Michigan will face Purdue Friday in the Big Ten Tournament
Michigan will be the last team to play its first game in the Big Ten Tournament, and the Wolverines will take on Purdue Friday night at 9:00 p.m. No. 3 seed U-M will likely be an underdog against the No. 6 Boilermakers, which escaped USC Thursday night in front of a partisan crowd, 76-71.
Like Michigan, Purdue hasn’t played its best basketball down the stretch. They were 2-5 before beating the Trojans and needed a friendly whistle down the stretch to win in front of a partisan crowd Thursday night. The Boilers will likely be well represented tomorrow night, as well.
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 30 points and will be a focal point of the Wolverines’ defense, along with point guard Braden Smith, Friday. Kaufman-Renn told the Big Ten Network he expected a tough third game with U-M after the two teams split the season series.
“A really competitive game; a really skilled game,” he said. “They have NBA players on their team. When we play against those guys, it’s obviously going to make us better … they’re one of the best rebounding teams.
“We’ve got to get on the glass and we’ve got to defend … defensively, we’ve got to be much better, especially with a team like them coming in.”
Purdue destroyed Michigan in the first meeting in West Lafayette, a 91-64 win that wasn’t competitive from the get-go. U-M countered with a 75-73 victory in Ann Arbor in which the Wolverines twice came back from 10-point deficits.
Though Smith was the catalyst in West Lafayette, U-M did the most damage against the Boilers when Kaufman-Renn was off the floor in Ann Arbor.
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“We just have to be better,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the game. “He’s not always going to be in the game. He played 30 minutes —he played enough. That’s what he averages … he averages 30 minutes per game. So, to keep him fresh sometimes we play him 30 when he’s not in foul trouble.
“But, in a big game like this, he’s a big weapon and how we operate and how we do things. Now, when you don’t have him, they had a lot of success while he was out.”
Michigan has lost three straight and four of six headed into the tournament. Painter is expecting a good game.
“Obviously, they’re well coached, physical,” Painter said. “They have a front line that’s very unique because both are very skilled … both can drive the basketball, post the basketball, and pass. I think Tre Donaldson is very under-apprecaied … he always seems to make plays late in games.
“They’ve got a lot of good pieces … talented, good players. They’ve just got a good mix.”
