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ANN ARBOR — Michigan finished strong against the two-time defending Big Ten champs, sending a message that this year’s title might go through Ann Arbor.
Not long after a blowout loss to Purdue, the Wolverines got their revenge at Crisler Center on Tuesday night.
Braden Smith’s buzzer-beating 3 missed and Michigan improved to 12-0 at home.
Final: Michigan 75, Purdue 73
Record: 19-5 (11-2)
MVP: Roddy Gayle Jr.
Unsung hero: Rubin Jones
Arch nemesis: Braden Smith
Top highlight: Rubin Jones crashes the offensive glass and slams home a miss, pushing Michigan’s lead to six with 39 seconds left.
Rhyme time: Revenge vs. Purdue big for B1G race // ‘M’ grabs lead late and takes first place
No. 20 Michigan trailed by 10 in the second half, took its first lead with 5:33 left, lost it a couple times after, and did enough in crunch time to move into first place in the Big Ten. Michigan State (10-2) was set for a 9 p.m. tip at home against Indiana.
Purdue, which entered with a four-game win streak and had lost just once since Christmas, fell to 11-3 in the Big Ten (19-6 overall) despite Braden Smith’s 24 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn’s 22.
Tuesday’s game was much, much different than the first meeting between these teams, a 91-64 Purdue win on Jan. 24.
Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr., coming off the bench for the second straight game, had his best performance (by far) in weeks: 14 points and seven rebounds, including four on the offensive end. He helped Michigan’s bench outscore Purdue’s 21-0.
Purdue attempted 13 more shots but Michigan outscored Purdue 18-6 at the foul line. Danny Wolf had 15 points and nine rebounds as the Wolverines got balanced scoring for their fifth straight win. Their last six victories have come by four points or fewer.
Michigan missed nine of its first 10 shots to open the second half and fell behind by 10. The action resembled football at times, with numerous collisions sending players to the floor and keeping the mop guy busy.
Midway through the half, an offensive foul on Vladislav Goldin erased a Wolf basket — the call, which was reviewed, further frustrated Dusty May.
Gayle’s offensive rebound led to a Nimari Burnett corner 3 that cut Michigan’s deficit to 53-50 with 8:11 left. Burnett’s 3 from the opposite corner, his third of the half, tied the game, and Goldin’s free throws gave Michigan its first lead, 59-57.
Purdue answered and went up four. Donaldson’s canned a 3. At the other end, Jones stripped the ball and went coast to coast for a layup. Michigan led 66-65 with 3:07 left. After another Purdue basket, Wolf’s drive and finish put Michigan back ahead with 2:21 to go.
Purdue’s Caleb Furst fouled out with 2:01 left; his fellow frontcourt starter, Kaufman-Renn, did the same less than a minute later.
Jones stuffed home a Wolf miss to push Michigan’s lead to six. Smith answered with a 3, and Purdue fouled Wolf with 16 seconds left. Then, another Smith 3; another trip to the line for Wolf, this time with 6.9 seconds left and Michigan up two. He missed both, but Smith’s running 3 misfired at the buzzer.
Goldin scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Tre Donaldson also finished with 12.
Purdue led 7-0 and 12-4 as Michigan piled up the turnovers and struggled on the boards. Donaldson got the Wolverines going, scoring nine of their first 11 points, and Wolf’s putback with 13:18 left in the half made it 15-14 Michigan. Smith reached 14 points to give Purdue a 27-20 edge.
Michigan fell behind by 11 before Gayle’s fourth basket — more than he had in the previous three games combined — with 3:34 left in the half. He scored 12 of Michigan’s final 15 points of the half, and Michigan closed with a 9-0 run to make it 37-35 Purdue at half.
Freshman guard L.J. Cason, who rode the bench the previous three games, played eight minutes.
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