Yaxel Lendeborg came up huge against Alabama in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament with a near triple double. The 6-9 wing poured in 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out seven assists. He also had two steals. He was the best player on the court even with Bama's Labaron Philon Jr. scoring 35. After the game, Lendeborg opened up about moving on to the Elite Eight.

Honestly, it was just, you know, playing to our strengths. That's the best offensive team in the country, and we were trying to play them like we had the second best offensive team, and we do not. Luckily, it was only a two point game, but second half was a lot more physical, you know, try to bog the game down a little bit more and then, you know, make them take tougher shots. We got a lot of early blocks, which really made everybody else second think their jump shot and it ended up helping our defense.

The complete team effort, once again, it means a lot. I feel like we have the most complete team in college basketball. We all play for each other, and when you have guys stepping up like that, you know, there's no way that we can lose the game. We all feel a lot more confident in ourselves and our defense really. You know, you can see it take a step every time.

Man, it means a lot. Those guys are always a power conference, you know, in basketball, football, whatever. Those guys are super big time. And me, you know, being able to watch Alabama last year and seeing how well they're doing, how much of a big time program, it means a lot being able to knock those guys down. But this year, I feel like the Big 10 might have been the best conference in the nation. Being in a dog fight every game, things aren't going well, we're still in the battle, so we just push through and keep a good mindset.

Nimari is a pretty fast guy, pretty good athlete. The trail was right behind him so I tried to just lead him a little bit to the left so he wouldn't be able to get it from that pass. And I know Nimari always wanted a fast break dunk like that, but he did the same dunk he always does, which kind of bothered me a little bit. I love making a lead pass like that. I don't get many opportunities, so I'm always trying to take advantage.

Honestly, I just felt a lot of confidence going into the game. I really wanted to knock down Alabama. I wanted to play well. I wanted to just just feel good in the fact that I'm getting going to play against Alabama. I was a big fan of them last year. I'm a big fan of Philon's game. He's a really good player, like the best point guard in the nation, in my opinion. But yeah, once I seen that they went to drop coverage, it really helped me get a lot of easier looks and help me find my rhythm. And once I did, I felt a lot more aggressive, whether it was making plays for my team or myself.

It means a lot. We're one step closer to our goal. We got a chance to cut down another net and then another one, you know. So we're going to continue to push forward, continue to put the team first, and not try to get too high or too low, and just continue to keep the main thing the main thing.

Moments like this are everything. It was a really big like shock, or big trust in myself that I put into coming back to college, and I could have easily messed up my draft stock or anything, whatever you want to say. But I came here wanting to be a champion. I wanted to put myself on the higher stage and see myself being able to dominate or just play good at the highest level. It's been amazing. Many times I just think about it and I'm left speechless. I get emotional, whatever you want to say. But it definitely means the world to me.