If you would have told me in the preseason that the Michigan Wolverines and the Purdue Boilermakers were battling for the Big Ten Tournament title, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But the caveat that the Boilermakers fell to the No. 7 seed has been shocking.
As the favorites to win the Big Ten outright, and the consensus No. 1 team in the country, Purdue was the darling of the conference, according to most experts. But for most of the season, it has been the Wolverines who have drawn the attention
in their direction.
Depth, scoring, defense, and a 17-0 start pushed Michigan to the No. 1 team in the country. A top-10 matchup in Mackey Arena in mid-February saw the maize and blue drop 48 points in the first half and an eventual 91-80 win. Since then, Purdue finished the regular season 4-3 and fell to the 7-seed in the conference tournament.
Big Ten Tournament Championship: No. 1 Michigan (31-2, 19-1) vs. No. 7 Purdue (24-9, 14-6)
- Date & Time: Sunday, March 15, 3:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Chicago, IL
- TV/Streaming: CBS/Paramount+
A clutch shot from Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg with fractions of a second remaining put the Wolverines in the title game and avenged their lone conference loss in a 68-65 win over Wisconsin. That followed a 71-67 win over Ohio State, so Michigan had beaten two teams that were scorching hot heading into the tourney, and both beat Purdue in the last six weeks.
On the other hand, Purdue has cruised in its Big Ten Tournament run so far by beating Northwestern by 13, demolishing Nebraska by 16, and beating UCLA by seven.
Astonishingly, the Boilermakers have done this without much scoring from their best player, Braden Smith. So far this tournament, he’s just 4-for-23 from the field and has averaged five points per game. Instead, he has been much more of a facilitator, averaging double-digits during this trio of games.
When he’s clicking in the pick-and-roll with Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff, he feeds both of them while also opening up opportunities for Fletcher Loyer on the perimeter as defenders crash. It makes things intensingly complex for defenses, especially ones that switch like Michigan. Cluff has had two double-doubles and was a rebound shy against the Cornhuskers from a third. Kaufman-Renn has been in double digits in scoring in all three games. Then, Loyer has attempted at least seven three-balls in each game, scoring 14, 19 and 14 during their run.
The Wolverines threw a bit of everything to slow this down the first time around. Roddy Gayle Jr., L.J. Cason, Nimari Burnett and Lendeborg spent the majority of their time defensively focusing on Smith.
Michigan has the size to compete and hopefully win the interior against Kaufman-Renn and Cluff. However, the defensive perimeter without Cason and a potentially not 100 percent healthy Gayle could create problems against Loyer and Smith.
It feels like the two best teams in the conference, regardless of seeding, are now facing off in the title, and either side has the opportunity to create interesting mismatches. In a battle for the tournament title, both programs are playing not just for conference supremacy but also for seeding in the NCAA Tournament — Purdue’s hopes for a 3-seed or higher are not yet squandered, especially with a potential win over Michigan moment before the bracket is revealed.
For the Wolverines, they’re likely a No. 1 seed regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game. However, the higher the seed, the worse the No. 2 seed in their region. And legacy is at stake for this team, which wants to be remembered as one of the greatest ever in the conference. That’s what a conference tournament title would mean for Dusty May and the program he’s built in just his second season.
