Michigan basketball had the opportunity to be the first team to have back-to-back Big Ten Tournament championships since, well, Michigan. But it would have to get past a surging Purdue team hellbent on avenging its February 17 loss at home to the maize and blue.
The early going saw Purdue jump out to a 7-3 lead, but Nimari Burnett hit his second 3 of the game to pull closer. The Boilermakers nursed a small lead, on the back of center Oscar Cluff, but a Yaxel Lendeborg 3 gave the Wolverines a 13-11 lead.
Coming out of the under-16 media timeout, Purdue tied it up with a Trey Kaufmann-Renn layup. The score stayed there for a minute and a half before Kaufmann-Renn got another layup to give the Boilermakers the lead again. The Wolverines hoisted three offline 3s to no avail, but Purdue could do nothing with it on the other end. A fourth missed 3 was thrown up by Will Tschetter, but the defense held tough, keeping it a 15-13 Boilermaker lead at the under-12 media timeout. Michigan was on a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought, having gone 0-for-5 and only hitting one of the previous seven.
Morez Johnson Jr. tied the game on a putback, ending the nearly four-minute scoring drought. The Wolverines took the lead again on a Trey McKenney jumper, and now Purdue hadn’t scored in three-plus minutes. Michigan could scarcely take advantage, and Braden Smith tied the game at 17. Both teams were shooting 38.9%, going 7-for-18, but as the Boilermakers attempted multiple shots, Cluff got his second foul, perhaps changing the complexion of the remaining first half. Lendeborg missed his second straight 3 attempt, and a scoreless Aday Mara picked up his first foul, and it would be 17-all at the under-eight media timeout.
Elliot Cadeau finally hit a 3 on his third attempt to give the Wolverines a three-point lead. With Cluff out, Mara had an easier go of it and scored on an alley-oop to advance the lead to five. But Foster Loyer hit a 3 of his own, and after the and-one, the lead was down to one. Lendeborg got into the lane and threw down a jam on an alley-oop. Cluff, back in the game, hit one of two free throws after a questionable Lendeborg foul, and a Johnson dunk and Cluff layup kept the game tight. Burnett scored after his two game-opening 3s, and Loyer responded with a layup of his own. And it was a two-point lead for Michigan going into the under-four media timeout, 28-26.
Burnett scored again coming out of the timeout to push the Wolverines’ lead to four. Roddy Gayle Jr. got a steal and was fouled on his way to the basket, and Cluff picked up his third in the process. Two Johnson free throws later, and Michigan had a six-point lead. Kaufmann-Renn was finally back in the game and scored down low. Gayle turned it over, and Jack Benter hit a 3 to make it a one-point game. The Wolverines got little going on the offensive side and Purdue took the lead back, 33-32, on a 7-0 run. A missed 3 by Johnson led to a Smith score, and Michigan took a timeout.
The teams traded layups, but a Johnson foul allowed Smith to hit an and-one to push the lead to four. Mara got a dunk on the other side, and after a missed 3 on Purdue’s side, Cadeau got a layup to tie the game at 38-all going into halftime.
Michigan and Purdue started out the second half by trading turnovers. But the Boilermakers capitalized on theirs with Loyer hitting a 3 to open up scoring. Burnett missed a layup while C.J. Cox made his, and it was a five-point Purdue advantage. Lendeborg missed a layup, and Cluff scored on the other end, thus giving the Boilermakers their biggest lead of the game. Mara got on the board to stem the bleeding, but the Wolverine offense continued to struggle, shooting 25% in the second half, and it was a 45-40 Purdue lead going into the under-16 media timeout.
A missed 3 by Michigan, a Kaufmann-Renn jumper and layup pushed the Purdue lead to nine. Lendeborg scored, is answered by Kaufmann-Renn, who is answered by Lendeborg. The Boilermakers continued their hot second half, with Smith making Purdue’s fourth straight make before Lendeborg turned the ball over. Kaufmann-Renn capitalized, and the Wolverines were staring down an 11-point deficit. Purdue was shooting 82% thus far in the second half, and with a Mara foul, the Boilermakers had a chance to make it a 12-point lead.
Smith hit his free throw, Tschetter missed a free throw, and Lendeborg picked up his third personal foul on the rebound, going into the under-12 media timeout.
Kaufmann-Renn continued his hot streak, putting Purdue up 14. Lendeborg hit a 3 to make it 11, but with the Boilermakers having gone 10-for-12 in the second half, the Wolverines needed to find some defense. But it wouldn’t happen on the next possession, as Smith got a jumper to go. After a Kaufmann-Renn foul, his third, Cadeau missed one of two free throws. Michigan finally got a stop and responded with a Mara dunk to cut the lead to 10. It got another stop, and another Mara dunk — eight points down. But a foul on Mara, his third, sent Cluff to the line, where he drained both shots. After a miss by Cadeau, Omer Meyer missed, as did Gicarri Harris and Cluff. Cluff picked up his fourth foul going after Mara on the rebound, leading to the under-eight media timeout.
Mara scored on a jumper coming out of the timeout, and Michigan was now down eight with 7:06 remaining. Purdue hadn’t scored a field goal in over four minutes as Tschetter picked up his second foul. Kaufmann-Renn continued to be unstoppable, and then Lendeborg turned the ball over, but Benter couldn’t hit the deep shot. He promptly picked up his fourth foul, and McKenney hit both free throws to cut it back to eight. Cluff got it back to 10 with a layup with 5:05 remaining, but Johnson answered with a jumper. Loyer missed a 3, and Lendeborg hit a 3 on the other end to cut the lead to just five with 3:47 left. Cluff, who could have been called for a foul on the previous possession, scored, and Burnett missed on the other end. McKenney picked up his first foul to lead into the under-four media timeout with 2:44 remaining — Michigan down seven, with three Purdue free throws coming up.
Loyer hit two of the three, and the Wolverines had 2:43 to score at least nine points while holding the Boilermakers. Cadeau’s 3 was blocked, as was Kaufmann-Renn’s attempt by Mara on the ensuing defensive stand. McKenney scored to cut it to seven, and a Michigan timeout was called with 99 seconds remaining. McKenney intentionally fouled coming out of the timeout, putting Purdue in the bonus. Benter hit both, and McKenney missed the ensuing 3 attempt. A Cluff dunk put the Boilermakers up 11, all but ending the game. Though Mara, Lendeborg, and Burnett scored late, Michigan ended up losing the third game of the year, and the Big Ten Tournament championship, 80-72.
Michigan is still a lock for a 1-seed in the impending NCAA Tournament.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan basketball loses to Purdue in Big Ten championship
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
