With Sweet 16 on the line, Michigan refuses to talk trash with Saint Louis

Yaxel Lendeborg knows what it’s like to give another team bulletin board material. A video of the Michigan star recently went viral before the team’s regular season matchup against Purdue in February of this year with some…choice language. It certainly fired up the Boilermaker faithful but the outrage didn’t translate to success on the court as the Wolverines won at Mackey Arena by a score of 91-80.

The controversy was mostly overblown as the video was revealed to be from May of 2025, well before the game itself, and from just after Lendeborg signed with the Wolverines. He quickly apologized and it was quickly forgotten, but the lesson it imparted was not.

And that’s why, when reporters dangled the comments of Saint Louis freshman guard Cam Hutson in front of him on Friday, Lendeborg didn’t take the bait.

Hutson, whose father played at Michigan State, was very clear about what he thinks of the Wolverines ahead of their matchup on Saturday via Owen Oszust: “I hope we smack the crap out of them worse than we did Georgia."

Michigan basketball doesn't take Saint Louis trash talk bait

And to their credit, the Billikens dismantled the Georgia Bulldogs in their first round, 102-77. They outscored Georgia 66-28 in the paint, out-rebounded them 47-36, and went on a 23-0 run in the game. It was a impressive win that deserves a good amount of credit. But don’t expect Michigan to take anything for granted ahead of their matchup against the ninth seed in the Midwest.

When faced with Hutson’s strong words, Lendeborg took the high road “We’re not gonna say nothing. Just gonna let our game talk and then if we’ve gotta talk about afterwards, we will.”

This not only shows the maturity that Michigan’s best player has developed since he arrived in Ann Arbor, but a full embrace of the aura of the team’s coach, Dusty May, who doesn’t fall for emotional traps and remains calm, collected, and focused on the task ahead.

And make no mistake, the Billikens present a very tough challenge for the Wolverines. They have an offense that scores in the top-10 nationally with shooting numbers that are among the best in the country (with an offense in the top 50 in efficiency while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc). But at the end of the day, they have not yet faced a defense with the tenacity, length, and efficiency that the Wolverines can bring to bear.

And so when the game comes to a close on Saturday afternoon, just like Yaxel Lendeborg made clear, Michigan will stand on business and let their play do the talking.