Michigan basketball takes care of Purdue for first Big Ten tournament win since 2021

No. 3 seed Michigan men’s basketball cruised by No. 6 seed Purdue 86-68 Friday night to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. It marks the first conference tournament win for the Wolverines since 2021, and their first win in March this season. Michigan will play second-seeded Maryland Saturday (March 15) at approximately 3:30 p.m. on CBS.

Michigan basketball advances in Big Ten tournament with win over Purdue

The Wolverines were in front for over 37 minutes (out of 40), and they had a double digit lead within ten minutes of the game. Each team struggled to make shots from the field in the first half, with Michigan shooting 27 percent and Purdue shooting 36 percent.

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Over the final eight minutes leading into halftime, Will Tschetter scored eight points off the bench. The Wolverines also got nine points from Danny Wolf and seven points from Nimari Burnett. Purdue’s offense was almost exclusively run through Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith in the first half. Kaufman-Renn had a team-high 13 points in the first half, and Smith added ten.

Michigan was up 40-36 at the break and had just three turnovers.

The Wolverines upped the defensive pressure in the second half and held Purdue to 32 points. Michigan shot 65.4 percent from the field after halftime and got eight points or more from Tre Donaldson (10), Vladislav Goldin (10), Danny Wolf (9) and Roddy Gayle Jr. (8).

Wolf finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, as well as a game-high 11 rebounds. Goldin ended with 15 points, Donaldson with 13 and and Gayle Jr. with 11. Michigan shot 52 percent from the field in the game and out-rebounded Purdue 40-34.

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If the Wolverines can keep shooting at a high clip, they could find themselves in the conference championship Sunday.

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