Final Four on the line.<\/p>\n He scored eight points during a 21-0 run that made a Michigan-friendly United Center feel like the Crisler Center. Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound stat-sheet stuffer whom his teammates call \u201cDominican LeBron\u201d<\/a> because of his roots, his jersey number and his play style, gathered on the break, split a pair of Volunteers defenders and absorbed a foul from a third while going up and under for a reverse layup.<\/p>\n In the second half of that 95-62 blowout, his 27-point outing featured a one-handed slam that saw him soar to the cup with such ferocity that the rim rattled like a diving board. Then he paired a chase-down block on one end with a follow-up to his own missed 3 on the other end, his relentless hustle rewarding him with a putback.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n And to think Lendeborg was playing his first consequential minutes of organized basketball about six years ago. Now the former JUCO standout and UAB star is a headlining act of March Madness.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is pretty much the dream come true,\u201d Lendeborg said last Friday. \u201cI didn’t think I’d be this far, just in life in general \u2026 I feel really blessed. Sometimes I’m at a loss of words when I think about where I am right now.\u201d<\/p>\n On Sunday, with a piece of a cut-down net sprouting from his sideways Final Four cap, and the Michigan fight song blaring, Lendeborg\u2019s picture was worth a thousand words.<\/p>\n