Michigan hammers Purdue, 86-68, will face Maryland in Big Ten tourney semifinal

Michigan fell behind 6-0 Purdue in the first few minutes in a Big Ten quarterfinal, and it looked like it could be another one of those days for the Wolverines. But the Wolverines quickly counterpunched, took the fight to the Boilermakers the rest of the game, and never trailed after the 17:09 mark in a dominant 86-68 win.

A 10-0 run that included triples from Nimari Burnett and Rubin Jones got them off and running offensively, and the ball protection (no turnovers in the first 4 minutes) was encouraging. The Wolverines had 14 points in the first 5:09 alone, and they were attacking the basket with a purpose, notching 7 assists on their first 8 buckets. 

U-M led almost the entire first half, usually between 4 and 10 points, and answered every Purdue run with one of their own. They couldn’t pull away because the Boilers started working the offensive glass for second chance points — 8 in the first half — but they still stayed a step ahead by pushing the pace. They notched 7 transition points in the first 20 minutes and got some nice production from junior Will Tschetter. The Boilermakers cut it to 4 , but junior Danny Wolf hit a stepback triple from the corner at 3:50 push it back to 7. 

The lead was back to 10 after an and-one from Vlad Goldin inside, and the Wolverines had it working. They had 12 assists on 13 made buckets, but didn’t get the benefit of the whistle, called for 10 fouls to 7. One — a charge call on Tschetter (8 first half points) — eliminated an and-one possibility and allowed the Boilermakers to cut it to 40-36 at the half. 

Michigan and Purdue both finished with 16 points in the paint in the first half, and that was with Goldin making only 1 of 5 shots, many near the rim. The Wolverines had several good looks from long range but made only 4 of 15 three-pointers. They did make 10 of 11 free throws, however, to help the cause. 

Wolf finished with 9 points and Burnett 7 in a good offensive half for the Wolverines. 

SECOND HALF — Michigan dominates to advance

Michigan came out aggressive and scored the first 5 points of the second half, the first on a triple from Jones after Donaldson got to the paint. A Goldin score inside and his dunk on a drive and dish from Wolf pushed the lead back to 10, and it was 52-41 when Donaldson tripled at 15:45. 

Purdue answered, though, and cut it to 52-45 at 14:56 … another U-M run, though, capped by a Donaldson triple, pushed the lead back to 12, and it was 59-48 at 13:19 after Donaldson scored inside. The Wolverines were playing as connected as they had since the beginning of the year with the exception of a few breakdowns on defense. They forced a Purdue timeout at 12:25 with a finish by Roddy Gayle in transition that made it 63-50. 

The Wolverines went up by a game-high 15 when freshman L.J. Cason, who provided a spark off the bench, hit two free throws at 11:19. The Boilermakers were on the ropes. 

But missed free throws, including the front end of a one-and-one by Wolf, allowed Purdue to hang around. They cut it to 10 before Gayle cut and finished at the rim to end a 5-0 Boilermakers run — it was a 70-58 Wolverines lead at the second to last TV timeout at 7:27, and all they needed was to finish a game in which they’d played very well.

A Cason drive and finish and a Gayle dunk on a pass from Donaldson had it 74-61 at 4:50, and Goldin, and-one, pushed it to 77-61 at 4:17. The Michigan fans in the crowd started the ‘Let’s go Blue’ chant while Purdue fans headed to the exits. Wolf then added a dagger three at 3:40 that gave the Wolverines their biggest lead, 80-64.

They’d finish it out for a convincing, 86-68 win, to set up a Saturday semifinal with Maryland, a blowout winner over Illinois.

Michigan only turned it over 5 times the entire game and played its best game in several weeks, led by Wolf’s 16 points and Goldin’s 15. Donaldson notched 13 and five assists and Tschetter 8 in the win.