Yaxel Lendeborg update: Tracy Wolfson explains Michigan star's 'frustrated' performance playing through injury

Yaxel Lendeborg played the first 31 minutes of Michigan‘s national championship game against UConn on Monday night. When he was finally taken out of the game, he appeared visibly upset on the sideline.

This comes major struggles on the court against the Huskies. He had seven points on 2-10 shooting (0-5, 3PT) when he checked out of the game after being brutally honest about his performance in the second half.

“When Yaxel finally came out of the game, he was so frustrated,” CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said in the second half. “As he told me at halftime, he felt awful and weak, and he’s sitting on the sideline, shaking his head, putting his hand in his towel, and he’s getting coached by his teammates and his assistants. And he’s so upset, you can tell that he’s just not healthy enough to be out there to play the game he wants to play guys.”

Lendeborg would check back in with 6:30 minutes left in the second half — and he turned it up from there. While the Michigan star’s words at halftime made it clear that he wasn’t playing the Huskies at 100%, it’s his last time to play for a national championship.

Despite the injury, Michigan continued to lean on him throughout the second half. He tipped in his own miss to get himself going before making a pair of free throws to pass the double-digit threshold on the night.

In the end, Michigan would hold on to win the national championship 69-63 game with Lendeborg on the court. He would end the game with 13 points on 4-13 shooting with 36 minutes played.

It’s the first title for Michigan since 1989, and second all-time following a 37-3 campaign. Lendeborg was the star of the show the whole way, and was able to finish the game under his own power as a national champion.