Rubin Jones, Roddy Gayle Jr. played a pivotal role in Michigan’s win over Purdue

Rubin Jones and Roddy Gayle Jr. — two college basketball veterans — played pivotal roles in Michigan’s win over Purdue last night. Both will be just as important for Michigan’s potential postseason run:

Rubin Jones made his best play in a Michigan uniform when his team needed it most. In the win over Purdue on Tuesday, Jones jammed down a put-back dunk off a Danny Wolf miss to put Michigan up six points.

Jones played a pivotal role on both ends of the floor, stealing a dump-down pass and taking it coast-to-coast a few minutes prior to that dunk.

The North Texas transfer played one of his best games in a Michigan uniform last night with six points, three rebounds and two assists. While his primary cover, All-Big Ten point guard Braden Smith, scored 24 points, Jones stepped up his defense in the closing minutes to help Michigan win.

Experienced glue guys like Jones are pivotal to team success, especially in March. This was Jones’ second consecutive game in the starting lineup, and with how he played late against Purdue, he’ll undoubtedly continue to be in Michigan’s closing five.

“I thought he was everywhere,” head coach Dusty May said of Jones after the win. “We haven’t seen the real Rubin Jones. He’s an irritant, he’s a pest on defense, he’s a really good shooter. He’s really, really finding his way.”

Jones isn’t a top scorer on this team like he was at North Texas, but he makes winning plays and is a valuable cog in U-M’s rotation.

“I know what I can bring to the court,” Jones said. “Defense, intensity, getting stops when we need them, just pressuring the ball and setting the tone for what our defense is gonna be.”

Jones wasn’t the only role player who showed out against Purdue. The Wolverines outscored the Boilermakers in bench points (21-0), with Roddy Gayle Jr. scoring 14 of them, his highest scoring total since the Washington win a month ago .

May said before the Indiana game that moving Gayle to the bench was a move to help him be more aggressive offensively. We saw that aggression on display Tuesday, with Gayle being a commanding offensive presence in Michigan’s second unit after struggling in recent weeks.

Gayle’s head coach and teammates praised him after the victory.

“(I’m) extremely proud of Roddy,” May said. “I thought in the first half, he kept us in striking defense. I don’t want to talk about his offense because his defense was equally as good. He was active just like Rubin was.”

“Obviously everyone has seen that Roddy hasn’t been as good as we know he is,” Wolf said. “I don’t want to say slump, but everyone goes through it throughout the season. The way that guy’s bounced back, it makes me so happy, and we know that Roddy is someone you want to have in your locker room. He’s one hell of a player, and I think everyone saw that (against Purdue).”

“I want to give the biggest shoutout possible to Roddy Gayle,” Will Tschetter said. “He played really well and he played really hard tonight. And obviously, this season isn’t exactly what he had in mind, but for him to be able to stay poised and stay the course, everyone is just super proud of him.”

The Wolverines have preached the “one game at a time” mindset that teams often have this time of year. But make no mistake — this win was huge, not only to give Michigan the lead in the Big Ten and a tournament resume booster, but for the Wolverines to prove to themselves they can bounce back and compete with the best teams in the country.

“Coach says it all the time — no one outside of our locker room knows what we’re capable of and knows how good we really are,” Wolf said. “The exciting part is we’re nowhere near where we can be. This is just one step in the right direction because we have really big goals. This was a really big win because we don’t have another shot at Purdue until potentially the Big Ten Tournament .

“We want to hang a banner, and this is just one step.”