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Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg addresses Saint Louis trash talk: 'We've seen it'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs03/21/26grant_grubbs_

Michigan and Saint Louis are set to face off on Saturday in the Round of 32. Billikens freshman Cam Hutson wasn’t afraid to talk some trash to the 1-seed Wolverines.

“We take any opponent the same, but for it to be Michigan, I’m definitely going to be excited to play them,” Hutson said on Friday. “I hope we smack the crap out of them worse than we did Georgia.”

Naturally, Hutson’s smack talk quickly spread online. During media availability Friday, a reporter asked Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg if he’d heard about Hutson’s comments. Lendeborg kept his response brief.

“We’ve seen it,” Lendeborg said. “… We’re not gonna say nothing. We’re just going to let our game talk, and then if we have to talk about it afterwards, we will.”

While Cam Hutson only averages 5.3 minutes per game for Saint Louis, Lendeborg is an All-American talent. He is averaging 14.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game this season, while shooting 50.8% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc.

For his efforts, Lendeborg was named the Big Ten Player of the Year earlier this month. The 6-foot-9 standout recorded nine points, four rebounds and four assists in Michigan’s 101-80 triumph over Howard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

He’ll be hungry to build on those numbers against Saint Louis. The Billikens are led by star big man Robbie Avila, who leads the team in points and assists per outing.

Lendeborg and Avila will undoubtedly clash numerous times in tomorrow’s showdown. On Friday, Saint Louis head coach Josh Schertz revealed his plan to utilize Avila offensively against the Wolverines’ stout defense.

“We’ll have to see how they guard us. I would think who’s going to guard him? Is it Mara, is it Johnson, is it Yax?” Schertz said. “The thing with Robbie is he can find mismatches and he does a good job of triggering a layering offense.

We’ve just got to be — his ability to provide spacing, he’s obviously an incredible shooter and passer. He’ll be a focal point for us, regardless. He always is. He was terrific last night in orchestrating the offense, and we kind of revolve around him. Most teams, they revolve around their point guard. For us it’s a little different.”

Michigan and Saint Louis will face off at 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will air live on CBS.