CHICAGO – The Purdue Boilermakers took down the No. 1-seeded Michigan Wolverines 80-72 to become the first No. 7-seeded team in the Big Ten Tournament to win the championship in upset fashion.
Prior to Sunday’s (March 15) game, both teams met inside Mackey Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 17, where the Wolverines dominated early, leading by as much as 22 points before cruising to a 91-80 road victory.
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In that matchup, Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 27 points while guard Braden Smith chipped in with 20 points in the loss.
The Boilermakers were preseason No. 1 but have struggled throughout the season, finishing with a 24-8 regular-season record (13-7 Big Ten), which led to their No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
On March 15, Kaufman-Renn scored 20 points while Oscar Cluff dropped 21 points to help Purdue win the title.
Following two victories, Purdue became the first No. 7 seed to make it to the championship game, but they fell short to Michigan.
Michigan fell to 31-3 on the season, but all their goals remain ahead of them, as the loss didn’t knock them out of the No. 1 seed in the tournament, as they are headed to Buffalo for a first-round matchup with the winner of UMBC/Howard on Thursday, March 19.
Lendeborg finished with 20 points, while Mara added 14, Burnett added 12, Cadeau added 10, and McKenney finished with 10 in the defeat.
The Big Ten Player of the Year rolled his ankle in the game’s waning moments and spoke about how he felt in the moment.
1st half
Michigan won the tip and found Chicago kid Nimari Burnett for a wide-open three-pointer to take a 3-0 lead.
C.J. Cox came off a screen and drilled a jumper for the Boilermakers’ first two points of the game.
After a turnover, Fletcher Loyer drilled a contested corner three-pointer to take a 5-3 lead.
Another turnover led to a Trey Kaufman-Renn dunk.
Burnett drilled another three to cut the deficit to 7-6.
After unsuccessful possessions by both teams, Oscar Cluff got fouled down low by Morez Johnson Jr., sending him to the line for two, making both.
Roddy Gayle Jr. drove to the paint and hit a floater before Cluff made a contested layup over Aday Mara.
Elliot Cadeau found Yaxel Lendeborg in the paint for a contested layup.
Lendeborg came down and drilled a three-pointer to take a 13-11 lead before Gayle Jr. broke up a pass attempt that went out of bounds, leading to an official’s timeout with 14:17 to play.
Kaufman-Renn went body-to-body over Mara for a contested layup before Michigan turned the ball over, but Purdue couldn’t convert on the possession.
Gayle Jr. bricked a jumper in the lane, leading to another Kaufman-Renn contested layup to take a 15-13 lead.
Following a Burnett miss from deep, Johnson Jr. got fouled under the basket during an offensive rebound attempt.
Cadeau shot and bricked a three-pointer, leading to a Will Tschetter offensive rebound and foul on Kaufman-Renn.
Tschetter got called for an offensive foul on the next possession, his first foul of the game.
Cadeau blocked a three-point attempt, but Tschetter missed a contested three-pointer on the play.
Purdue got the rock, and Michigan left Braden Smith wide-open for a three-pointer, which he bricked as Tschetter attacked the rim for the defensive rebound.
On the play, Kaufman-Renn got called for his second foul of the half as he reached over the back of Tschetter, leading to another official’s timeout with 11:06 to play.
How long will head coach Matt Painter keep his star power forward on the bench? was the question as they led 15-13.
Smith came out of the timeout with jersey No. 41 on.
Lendeborg drove to the paint and missed a contested layup, but Johnson Jr. cleaned the glass for his first two points of the game.
Cluff picked up a foul on Johnson Jr. before Trey McKenney made a contested jumper to retake the lead.
Lendeborg shot a horrible three-pointer that missed wide right.
Smith put Johnson Jr. on skates before draining a jumper for his first two points of the game.
Cluff picked up his second foul of the half on offense, sending him to the bench.
Lendeborg missed a wide-open three-pointer, leading to an offensive foul on Mara, his first of the game.
The game was tied at 17 with 7:51 to play, and a timeout was called.
Michigan hasn’t capitalized on Purdue’s bigs being in foul trouble. Let’s see how long Painter will go without Cluff and Kaufman-Renn on the floor, as they both picked up two fouls.
May and Michigan are looking out of sync, and Mara and Johnson both have a foul apiece.
Michigan turned defense into offense as Mara grabbed the defensive rebound and found Lendeborg, who found Cadeau for a three-pointer.
Cadeau came down after a Smith missed jumper and found Mara for the alley-oop.
Lendeborg fouled Loyer for a four-point play as Michigan led 22-21.
Mara then threw a lob to Lendeborg, who slammed it home.
Lendeborg got called for his second foul of the half while defending a Cluff attempt at the rim.
McKenney hit Johnson Jr. for a massive drive and dunk before Cadeau fouled Cluff down low for a three-point play, but he missed.
Cadeau hit a cutting Burnett for a contested layup before Loyer made a wide-open layup.
Jack Benter picked up his first foul of the game on the offensive glass before a deflection out of the hands of McKenney led to another timeout with 3:50 to play in the half, as Michigan led 28-26.
The men in maize came out of the timeout, and Burnett cleaned the glass after McKenney bricked a contested jumper, for a contested layup as Michigan led by four.
Cluff picked up his third foul of the half as Johnson Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and missed the putback attempt, sending him to the line for two.
He made both as Michigan led 32-26 with under three minutes to play.
Kaufman-Renn made a layup, and then Gayle Jr. turned the ball over as Loyer found Benter for a wide-open three-pointer to cut the deficit to one.
Kaufman-Renn hit a floater to take a one-point lead before Smith hit a jumper to extend their run to 9-0, leading to a Michigan timeout with 1:25 to play, leading 35-32.
Cadeau stopped the bleeding with a contested layup as Purdue led by one, before Smith drew a second foul on Johnson with 53.8 to play, capping off a three-point play as Mara got called for goaltending.
Mara made a bunny to cut the deficit to two before Cadeau hit a buzzer-beating contested floater to tie the game at 38 to end the first half.
Burnett led Michigan with 10 points, while Lendeborg and Cadeau both had seven in the first half.
Cluff and Loyer led Purdue with nine points each, while Kaufman-Renn chipped in with eight and Smith added seven in the first half.
That late surge by Purdue retook the momentum as Michigan led by six, but Kaufman-Renn’s reinsertion back into the game helped spark the 9-0 run.
Michigan had four turnovers in the first half while Purdue had only one, but both teams had 10 rebounds.
2nd half
Purdue got the ball to open the half, but Michigan’s quick hands led to a turnover.
With the ball, Cadeau got called for traveling.
Loyer drilled a contested three-pointer to take a 41-38 lead as the Purdue fans ignited.
Cadeau found Burnett for a lob, but he missed as he was wide open.
Cox made a floater to take a five-point lead before Smith picked up his second foul.
Lendeborg lost the ball out of bounds after collecting his own rebound, Purdue ball.
Cluff hit a contested jumphook to take a seven-point lead before Mara stopped the bleeding with a reverse layup as Purdue led 45-40.
Kaufman-Renn missed a floater before Johnson Jr. turned down a wide-open three-pointer, drove to the hole for a reverse contested layup, which went over the rim.
Leading by five, Purdue gave the ball back to Kaufman-Renn, who drew a foul on Burnett in the post, leading to an official’s timeout with 15:50 to play.
The Wolverines better wake up, or they’ll get run out of the building, as they have yet to play their best basketball of the tournament, and Purdue was on a mission.
Kaufman-Renn made another contested jump hook over Johnson Jr. to push the lead back to seven, as Cadeau missed a wide-open three-pointer.
Purdue went back to Kaufman-Renn for another layup as the lead grew to nine, before Lendeborg made a contested floater.
Kaufman-Renn hit a floater before Lendeborg made another contested layup to cut the deficit back to seven with under 14 minutes to play.
Smith attacked Johnson Jr. for another two points before Lendeborg turned the ball over to the amazement of the Purdue fans.
Kaufman-Renn made a jump hook as Michigan trailed by 11 before Cadeau hit a floater to cut it back to single digits.
Smith picked up a second foul on Mara while hitting a floater as May called a timeout, trailing 57-46 with 12:06 to play.
Kaufman-Renn came out of the first half on a mission as he scored eight points, while Smith joined him as well with four points and a potential point following a free-throw to cap off the three-point play.
Smith made the free throw as Michigan trailed 58-46, followed by a Tschetter brick three-pointer as Lendeborg picked up his third foul of the game while trying to get an offensive rebound.
This offense looks stagnant in the first 8:13 of the second half as May continues to search for answers.
They gave up 20 points in under nine minutes to start the half, which is unlike Michigan.
Purdue actually went on a 20-8 run to lead by 12 with under 12 to play.
Kaufman-Renn put Mara in a spin cycle to go up 14 before Lendeborg drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 11.
Smith took Mara off the dribble for a jumper to push the deficit to 13 before Tschetter got fouled by Benter.
Cadeau took Kaufman-Renn of the dribble to draw his third foul of the game, sending him to the line for two, splitting the pair as Michigan trailed 62-50 with under 10 to play.
Michigan turned defense into offense as Cadeau found Mara from halfcourt for the dunk to get the Maize Rage back into the game.
“Let’s Go Blue” chants rang around the arena as Cadeau hit Mara for an alley-oop.
Cluff got fouled by Mara under the basket for his third foul of the game, sending him to the line for two, making both to push the deficit back to double digits.
Cadeau went one-on-one and missed the contested layup before picking up his fourth foul with 7:29 to play as he battled Mara for the rebound.
With Cluff out, Michigan needed to attack the rim to get back into the game as they trailed 64-54 during an official’s timeout.
Lendeborg found Mara in the post for a spinning finger roll to cut the deficit to single digits.
Kaufman-Renn made a jumper to push the lead back to double digits with under six minutes to play.
McKenney went coast-to-coast for the foul at the rim, sending him to the line for two, making both to cut the deficit back to single-digits
Cluff made a contested floater to go back up 10 before Johnson Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and made the uncontested bucket to cut the deficit back to eight.
With the ball, Michigan needed a bucket and went to Lendeborg, who hit an uncontested three-pointer to cut the deficit to five.
But Cluff made a contested jump hook to push the deficit back to seven before Burnett missed a wide-open three-pointer.
McKenney got called for a foul on a three-point attempt, leading to an official’s timeout with 2:44 to play.
Loyer went to the line and made two out of three to push the deficit back to nine.
McKenney made a layup to cut the deficit to seven, before he fouled Benter with 1:33 to play, making the first of a one-in-one, followed by a second.
McKenney made a layup to cut the deficit to seven before he fouled Benter with 1:33 to play, making the first of a one-and-one, followed by a second.
Cluff made a slam to put the game almost out of reach as Mara came back with a dunk of his own as the upset was brewing.
Benter made two free throws before Lendeborg drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 78-70 before a timeout was called with 46.2 to play.
Cluff got fouled and went to the line to spit the pair, followed by a Burnett layup.
1 went back to the line and missed the first and made the second as Michigan lost in upset fashion.