NBA Draft: Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg Shine as Michigan Beats Wisconsin

Saturday’s Big Ten semifinal featured one of the top games of the day, with the white-hot No. 23 Wisconsin Badgers taking on one of the best teams in college basketball in third-ranked Michigan.

Ultimately, Michigan would survive a late run from Wisconsin, largely fueled by late heroics from Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg. Below, we’ll evaluate how some the NBA Draft prospects in the game fared:

Aday Mara, Michigan

At 7-foot-3, Aday Mara’s been one of the best and most versatile bigs in college basketball all season long, but that was on full display against the Badgers.

He led the team in scoring with 16 points on efficient 7-for-11 shooting, adding eight rebounds, two assists and a needed five blocks. His rim-protection was especially impactful against a Badgers' backcourt that can fill it up.

Mara was a go-to scoring option for Michigan on Saturday, which hasn’t been the case most of the season. His post-up game was one of a few ways the Wolverines could consistently score however, going to it time and again

Austin Rapp, Wisconsin

Rapp has underachieved relative to season pre-season draft expectations, but has still been a productive part of Wisconsin, and could have future draft shock if he shores up certain areas of his game.

Regardless, Saturday’s contest was his magnum opus, as he led the team in scoring and willed them back into the game late. With around five minutes left in the game, Rapp would rattle off three-straight triples, negating Mara’s rim-protection by simply thriving from beyond the arc.

All in all, he added 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, hitting a blistering six 3-pointers. He also tacked on six rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

For the second-straight games, Michigan’s leading scorer in Yaxel Lendeborg was fairly quiet, adding just 12 points on nine shots. Fortunately for his squad, his last three points were loud.

With the shot clock off and the game tied, Lendeborg would hoist a catch-and-shoot triple with just a second left in the game, hitting nothing but net to give the Wolverines a 3-point advantage with just 0.4 seconds left. It was far-and-away his biggest shot of the season, helping Michigan advance to the Big Ten tournament final.

The 6-foot-9 wing-slash-forward also stayed true to his do-it-all nature, adding five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one emphatic block in morphing into whatever was needed for Michigan. Which was a eventually a game-winning 3-pointer.

Morez Johnson Jr., Michigan

The last of Michigan’s three elite bigs in Johnson was also quiet in the scoring department, but continued to wreak havoc defensive with two blocks and two steals.

He scored four points on 1-for-4 shooting, but adding five rebounds, three assists and hit a pair of free throws.