Cold and sloppy from the start, No. 21 Michigan crumbles against No. 11 Purdue

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Jan 24, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It was a recipe for disaster.

A No. 11 Purdue team coming off its first home loss in nearly two years. A rowdy crowd and noise that was deafening at times. A nightmarish start. A lopsided first half. Poor shooting and too many turnovers.

No. 21 Michigan walked into a hornet’s nest on Friday night and felt the sting from start to finish in a 91-64 wire-to-wire bashing at Mackey Arena.

The Wolverines (14-5, 6-2 Big Ten) were competitive and led in every game so far this season. That changed against the Boilermakers, who led by double digits less than four minutes into the game, by 25 points at halftime and by as much as 30 in the second half.

The Wolverines could never recover from their worst half of the season, where everything went wrong from the jump. They struggled to make the right pass and handle Purdue’s pressure. They struggled to knock down 3-point shots and get stops.

The second half was more of the same, and Michigan never came close to putting a serious dent in the deficit. Vlad Goldin threw down a dunk during a string of six straight points to cut it to 55-34 with 17:16 left in the second half.

But the Wolverines couldn’t muster much more than that and couldn’t get any closer. They had no answer for Braden Smith, who repeatedly carved up the defense. Their turnover woes continued, which led to fast-break baskets the other way and more empty possessions.

All Michigan could do was trim the deficit to 21 once again with 6:55 remaining. A 12-3 spurt gave the Boilermakers (16-5, 8-2) their largest lead, 87-57, with 3:44 to go.

Goldin finished with 14 points and Nimari Burnett, Tre Donaldson and Roddy Gayle Jr. all scored 11 apiece for Michigan, which shot 37% from the field, including 6 for 29 from deep, and had more turnovers (22) than made baskets (20).

Smith had 24 points and 10 assists and Fletcher Loyer scored 18 for Purdue. The Boilermakers had 29 points off turnovers, 19 fast-break points and shot 54.8% from the floor.

Michigan got off to the worst start imaginable. Donaldson had turnovers on the first two offensive possessions and the Wolverines had five giveaways less than four minutes into the first half, all of which led to points for Purdue.

During one early stretch, Michigan turned it over on three consecutive possessions. An offensive foul on Rubin Jones was followed by a Trey Kaufman-Renn (15 points) bucket in the paint. A turnover by Donaldson in the backcourt led to an easy layup. A deflected pass by Danny Wolf led to a 3-pointer in transition that made it 13-2 and forced a timeout by coach Dusty May at the 16:32 mark.

It never got any better. Michigan looked rattled on offense and had more turnovers than made baskets much of the half. Purdue was getting out and running, feasting on live-ball giveaways and seemingly couldn’t miss. A 12-0 surge by the Boilermakers made it 29-9, turned Mackey Arena into a madhouse and forced another Michigan timeout at the 11:18 mark.

The Boilermakers continued to pour it on, as it came away with more hustle plays and fed off the energized crowd. During one play, Wolf airballed a 3-pointer and started walking back to midcourt, thinking the ball went out of bounds. It never did and Wolf picked up his second foul racing back to stop a fast-break layup. On another play, Smith came away with an offensive rebound by saving the ball from going out of bounds, which led to free throws for Purdue.

As the misses piled up for Michigan on offense, primarily from deep, the deficit grew to as much as 29. By the time halftime arrived, the Wolverines were 1 for 16 from 3-point range, had as many made baskets as turnovers (10) and trailed 51-26.