BUFFALO, N.Y. – Remove the branding, and plop an unassuming fan into KeyBank Center on Saturday afternoon. They may have thought that Buffalo got its NBA team back.

The No. 1 seed and No. 3 overall team Michigan took down Saint Louis with a dazzling performance, securing a spot in the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. 56% shooting, 48% from 3, 1.35 points per possession: none of these numbers are normal for college basketball teams, but the Wolverines did all this and more in a do-or-die setting.

"They're so talented and well coached," Saint Louis head coach Josh Schertz said. "You know you're not going to be able to beat them, at least the way we did it. If they were going to shoot the ball, the shooting variance had to be in our favor, and the shooting variance was not in our favor."

To start with Michigan's offensive dominance, there's the player who picked May over a decent professional salary last April. Yaxel Lendeborg started at the 3 for the Wolverines, and even in a game full of great players, the UAB transfer was a man amongst boys.

Going beyond the poster that sent shockwaves throughout the nation, the blend of size and speed Lendeborg boasted was too much for any Billikens defender. The forward had multiple other dunks that stemmed from beating an opponent to a spot, and if ballhandlers had their eyes glued to him, he would've gotten at least three more alley-oops. No opposing coach will mourn Lendeborg's exit from college ball next month.

Deeper down in the frontcourt, a 7-foot-3 former Spanish volleyball player posed a huge problem for the nine-seed. Aday Mara didn't lose a lick of his rim-protecting instincts against Saint Louis, and he complemented that element with a deep low-post bag.

Early in the second half, as the Billikens looked to close the gap, Dion Brown tried his hand at attacking Mara. The Boston College transfer had a step on the big, which is likely enough to make his layup against 99% of defenders. Mara is the 1%, though: the Spaniard reached out just enough to swat Brown's try against the backboard.

On the other end, Mara scored the bulk of his 16 points in the first half, navigating around Robbie Avila with ease. With just under six minutes to play until halftime, Mara took a touch at the right block, faked a corner pass that turned Avila 180 degrees and hit a baby hook shot over the man five inches his junior. It was a move an elder cousin would hit at a family pickup game; Mara brought it to March Madness.

In a game full of highlights, arguably the most impressive of the bunch came from Lendeborg and Mara linking up. Off a missed Avila three, Lendeborg gathered the miss and took one dribble to the opposing free throw line. Mara had a step on Avila near the rim, but the Billiken was near him, making a 75-foot lob pass even more difficult.

Lendeborg tried it anyway. The ball went up near the rim, and facing away from the net, Mara caught it and laid it in mid-air. Again: these are driveway plays, not moves typically pulled off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

With the Wolverines' significant frontcourt advantage, Saint Louis could've brought more help down low, but Michigan's perimeter shooting put the team in a difficult quandary. Nimari Burnett, Elliot Cadeau and even Lendeborg gave the one-seed a major boost, converting open and contested looks.

Burnett got his best shots from deep when the Billikens tried to help those imposing frontcourt players. May structured his offense in a way that gave Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. multiple one-on-one opportunities down low, and bringing a defender over only exposed a seam on the perimeter. The pair of bigs seemingly predicted the extra defender before he arrived, and they saw the seam, leading to open threes for Burnett and others.

On the rare occasion where a post touch got shut down, the creation of the Wolverine guards saved possessions. Up six in the second half with momentum shifting Saint Louis' way, freshman guard Trey McKenney stepped back to the left corner, creating a gulf of open space with just two steps. The freshman rose up and hit a three, maintaining some cushion in his team's lead.

Some good news for Michigan fans: their team might encounter less defensive resistance in the Sweet 16 than it did on Saturday. Compared to Saint Louis' No. 39-ranked defense on KenPom, Texas Tech's defense ranks No. 33, Alabama's ranks No. 65 and both teams allow opponents to shoot nearly 3% higher within the arc than the Billikens did. The Wolverines showcased levels in this sport on this day, and that dominance could very well carry into Chicago.