As a Michigan basketball fan, it doesn't get much better than a season sweep over Michigan State.
The win wrapped up a 29-win regular season, which was the best in Michigan basketball history. The Wolverines finished 19-1 in the Big Ten, won the regular season title, and are a lock to get a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.
Dusty May is clearly focused on winning the Big Ten tournament championship. Repeating would match a feat pulled off by John Belein. Before we turn our attention to that, here are three critical observations from another top-10 win over Michigan State.
Yaxel Lendeborg has another level
We have seen Yaxel Lendeborg repeatedly take his game to the next level against big-time opponents. He's scored an average of 26.5 points in two games against Michigan State, while making 56 percent of his shots and 60 percent of his 3-pointers.
In the first game, he added 12 rebounds. On Sunday, he pitched in with three assists, three rebounds, a block, and a steal. Lendeborg has also scored 21 points against Duke, as well as 20 against Gonzaga.
This was different, though. Lendeborg was turned into more of a playmaker. He was making plays, drilling 3-pointers, and helped to make up for the loss of LJ Cason.
Beyond that, he displayed the kind of offensive game that will be needed if Michigan is going to win the national championship. You need players who can win one-on-one battles and score on tough defenders, against the best defenses.
Yaxel has done that all season. But on Sunday, he looked like a top-10 pick on that end of the floor. He was creating and scoring in isolation. He was drilling corner 3-pointers, and getting to the line. His mid-range game was even effective.
It was exactly the kind of game Yaxel will need for Michigan to make it to April, and to win on the final Monday night of the season.
Old-school Roddy Gayle has returned
Michigan fans like to talk about Gayle's clutch performance last season in the NCAA tournament, when he willed the Wolverines to a second-round win over Texas A&M.
Gayle scored 26 points in that game. The senior scored 15 points against Michigan State. The former Ohio State transfer attacked the basket, but also served as a secondary playmaker, dishing out three assists. He was 4 of 5 from the field and perfect at the line (4-for-4).
People tend to forget that Gayle averaged 13 points per game for the Buckeyes as a sophomore. He shot under 30 percent from 30-point range that season and also averaged 3.1 assists.
Having Gayle on the floor with Trey McKenney is perfect. Both are playmakers, not in the same mold as Elliot Cadeau, but McKenney can space the floor. Gayle is tough to keep out of the paint and Michigan basketball used him in some post-up scenarios that were effective, too.
Dusty May's solution to LJ Cason had to be playing Gayle more, along with McKenney, and so far, Roddy has risen to the occasion.
Trey can handle the pressure
McKenney's role hasn't really changed since the injury of Cason; at least he's playing the same amount of minutes. The one change is that he's handing the ball more.
Dusty May hasn't fully put the pressure on McKenney to be the primary ball-handler when Cadeau is out. McKenney is doing it, along with Gayle, and even Yaxel. Yet, McKenney had more stretches than I can remember bringing the ball against Michigan State and only had one turnvover.
The kid has ice in his veins. He drilled two massive 3-pointers and scored 12 points. He can make plays on this team that other guards just can't, in addition to being a floor spacer.
Seeing Trey play that way against one of the best defensive teams in college basketball is a great sign moving forward. Michigan will need Yaxel, Trey, and Roddy to play how they did on Sunday if the Wolverines want to cut down the nets.
If those guys play like they did Sunday, it doesn't feel like there is a team, Duke included, capable of stopping them Michigan from winning it all.