Takeaways from Michigan’s win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament

With a reinvigorated offense, the Michigan Wolverines knocked off Purdue for a Quad 1 win in the Big Ten Tournament. Here are some takeaways from the victory:

In a win that the Michigan Wolverines desperately needed to get their swagger back, they played their best game in weeks and defeated the 6-seed Purdue Boilermakers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament , 86-68. It’s Michigan’s first win in the Big Ten Tournament since 2021.

Michigan went nearly two months without a win by more than four points, but the Wolverines picked a hell of a time to put it all together.

After limping to the finish with a three-game losing streak to close the regular season, the Wolverines looked re-invigorated in this one, playing with energy, moving the ball well, and knocking down the threes that had alluded this offense for the second half of the season.

Here are the takeaways from the victory.

Tre Donaldson takes over

For the first time since maybe the Penn State win at the end of January , point guard Tre Donaldson looked confident, taking over the game in the second half.

Donaldson got up to 13 points mid-way through the half, knocking down some clutch threes as Michigan took a 13-point lead. He looked like a whole new player, showing his emotions and letting the game come to him. He wasn’t chasing, as he had been the past few weeks.

Donaldson, who finished with 13 points, is the type of guard that can take over in tournament settings like this; his scoring contribution will be pivotal next week and beyond.

Michigan comes out hot after the half, which leads to consistent scoring

After a weak end to the first half with a scoring lapse contributing to Purdue clawing back, the Wolverines responded with a red-hot start to the half.

Michigan made its first five shots of the half, including some buckets inside from Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf. Tre Donaldson and Rubin Jones also knocked down deep threes to help keep the Boilermakers at an arm’s length. More scoring around the rim from Area 50-1 and some savvy clock management possessions helped put this one on ice.

Michigan just kept getting bucket after bucket, with some balanced scoring, to keep Purdue from making a comeback. That second-half was some of the best basketball Michigan has played in weeks.

Sharing the basketball

Michigan’s offense is at its best when the ball is moving like it did in this one.

The Wolverines racked up 25 assists, 11 more than the Boilermakers. Purdue had to force some tough Braden Smith and TKR shots, while a lot of Michigan’s buckets came easier thanks to great ball movement.

U-M bigs slow down Trey Kaufmann-Renn, and guards slow down Braden Smith

Slowing down Purdue’s two leading scorers played a big factor in this victory.

Kaufmann-Renn is one of the best bigs in the Big Ten, and drew fouls at a reliable rate on Friday.

The big man still got a few buckets throughout and finished with 24 points, but I thought Goldin, Wolf and Will Tschetter did a decent job slowing him down and making him work for every point in the paint. You could tell that all that physicality in the paint started to wear down TKR.

Aside from a few tough makes off the dribble, Braden Smith had a quiet game by his standards, with Michigan guards making him work for every point to hold the Big Ten Player of the Year to just 12 points.

Michigan’s bigs forced more than a few point-blank misses from TKR, a crucial part of this victory.

An awesome first half offensively, including some key threes

Offense hasn’t come easy for the Wolverines as of late, but Michigan came out with energy and got off to a fantastic start.

As Kevin Kugler mentioned on BTN, Michigan had been shooting less than 30 percent from three for nearly two months now. It was nice to see the Wolverines make some threes early on, even if they weren’t efficient from beyond the arc in the first half (4-of-15).

Purdue got six easy points at the rim to kick this game off, but Michigan responded with a 12-0 run (17:59-15:59), including threes from Burnett and Jones. Nearly five game minutes later, Tre Donaldson knocked down a deep three to give Michigan an eight-point lead midway through the half and Danny Wolf had a TOUGH make in the corner.

With those threes, solid ball movement with the Wolverines getting out in transition, and plenty of paint touches, Michigan jumped out to a 10-point lead multiple times in the first half. That was a welcome surprise with how inefficient Michigan had been offensively the past few weeks.

Aside from a three-minute drought to end the half, the offense created good shots and played with pace, with seven fast break points contributing to the Wolverines leading by four at the half.

Quick injury updates

Michigan has struggled with depth the past couple weeks, and two key bench players were out for this game. Sophomore forward Sam Walters is still out with his back injury, talking to both Michigan doctors and his family’s doctors to determine the best course of action . Freshman guard Justin Pippen was also out, but it’s unclear why.

Hopefully Michigan can get both guys back for the NCAA Tournament next week.

Up Next

With the win, Michigan plays 2-seed Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday around 3:30 p.m. EST on CBS.