CHICAGO (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, and No. 3 Michigan beat Nick Boyd and No. 23 Wisconsin 68-65 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
Aday Mara scored 16 points and Elliot Cadeau had 15 as top-seeded Michigan (31-2) avenged its only conference loss from the regular season, a 91-88 setback against Wisconsin on Jan. 10. Mara also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked five shots.
Michigan is going for its second straight Big Ten Tournament title and fifth overall. It will play No. 18 Purdue on Sunday after the Boilermakers eliminated UCLA with a 73-66 win.
Lendeborg got off to another slow start after he had just six points in Friday’s quarterfinal victory over Ohio State. But the Big Ten player of the year began to assert himself right before halftime, and he connected on the biggest shot of the game.
Lendeborg grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Cadeau for a 3 with 45 seconds left, giving Michigan a 65-62 lead. But Boyd responded with a tying 3 for Wisconsin.
With the United Center crowd standing in anticipation, Michigan tried to find Lendeborg inside on its last possession. But he ended up making his way back outside before getting a pass from Cadeau and drilling the winning 3.
Wisconsin’s Austin Rapp made six 3-pointers while scoring each of his 18 points in the second half. Boyd had 14 points on 6-for-20 shooting a day after he scored a career-high 38 points in a wild overtime victory over No. 9 Illinois.
The Badgers (24-10) had reached the Big Ten tourney final in each of the past two years, losing to the Wolverines in 2025.
Shaking off a sluggish start, Michigan closed the first half with a 10-2 run. Lendeborg made a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, tying it at 28. It was his first basket of the game.
The Wolverines were shooting 26.7% (8 for 30) from the field at the break, but the Badgers weren’t much better at 32.3% (10 for 31).
Up next
Michigan beat Purdue 91-80 on Feb. 17. Cadeau scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half of the road win.
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