No. 1 Michigan cruises in 95-72 win over No. 9 Saint Louis to advance to Sweet 16

Nick BrombergSat, March 21, 2026 at 6:15 PM UTC

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Michigan is heading to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the last 10 years. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) (Ishika Samant via Getty Images)

Michigan used its depth and size to ease away from Saint Louis and into the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

The No. 1 Wolverines beat the No. 9 Billikens 95-72 to continue an NCAA tournament streak that dates back to 2017. Michigan has made the NCAA tournament seven times in the last decade. It has made it to the Sweet 16 in all seven of those appearances.

Yaxel Lendeborg was a big reason why Michigan made it look so easy in the second half. Lendeborg made his first five shots from the field in the final 20 minutes as he scored 25 points overall. Lendeborg finished 9-of-13 from the field and also had six rebounds.

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Saint Louis gave Michigan a brief scare early in the second half after a Robbie Avila 3-pointer cut the Wolverines’ lead to 57-53 with 15:50 to go. But Michigan immediately put the Billikens away after that.

The Wolverines outscored Saint Louis 16-5 over the next 5:12 to open up a 15-point lead. The rest of the half was a formality, as Saint Louis simply couldn’t keep Michigan away from the rim.

Michigan shot 56% from the field and just under 50% from behind the arc as Morez Johnson Jr. had 15 points and Aday Mara had 16 to go with four blocks. The star frontcourt trio for the Wolverines combined to go 21-of-34 from the floor and grab 19 rebounds.

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Source: “AOL Sports”