U-M's Lendeborg 'absolutely' to play vs. UConn

INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg says he “absolutely” plans to play in the national title game against UConn on Monday night.

Lendeborg sprained his left MCL and left ankle in the first half against Arizona on Saturday night. and an MRI on the knee on Sunday morning came back “very clear,” according to Michigan trainer Chris Williams.

Williams told ESPN on Sunday that Lendeborg’s injury is a “low-grade” MCL sprain in his knee, which also has a “small bone bruise.” The ankle sprain is also considered “low-grade” and has minimal swelling.

“He’s still tender and walking around a little bit gingerly, but good,” Williams said.

Lendeborg played just 14 minutes on Saturday against Arizona, spending much of the first half getting treated in the locker room. Coach Dusty May said Sunday that the decision to play will ultimately be up to Lendeborg and the Michigan medical staff, which has indicated confidence that he will be available.

“I’m sure he’ll give it a go tomorrow,” May said.

Lendeborg’s knee loomed as a bigger concern than his injured ankle, and he clarified that’s what he received the MRI on.

He did return to the court to play nine minutes in the second half wearing a compression sleeve over the injured knee, but he appeared ginger and clearly was limited.

“He played the second half like a 38-year-old at the YMCA,” May said. “And a really good 38-year-old at the YMCA.”

Williams told ESPN that he stayed in Lendeborg’s room until 4:30 a.m. after the Arizona game giving him treatment on the knee. He said that his aim for Lendeborg’s agility for Monday is much more youthful than how May described him. “Hopefully 18,” Williams said.

Despite being hobbled, Lendeborg did drain a pair of second-half 3-pointers, as Lendeborg finished with 11 points on four shots.

Williams said he’s “very optimistic” about Lendeborg’s availability. He said the time up until tip will unfold this way. Williams laid out the next 30 hours or so until tip-off: “It should be a lot of treatment still. I’m going to be in his room a lot. He’s going to be in my room a lot. So we’ll be doing treatment around the clock and just trying to manage his pain the best as we can.”

He said that the treatment will be on both the knee and ankle and he plans to use a Hivamat machine and a Class 4 laser.

Williams told ESPN on Saturday night that he’ll be spending a lot of time with Lndeborg.

“He might move into my room,” Williams said Saturday. “You’re laughing, but he might move into my room. We have two beds in there, so we might have to find another room for my wife and my son.”