The Michigan Wolverines failed to win back-to-back Big Ten Conference tournaments, falling 80-72 to the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday. The Wolverines were outplayed in the second half, giving up 40 points in the paint while Purdue’s frontcourt combined for 39 points.
Here’s what happened.
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first half
In the first half, two strong teams played one after another and refused to give in to each other. Michigan’s Nimari Burnett immediately hit two three-pointers, and Purdue’s CJ Cox, Fletcher Loyer and Oscar Cluff hit three consecutive three-pointers in the paint to take an early 7-6 lead.
The tight scoring continued over the next four minutes as Clough scored four more points for the Boilers and Big Ten Player of the Year Axel Lundenberg scored five straight points to give the Wolverines a slim 13-11 lead.
Michigan then fell into a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought before Purdue’s leading scorer Trey Kaufman-Lane responded with four points to regain the lead. To gain some momentum, Wolverines head coach Dusty May brought Will Cutter into the game. While Chet was very quiet offensively in the Big Ten Tournament, his defense took over in a big way off the bench, and he made an immediate impact, picking up four quick fouls, including two apiece from Clough and Kaufman-Lane. With Purdue’s starting frontcourt benched, Michigan hit its next four shots — a 3-pointer by Elliot Cadeau, a lob by Aday Mara, an alley-oop of his own by Lendeborg and an unassisted home run by Morez Johnson Jr.
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However, the Boilers won’t disappear that easily. Clough and Kaufman-Raine took turns checking the game, with Purdue leading the Wolverines. Clough scored a goal, Loyer hit his second 3-pointer of the half, Kaufman Lane added four points to his total, and Brayden Smith went on a 9-0 run at both ends of the court.
Trailing by 3 points with 4 minutes left in the half, Michigan’s Elliot Cadeau went out and scored 4 points and found Mara for a shot, tying the score at 38 at halftime.
The Wolverines had a relatively clean first half — turning the ball over a total of four — and shot 45 percent from the field, 30 percent of which came from 3-point range. Purdue, meanwhile, got into some serious foul trouble but shot 48 percent from the field in the half and 33 percent from three.
Halftime: Michigan 38, Purdue 38
second half
The Boilermakers came out strong in the second half, dominating in the paint and locking down the defense. Purdue made 11 of 13 shots in the first half, with Kaufman Lane and Smith hitting eight consecutive goals. Meanwhile, the Wolverines made 5 of 10 shots in the same period, with Lundborg and Caddo providing the only offense to put the Boilers ahead 62-49 at 10:04.
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As Michigan tried to hold on, Mara scored six straight points and drew fouls on Kaufman-Lane and Clough, forcing the starting frontcourt to return to the bench.
However, it wasn’t enough to completely close the gap, and the big man reentered the game and maintained a 10-point lead. Michigan’s Trey McKenney scored four points as time expired, followed by a hook shot from Johnson and a three-pointer from Lendeborg to get the deficit back to five points with 3:41 left. Still, Clough pushed his total to over 17 points on another inside drive from Johnson, Burnett missed a wide-open corner 3-pointer, and McKennie fouled Loyer on a 3-point attempt at the other end for a nine-point lead in the final two minutes.
Not one to let the Wolverines go down without a fight, McKennie hit a hard layup in the paint to tie the game at seven, but Purdue put the exclamation mark on the game with a Kraft slam and then a late try at the free throw line as the Boilermakers won the Big Ten Championship and spoiled Michigan’s “perfect” season.
Purdue was easily the better team in the second half, shooting over 57% from the field, converting at the free throw line and scoring 40 points in the paint. This will be a great learning experience for this Michigan team, who will have to make no mistakes starting tomorrow.
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Final score: Michigan 72, Purdue 80
michigan leaders
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F Axel Lundborg: 20 points, 5 rebounds
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C Adai Mara: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
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G. Elliott Cardo: 10 points, 10 assists
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G Nimari Burnett: 12 points, 4 rebounds
Purdue Statistics Leader
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F Trey Kaufman-Lane: 20 points, 3 rebounds
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Oscar Clough: 19 points, 4 rebounds
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G. Brayden Smith: 14 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds
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G. Fletcher Loyer: 14 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
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The Wolverines will wait to see who their NCAA Tournament first-round opponent is tonight on CBS at 6 pm ET.