No. 11 Purdue’s defense sets tone, 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 11th-ranked Boilermakers delivered an impressive beatdown with a 91-64 victory over the 21st-ranked Wolverines.

PDF: Purdue-Michigan statistics

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.

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 500th 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 20 turnovers – six 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.

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