Michigan hopes for sweeter outcome in Chicago against Alabama after bitter Big Ten championship loss
CHICAGO — Yaxel Lendeborg and his Michigan teammates were none too pleased to return to the same locker room. They still had a bitter taste in their mouths from their trip to Chicago two weeks ago. They hope this one is a little sweeter.
“We tried to switch the whole vibe in the locker room in general,” said Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year. “Everybody is sitting in different places, acting differently. We’re just trying to change everything completely.
” The top seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region, Michigan (33-3) is back at United Center — where it lost the Big Ten Tournament championship game to Purdue — for a Sweet 16 matchup against fourth-seeded Alabama (25-9) on Friday. The Wolverines will try to set the program record for wins. Second-seeded Iowa State (29-7) faces Tennessee (24-11) in the other regional semifinal.
Michigan’s loss to Purdue came on the heels of narrow wins in the conference tourney over Ohio State and Wisconsin. The result didn’t hurt Michigan’s NCAA path. The Wolverines still earned a No.
1 seed. Michigan combined to score 196 points in dominating Howard and Saint Louis in Buffalo to earn a return to Chicago. The Wolverines matched the 2017-18 team that advanced to the national title game for the most wins in program history.
Continue to the original source for the full article.