WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Elliot Cadeau scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half Tuesday night, and Aday Mara added 10 points and 11 rebounds to send No. 1 Michigan past No. 7 Purdue 91-80.
Trey McKinney, Yaxel Lendeborg and L.J. Cason each had 13 points for the Wolverines, who won their 11th straight and took a big step toward capturing their first outright Big Ten regular-season title in five years.
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The win came one day after Michigan (25-1, 15-1) moved into the nation’s top spot for the first time since January 2013.
It was the 7-foot-3 Mara’s early tone-setting presence that helped the Wolverines turn the tables on Purdue’s usually dominant front line as two-time national player of the year Zach Edey watched from the second row. Mara made each of his first four shots on the way to a 10-point, eight-rebound first half. He spent most of the second half in foul trouble, finishing 4 of 6 from the field as Michigan had a 39-31 rebounding advantage.
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a season high 27 points to lead Boilermakers on a night most of his teammates struggled. Braden Smith added 20 points as the Boilermakers (21-5, 11-4) had their four-game winning streak end. They now trail Michigan by 3 1/2 games in the league race.
Michigan took control quickly by using an early 13-0 spurt to take a 23-10 lead. A 14-4 scoring flurry gave Michigan a comfortable 44-22 cushion with 4:23 left in the first half, forcing Purdue to futilely play catchup the rest of the night.
Up next
Michigan: Faces another stiff challenge against No. 3 Duke on Saturday in Washington.
Purdue: Hopes to even the season series against Indiana at home Friday night.
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