What is the story about?
Michigan
showed why it is a very deserving No. 1 ranked team Tuesday night in Mackey Arena. They were able to take the crowd out of it and bury Purdue in a 20 point deficit to remove most doubt in the first half. The Boilermakers had a few chances to get back in it during the second half, but the Wolverines had an answer every time it looked like Purdue might make a run.
Before we get to the postgame video, some thoughts.
- The “flagrant foul” on Oscar Cluff with 9:37 left in the first half is not the reason Purdue lost this one, but there is zero question it had an effect on the game. At the time it appeared Purdue had possession down 10 with a chance to put a stop to an 11-0 run at that point. I am still not seeing how it was a flagrant foul, well behind the play, on Cluff, as he tripped his own teammate in Jack Benter at the same time, but the official decided that Michigan deserved two points there and it turned into five with the corresponding three from Will Tschetter. The game was basically over after that. Again, THIS IS NOT WHY PURDUE LOST, but it was still a significant shift when egregious officiating handed them five points in a game where they were already pulling away. It is the proverbial, “Take that call away and how does the game turn out” call. Yeah, I still think Michigan wins, but given the way the second half played out Purdue at least has a chance. AS it was, the five-point gift pretty much meant game over.
- Purdue has now lost three games at home. It still has three to go against very good opponents. In the year where the Boilermakers were the preseason No. 1 an argument could be made that it has played better away from West Lafayette than at home. We have not lost more than two games at home in a single season since 2019-20, where we lost five times. It is not just the losses, either. Purdue had not risen to the “Big Game at Mackey” occassion that has so often made a difference under Matt Painter. Purdue also struggled mightily with the bottom of the league in Oregon, Penn State, and Washington. It’s weird.
- The five-point play capped a 16-0 run over a 3.5 minute stretch that WAS the reason Purdue lost. Purdue outplayed Michigan for a decent portion of the game, but from 12:50 to 9:28 the Wolverines found that extra gear they have the luxury of having. Purdue missed some critical early shots at the rim and Michigan absolutely owned the glass during this key stretch. Purdue won the other 36 minutes 80-75, but that 16-0 run was the difference, and Michigan was A LOT better than Purdue during that stretch.
- I also have to credit Michigan for finding an answer every time it looked like Purdue had a chance to get back in it. They would either hit a big three, get a stop, get a dunk, or something would go in their favor. That allowed them to keep the lead at 10+ for most of the game.
- Michigan’s answers came from up and down the roster, too. Tschetter, who feels like he was in Robbie Hummel’s recruiting class at this point, hit a big three. Elliott Cadeau made sure the second half didn’t get too exciting. Aday Mara was a huge difference maker on the glass even with foul trouble. LJ Cason, Trey McKinney, and Yaxel Lendeborg rant he floor and made life miserable for long stretches on both ends of hte floor. There is little doubt in my mind Michigan is the best team in the country.
- Just six assists for Braden tonight, moving him to fifth all-time, but it should be noted he had just one in the second half and four of the six came on Purdue’s first five baskets of the game. Michigan took away his passing lanes and Purdue also struggled to finish at the rim. I supposed it is cold comfort, with Purdue now knocked to 5th in the Big Ten standings it could mean an extra game in Chicago to go for the record. The five seed would have to play on thursday, and that could be the difference.
- On paper Purdue’s losses are not bad. They have lost to three top 10 teams at home. Losing at UCLA and your biggest rival is not bad, either. It’s just… it doesn’t feel like this team has really been cohesive for a while. I thought it was coming together after an impressive two-game road trip at Nebraska and Iowa, but tonight was the third time it has failed to truly get up and use Mackey as a force multiplier in a big game. This team can still make a deep tourney run. It has the pieces and, for the most part, Purdue has done incredibly well outside of Big Ten play (with St. Peter’s and FDU being gigantic exceptions and, if anything, all the more baffling). So far though it has shown that it is merely very, very good and not elite. Iowa State, Michigan, and Keaton Wegler came into Mackey and absolutely set the tone. It is too late to win the Big Ten now, but hopefully we can learn from this.
- That said, Friday night is huge now. If Indiana comes in to get the season sweep and give the Smith-Loyer-TKR trio a losing record against the Hoosiers. Purdue’s worst game of the season was in Bloomington. There are six games left and Purdue will likely be favored in all six. Get all of them and I would say we easily get a 2 seed, whcih is still pretty good, but Friday night needs to be the turning point. This is still a very, very good team that can (and I think will) make a good tourney run, but the evidence against truly elite teams far shows it still has a way to go.
Dusty May
Matt Painter
