It took No. 2 Michigan six minutes and 14 seconds to get on the board Saturday against No. 3 Louisville in the NCAA tournament Fort Worth Region 3 semifinal.

That was the longest the Wolverines have gone without points to start a game this season. But that head-scratching scoring drought was an afterthought later in the afternoon following the second of two emphatic, quarter-ending runs.

Michigan closed the second quarter on a 18-2 surge, turning an 11-point deficit into a five-point halftime advantage. Then, after Louisville tied things up and even spent some time back in the lead in the third quarter, Kim Barnes Arico’s Wolverines scored 20 of the frame’s final 22 points.

They entered the fourth quarter up 17 points and polished off a 71-52 win, advancing to the program’s second-ever Elite Eight and first since 2022.

As usual, Michigan (28-6) was spearheaded by its sophomores. The backcourt duo of Olivia Olson and Syla Swords, despite starting a combined 4-of-16 from the field, teamed up for 35 points. Another classmate, Te'Yala Delfosse, chipped in 10 points, eight of which came in the second quarter and helped fueled the Wolverines’ first stretch of dominance.

Louisville (29-8), strapped with plenty of youth as well, was led by 18 points from center Elif Istanbulluoglu.

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CHICAGO – Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg looked for the green light. He couldn’t catch Dusty May’s eye. So the Big Ten Player of the Year sent it anyway.

Not a shot.

A line.

“Honestly, I kind of felt a little disrespected having a freshman guarding me,” Lendeborg said at the podium with his head coach a mere feet away, as the 23-year-old, do-it-all graduate forward explained why he posed like he did after breaking the ankles of Alabama forward Amari Allen and knocking down a momentum-shifting 3-pointer in Friday’s NCAA tournament Midwest regional semifinal.

That triple swished 51 seconds into the second half of a 90-77 Sweet 16 victory. It gave the top-seeded Wolverines a lead they had lost to the No. 4 seeded Crimson Tide while missing their final five field-goal attempts before halftime.

“I feel like a lot of us weren't playing as good as we wanted to, so naturally your confidence goes down a little bit, but after seeing somebody come out, make somebody fall and hit a 3 in their face, that definitely gives you some confidence,” junior point guard Elliot Cadeau said in the locker room postgame.

Michigan was in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. After trailing for more than 15 minutes in the first half, May’s Wolverines were in front the final 19 minutes and nine seconds of a win that reserved their spot in the Elite Eight, where they’ll face No. 6 seeded Tennessee on Sunday.

Lendeborg was the tone-setter — on both ends and in both halves.

He followed up that highlight-reel, second-half 3 with a pair of steals that he converted into assists, playing a seismic part in Michigan’s mid-game defensive revival.

Long before that, Lendeborg helped dig the Wolverines out of an early nine-point hole. He made his first four attempts from the field, including a confident one from long range in the wake of the game’s first media timeout.

“Today, his aggressiveness was probably the best I've seen all year, and that's saying something because he's had some amazing games,” said graduate guard Nimari Burnett, who notably spent two seasons earlier in his career at Alabama.

“Just reading the game at such an elite level — his pace and his style of play was incredible. I look forward to him continuing that throughout the rest of this year.”

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Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound stat-sheet stuffer whom his teammates call “Dominican LeBron” because of his roots, his jersey number and his play style, fittingly sniffed a triple-double Friday, clocking out with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting. He netted a team-high four 3s, missing just once from deep.

And to think, about six years ago, Lendeborg was playing his first consequential minutes of organized basketball. Now the former JUCO standout and UAB star, is a headlining act of March Madness.

“This is pretty much the dream come true,” Lendeborg said. “I didn't think I'd be this far, just in life in general … I feel really blessed. Sometimes I'm at a loss of words when I think about where I am right now.”

‘I owe it all to my mom’

Once unknown in the college basketball world, Lendeborg’s story has become well-documented. He’s discussed how he struggled to find direction, aimlessly spending gobs of time playing video games and struggling academically as a result. Lendeborg even wrote about it himself in a Feb. 20 Players’ Tribune article titled, “How my mom saved my life.” In it, he describes a life-changing conversation she initiated that led to him taking a slew of community college classes so he could get back on track to graduate high school.

“I owe it all to my mom. She really drove me out of the hole that I was in,” Lendeborg said Friday of his beloved Yissel Raposo, who has been battling appendix cancer.

Lendeborg found purpose as a high school senior in Pennsauken, New Jersey, where he teased his potential on the hardwood in 11 varsity games that year. That started a journey that first took him from Arizona Western, a community college near the Mexico border, to Birmingham, Alabama, where he twice earned AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors at UAB.

He was among the hottest commodities in the transfer portal last offseason. Michigan won the sweepstakes for his lucrative services. Since, he’s turned into a consensus All-American, and the 34-win Wolverines have returned to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2021.

Following arguably the best game of his life, in which Lendeborg asserted himself as the best player on the court, he credited his mom. She, like his father, hooped for the Dominican Republic national team, and her presence takes his game to another level.

“The majority of the times when she's here and she's in the stands, I feel like I get a lot more aggressive,” Lendeborg said Friday. “She has this certain calling that she does whenever I get the ball. And it's like, I can hear nobody else in the stadium but her, and it puts me in attack mode, honestly.

“There was many times today where I was looking to pass the ball, and I hear the noise and it's like, ‘I must have an opening that I don’t see, so I just go.’ And if something happens, something happens. Majority of the time, something did happen today.”

Lendeborg will turn 24 in September, which makes him a relatively old NBA prospect, but he’s still young basketball-wise.

“Him starting basketball later on, it gives him that excitement, that kid feeling when he's playing here in the NCAA tournament and just big stages that he's ready for,” Burnett said of the often-smiling, unashamedly goofy Michigan icon.

“And so just to see him play at an elite level but also just playing a game that he loves, I think that's what allows him to play at the level he's playing at right now.”

‘I think we have an NBA player playing for us in college’

Burnett remembers when it hit him that Lendeborg was different. It was in a pickup game.

“I saw him do a couple crazy dunks that I'm like, 'Yo, that's kind of crazy,’ the graduate guard recalled in the locker room. Burnett said Lendeborg threw down a 360 slam off one foot and a windmill that he later showcased during a Dec. 9 drubbing of Villanova.

He caught bodies as well, even dunking on 6-foot-7 reserve forward Oscar Goodman.

“Don't tell Oscar I said that,” Burnett noted.

After Lendeborg drilled a last-second 3-pointer to send the Wolverines to the Big Ten tournament championship earlier this month, he told reporters that the tie-breaking basket was the first game-winner of his career.

On Friday, when asked about his head-turning ankle breaker, he said he thinks that was the first time he’s made somebody fall with his handles since he was playing at the park in middle school.

“He's just built for the moment,” Cadeau said. “So when you put him on a stage like this, he starts doing things that maybe he's never done before, but that's just him, and he just knows how to step up in moments like this.” 

Following a humbling Big Ten tournament final loss to Purdue, Lendeborg explained that the setback would fuel the conference’s regular-season champs to “never lose again.”

Back in the same arena, and even the same locker room, the Wolverines started to exorcise those demons in the Windy City. The Boilermakers punched Michigan in the mouth after halftime in that March 15 matchup. Less than two weeks later, Lendeborg made sure the Wolverines were the ones landing blows out of the break.

He jumpstarted an inspired effort that snuffed out Alabama’s torrid 3-point shooting — the Tide went a ghastly 5-of-23 from that distance in the second half — and allowed a Michigan-friendly crowd to take in a needle-moving win the May era.

“He hasn't been playing basketball for that long, so for that to be true and for him to be this good is crazy,” Cadeau said of Lendeborg. “And when he reaches his prime, you don't know what you’ll see. You might see one of the best players in the NBA.”

Junior center Aday Mara added: “I think the same way. I think we have an NBA player playing for us in college.”

The Baltimore Orioles and right-handed starting pitcher Shane Baz are finalizing a five-year, $68 million extension, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Friday.

The Orioles acquired Baz, 26, in a five-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays back in December. In return, the Rays received outfielder Slater de Brun, catcher Caden Bodine, right-handed pitcher Michael Forret, outfielder Austin Overn and a Competitive Balance Round A pick.

This story is being updated.

Joel Embiid started it, and Paul George finished it: a 157-point inferno, the Philadelphia 76ers' highest single-game scoring output since they put up 159 against the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 15, 1970.

Embiid and George both returned to the floor Wednesday and combined for 63 points — the most they've amassed together in one contest — in a 157-137 victory over the Chicago Bulls. 

Embiid was back after missing the previous 13 games with a right oblique strain. George was in the fold again after serving a 25-game suspension without pay for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program.

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Embiid accounted for 12 of the first 14 points Philadelphia (40-33) tallied and was singlehandedly outscoring the Bulls (29-43) midway through the opening frame. He stacked 23 first-half points and closed with 35. Meanwhile, 13 of George's 28 points came in the fourth quarter.

It took George a bit to shake off the rust he expected in the wake of a lengthy midseason absence that stemmed from him taking a banned substance to accommodate for what he described Tuesday as a mental health issue related to the pressure of the physical limitations he was facing.

George went a mere 2-of-10 from the field in the first half. He ended his scoring drought by using a jab step to get by Josh Giddey on a baseline drive, which set up a shot at the rim.

He was in search of his jumper most of the opening two quarters, though. 

The nine-time All-Star forward finally hit a 3-pointer before halftime. Rookie guard VJ Edgecombe located George on the right wing, and the 35-year-old knocked down a much-needed triple.

Edgecombe came into the matchup having scored at least 35 points in two of his past three outings. He wound up with 22 against the Bulls. He and Embiid combined for 26 in the first quarter, matching Chicago's total scoring output in that frame.

The Bulls quietly poured in 53 points in the fourth quarter. They were led by Giddey's 23 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds.

Embiid wasn't just shooting the ball well. He also made an impact on the defensive end, notably rejecting former Sixers teammate Guerschon Yabusele in the second quarter. Plus, the seven-time All-Star center dished out seven assists, one of which arrived in the form of a one-handed, one-timed pass that teed up Edgecombe for one of his four 3s. That highlight-reel play followed another in the third quarter. Moments earlier, George lofted a pass to Embiid in the post, and he turned and threw down a one-handed dunk over 6-foot-8 Bulls forward Matas Buzelis.

Wednesday marked just the 19th game this season in which Edgecombe, George and Embiid have all been on the court at the same time. Philadelphia, of course, is still missing two-time All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey. He's recovering from a sprained right pinkie finger that he sustained on March 7.

The Sixers are waiting for wing Kelly Oubre Jr. to rejoin the lineup, too. That said, they had an abundance of firepower against a Chicago squad that's now 6-21 in its past 27 games. 

They got 13 points from wing Quentin Grimes and nine more from forward Dominick Barlow. That pair teamed up for another head-turning play while the Sixers piled up 51 points in the third quarter, the most they've logged in any quarter this season and tied for the most they've ever registered in a third quarter. Following a steal, Grimes delivered a no-look dime to Barlow, who cashed in for a two-handed jam.

Later in the frame, George finally found a groove. He drilled a 3 from the top of the arc and then a catch-and-shoot mid-range jumper that came with a friendly bounce.

He maintained that momentum in the fourth quarter, and fellow vet Kyle Lowry put an exclamation point on the team's offensive clinic. 

Lowry celebrated his 40th birthday with a 3 in the game's waning moments. 

About a week after a Wall Street Journal report signaled that the 2026 NFL season would kick off on a Wednesday, the league made it official.

Next season will get underway on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 8:20 p.m. ET in Seattle, where the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks will host an opponent that will be announced when the full regular-season schedule comes out later this spring.

The next day, on Thursday, Sept. 10, at approximately 8:35 p.m. ET, the NFL will launch its first-ever regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia. Continuing the NFC West theme, the San Francisco 49ers will take on the Los Angeles Rams Down Under.

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This story is being updated.