Michigan Basketball falls to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament Title Game

Mar 15, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Michigan Wolverines guard Elliot Cadeau (3) attempts a three point basket as Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) defends during the second half during the men's Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Ima

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What is the story about?

The Michigan Wolverines failed to win back-to-back Big Ten Tournaments, losing to the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday, 80-72. The Wolverines were outplayed in the second half, giving up 40 points in the paint and letting Purdue’s front court combine for 39 points.

Here’s how it all went down.

FIRST HALF

The two powerhouse programs were throwing blow after blow in the first half, with neither team allowing the other to pull away. Michigan saw instant production from Nimari Burnett, who buried two threes

to start the game, while Purdue’s C.J. Cox, Fletcher Loyer and Oscar Cluff all got inside for three straight buckets in the paint to take an early 7-6 lead.

The tight scoring continued throughout the next four minutes as Cluff added four more for the Boilers, while Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg got on the board for five consecutive points to give the Wolverines a slight 13-11 lead.

Michigan then proceeded to go on a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought, and Purdue leading scorer Trey Kaufman-Renn answered with four points to retake the lead. Hoping for some juice, Wolverines’ head coach Dusty May checked Will Tschetter into the game. While Tschetter had been very quiet offensively in the Big Ten Tournament, his defense has been a big advantage off the bench, and he made an immediate impact, drawing four quick fouls, two each on Cluff and Kaufman-Renn. With Purdue’s starting front court on the bench, Michigan made its next four shots – Elliot Cadeau drained a three, Aday Mara slammed down a lob, Lendeborg finished his own alley-oop and Morez Johnson Jr. flushed one home with no help.

However, the Boilers would not go away that easily. Cluff and Kaufman-Renn took turns checking into the game, and Purdue one-upped the Wolverines. Cluff converted an and-one, Loyer made his second three of the half, Kaufman-Renn added four points to his total and Braden Smith made plays on both ends of the court to lead a 9-0 run.

Down by three with four minutes left in the half, Michigan’s Elliot Cadeau got it going, adding four points and found Mara for a basket to tie the game up at 38 at halftime.

The Wolverines had a relatively clean half — committing four total turnovers — and shot the ball at a 45 percent clip with 30 percent coming from three. Meanwhile, Purdue got into some big foul trouble but converted 48 percent of its shots in the half while shooting 33 percent from three.

HALFTIME: MICHIGAN 38, PURDUE 38

SECOND HALF

The Boilermakers came out imposing in the second half, dominating in the paint and locking down defensively. Purdue went 11-for-13 to open up the half, with Kaufman-Renn and Smith accounting for eight straight baskets. Meanwhile, the Wolverines went just 5-for-10 in the same time span, with Lendeborg and Cadeau providing the only offense, giving the Boilers a 62-49 lead at the 10:04 mark.

Michigan attempted to hang around, getting six straight points from Mara, and drawing fouls on Kaufman-Renn and Cluff, forcing the starting frontcourt back to the bench.

However, it wasn’t enough to fully close the gap, as the big men re-entered the game to maintain a 10-point lead. With time winding down, Michigan’s Trey McKenney scored four, followed by a Johnson hook shot and a Lendeborg three, bringing the deficit back to five points with 3:41 left to play. Nonetheless, Cluff pushed his total past 17 points with another inside move on Johnson, Burnett missed a wide-open corner three and McKenney fouled Loyer on a three-point attempt on the other end, taking a commanding nine-point lead into the final two minutes.

McKenney would not let the Wolverines go down without a fight, getting inside for a tough layup to cut it back to seven, but Purdue put the exclamation mark on the game with a Cluff slam, followed by converting its final attempts from the free throw line, and the Boilermakers won the Big Ten Tournament, spoiling Michigan’s “perfect” season.

Purdue was easily the better team in the second half, shooting over 57 percent from the field, converting from the free throw line and scoring 40 points inside of the paint. It will be a good learning experience for this Michigan team, who must be mistake free starting tomorrow.

FINAL SCORE: MICHIGAN 72, PURDUE 80

MICHIGAN STAT LEADERS