The Purdue basketball team found out on Tuesday night why the college basketball experts believe the Michigan Wolverines are the best team in the country.
The Boilermakers suffered their fifth loss of the season at the hands of the Wolverines, 91-80, at Mackey Arena.
After trading punches through the first eight minutes of the game, Michigan went on a 16-0 run over a four-minute span and led 26-11 with 9:28 to go in the half. From that point, the Wolverines never trailed for the remainder of the contest.
Michigan improved to 25-1, its best-ever start to a season. The Boilers fell to 21-5 overall and 11-4 in Big 10 games.
One game after enjoying a 31-18 advantage in bench scoring against the Iowa Hawkeyes, Purdue’s reserves were outscored 34-15 by Michigan.
Both teams started the game slowly on the offensive end. The first points of the game were courtesy of a Fletcher Loyer mid-range jumper at the 17:39 mark of the first half. Michigan finally lit the scoreboard a minute later, and the Wolverines then fell into a comfortable rhythm.
Trailing 11-10 with just under 14 minutes left in the opening half, Michigan’s big run over the next four minutes spelled doom for Purdue. Boiler head coach Matt Painter acknowledged that the Wolverines’ spurt was the difference in the game.
“They set the tone,” he said about that stretch. “That, to me, is the game right there. The way they set the tone.”
The lead eventually ballooned to 42-22 with 4:23 to go in the half, and that scoring play was a microcosm of the entire game. Nimari Burnett missed a long three-point attempt, but Aday Mara grabbed the long rebound. The ball landed in Yaxel Lendeborg‘s hands, but his missed jumper was again corralled by Mara, one of his 11 boards on the night. Michigan’s third chance, another three-point attempt by Burnett, proved successful, prompting a rare frustration timeout from Painter.
The Wolverines scored 38 points in the final 13 minutes of the opening stanza and raced to a huge 48-32 lead at the break.
After the break, the Michigan momentum continued as its lead stayed in double digits for the majority of the second half. Purdue’s Gicarri Harris‘ layup with just over two minutes left cut the lead to eight at 81-73, but the Boilers would get no closer the rest of the way.
Six Wolverines tallied double-digit point totals, led by Elliot Cadeau‘s 17. Two Michigan reserves, L.J. Cason and Trey McKinney, scored 13 apiece off the bench.
Following the game, Painter gushed at the embarrassment of riches and the number of options Michigan owns.
“When you sit there and your fourth or fifth option can carry the weight or someone like L.J. Cason can come in the game and control a game at the end of the game,” he said. “Even though he didn’t control the game today, so to speak, he made a lot of good plays. Just look at their bench and when you can go to them and get consistent, get 3s from all of them. They make their free throws, their bench doesn’t turn the ball over.
“They’re the No.1 team in the country for a reason. A lot of times people have a solid five and then they make a dip when they sub. These guys don’t make a dip.”
For Purdue, Trey Kaufman-Renn had one of his finest games of the season. He tallied a season-high 27 points to go along with a team-high 12 rebounds. Braden Smith scored 20 points, but Loyer (11) was the only other Boiler in double-digits.
The box score spelled out the lopsided nature of the game. Michigan outshot (53%-39%), outrebounded (39-31), and distributed the ball twice as well as Purdue (24-12 advantage in assists).
Purdue came into Tuesday’s game ranked 7th in the country and riding a four-game winning streak. Their previous game against Iowa was arguably their most complete game of the season, and they should have approached their home game against the country’s top-rated team with confidence and teeming with momentum.
They did not.
The slapping they received from the Wolverines must serve as a quick wake-up call for the Boilermakers. The question is whether or not Michigan was that good or Purdue was that complicit in the shalacking. That answer must be addressed immediately. Rebounding is not so much a skill as it is a byproduct of effort, and the Boilers lacked the necessary elbow grease and desire on Tuesday to control the glass.
The Big 10 tournament looms, and much needs to be done to preserve a coveted top-4 seed that will automatically vault them into the quarterfinals.
The Boilermakers’ next opportunity to wash the Michigan taste out of their mouths comes at home on Friday against their archrival, the Indiana Hoosiers. Purdue will attempt to avenge its previous defeat to Indiana, a 72-67 loss on January 27.
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