Michigan's loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Championship game didn't stop the Wolverines from gaining a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, but it left them with a banged up Yaxel Landedborg.
The Wolverines' top scorer rolled his left ankle late in the second half in the 80-72 loss to the Boilermakers. He returned to the game and says he'll be fine. Dusty May believes he'll be fine and, hopefully, it won't be an issue going forward. However, that doesn't mean that Lendeborg was happy about what he perceived was lax officiating in a physical game.
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg warned the refs about all the bodies on the floor before his injury 😬
— TheWolverine.com (@TheWolverineOn3) March 16, 2026
"I told him, 'Somebody's going to get hurt.' It happened to be me."
Read here: https://t.co/3NBBeE6id4 pic.twitter.com/59RUVLuE2I
“I don’t feel too good,” Lendeborg said after the game. “It was getting to a point where it was kind of dangerous for me. I went to the ref. I told him the guys were flopping, throwing their body on the ground. I told him, ‘Somebody's going to get hurt.’ It happened to be me.”
This injury stinks. Hopefully, Lendeborg will be close to 100 percent after getting treatment this week and, if we're being honest, the Wolverines could be conservative with him and would still likely have no issues beating Howard or UMBC on Thursday (although I'm not underestimating the Retrievers because we've seen that story before). But it's not ideal to have Landeborg being compromised in any form as Michigan tries to navigate through the tournament.
And unfortunately for Landeborg, this isn't going to stop opposing teams from trying to ugly up the game, knowing that bodies all over the ground make him uncomfortable. The tournament is often about playing rough basketball, and it's something he's going to have to deal with.
That being said, he's right to call out the officials over what happened Sunday. Purdue turned that game into a battle royal and the referees just allowed them to do it without any thought of protecting the players. Injuries happen, but this feels like it could've been avoided if the refs were a little more assertive in controlling the silliness. Let's just hope when the Wolverines play a team with a similar game plan in the tournament, the officials are ready to step in and take control of the game.