No. 11 Purdue's defense sets tone with "rules of engagement," smothers 21st-ranked Michigan

After the first half buzzer sounded and the Boilermakers ran up the Mackey Arena tunnel to the locker room, Michigan’s players huddled in front of its bench.

It’s clear the Wolverines needed a moment to regroup after the events of the first 20 minutes.

They were taken to the woodshed, and Purdue locked the door.

From the moment when Braden Smith jumped the passing lane and collected a steal to Fletcher Loyer’s 3-pointer near the end of the first, the 11^th-ranked Boilermakers delivered an impressive beatdown with a 91-64 victory over the 21^st-ranked Wolverines.

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The Boilermakers quickly recovered from squandering a 16-point lead to Ohio State on Tuesday and took out their frustrations against a Michigan team that was 6-1 in the Big Ten and had won six of its last seven. Purdue is 8-2 at the halfway mark of the conference season.

But the Wolverines had no answers on this night.

“Rules of engagement from the very first possession,” Michigan coach Dusty May said of the Boilermakers defense. “I thought Purdue played incredibly determined basketball.”

The hustle. The intensity. The passion. The shot-making. The defense. The precision on offense. Purdue imposed its will, smothering the Wolverines at both ends of the floor, and didn’t let up.

The Boilermakers built leads of 13-2, 29-9, 38-13 before holding a 51-26 halftime advantage before the 84th consecutive sellout and the 500^th Big Ten game at Mackey Arena. The largest lead in the first half was 29 points with 5:29 on the clock.

Smith led the onslaught on both ends, bouncing back after his 3 of 14 shooting night against the Buckeyes. His four steals set the tone for a raucous environment and stuffed the stat sheet again with 24 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds.

Freshman C.J. Cox was a leader on defense, diving on the floor for a loose ball 34 seconds into the game and picking up the first of three steals. It led to a Trey Kaufman-Renn second-chance point, and you could feel the momentum building toward a blowout.

Loyer had 18 points – hitting five 3-pointers – and Kaufman-Renn added 15 points.

Michigan didn’t help itself, committing 22 turnovers – eight more than its season average. The Wolverines missed 16 of their first 17 attempts from 3-point range, and Purdue scored 29 points off turnovers, including 17 after steals. The Boilermakers collected a season-high 14 steals.

“THAT’S WHAT I EXPECT FROM MYSELF”

Smith took responsibility, even if he didn’t need to. That’s who he is.

The Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year blamed himself for Tuesday’s loss but knew his teammates had his back. But that’s who Smith is and will always be.

It should surprise no one that the talented point guard bounced back in a big way. He controlled the game from the beginning at both ends and brought the Boilermakers back into the win column to remain near the top of the Big Ten standings.

“That’s my job, and that’s what everybody expects of me, and that’s what I expect from myself,” Smith said. “When Ohio State happened, I was really upset about it. I felt like I let the team down. I felt like it was personally my fault, and I know they’re going to say it’s not.

“But to me, as a competitor and as a person, that’s who I am. I was just trying to get to a quick start and help these guys get the ball in the right place, make shots, and get the energy going. And we were able to do so.”

His teammates followed Smith’s lead. Just like last year’s team followed Zach Edey.

“It’s what leaders do,” Loyer said. “When you’re the best player on the team, you’ve got to lead by example. Zach was a prime example of that. He wasn’t the most vocal guy, but every day, he showed up and gave his energy.

“When we’ve gotten stops, and we’ve gotten out in transition, it’s when we play our best basketball. By Braden leading by example and getting out and defending, it’s huge for us.”

For Smith, it was a mental hurdle to overcome Tuesday’s setback. Smith was in foul trouble throughout the first half against the Buckeyes, disrupting his rhythm. He had no foul issues on Friday night, playing nearly 38 minutes and orchestrating the Boilermakers to another victory.

“I think just talking with myself, remembering how I got here and the work that I’ve put in,” Smith said. “It makes my life so much easier, being around such a great group of guys that tell me to keep shooting and tell me to keep my head up and that we need me to do what I do for us to win. They tell me that every single time I’m on the floor, so it helps me a lot.”

TONE SETTER

Matt Painter was asked to use three words to sum up Friday’s win.

“Great. Ball. Pressure,” he said.

He was right.

Smith’s first play, Cox’s ability and desire to challenge and jam the ball in one-on-one defense and the movement of Caleb Furst and Kaufman-Renn to keep Michigan’s two 7-footers from establishing a rhythm.  

But the key was Cox on the perimeter.

“He’s hung in there, and he’s impressed everybody from Day 1 with his effort and playing hard,” Painter said. “He can make shots, he could guard the basketball. It’s really kind of that niche that we needed coming in and guarding people.”

Cox’s tone-setting performance wasn’t lost on Michigan’s coach. He also scored 11 points.

“C.J. Cox’s on-ball defense was, I think, something that set the tone as well, picking us up 94 feet, turning us and with aggression,” May said.

Kaufman-Renn didn’t shy away from acknowledging Cox as the reason why the Boilermakers responded after Ohio State and head into a week off with a victory before facing Indiana.

“C.J. jamming and picking up the ball full court and getting those steals at the beginning of the game, that’s a big reason we won the game,” Kaufman-Renn said.  

“IT FELT DIFFERENT”

The Wolverines quickly moved to the top of the league standings, winning five straight conference games, including a sweep of UCLA and USC on the road earlier this month.

But May felt his team was about to face a challenge on the road. It came in an overtime loss at Minnesota when Dawson Garcia hit the game-winning 3-pointer from inside the halfcourt line.

That environment doesn’t compare to Mackey Arena, and May and his team were quickly overwhelmed on Friday.

“A few weeks ago, I told one of the coaches that sometimes we’re going to have to be in one of the environments. I maybe even said, Mackey Arena, where you just don’t know how difficult it’s going to be until you feel it,” he said. “And you know this was the one. It felt different. There’s a different level of energy, there’s a different level of physicality.”

On this night, the Wolverines were not up to the challenge of dealing with Smith, Cox, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn along with the crowd. They couldn’t recover from the slow start, and the situation snowballed for 40 minutes.

“I thought once things went poorly, we tried to get it ourselves,” May said.  “I don’t think our intent was bad. I just think that’s the experience of when that happens.

“We’ve got to really focus on doing it together, on taking what the game gives us and not trying to make individual points. They had a good plan to take away our guys who have led us from a production standpoint, and we didn’t counter that very well.”

The 29-9 lead with nine minutes expired was more than enough to keep the Wolverines down. They started to lose some of their fight, and the Boilermakers kept pouring it on throughout the first half.

“Tonight was a great sign of getting off the canvas,” Painter said of his team. “It doesn’t feel good to lose. Nobody likes that. I don’t know who Michigan has next, but I would think that this game will help sharpen their pencil a little bit.”

The Wolverines host Penn State on Monday.