Purdue falls to Michigan 71-63, dwindling NCAA tournament hopes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Franz Wagner scored a career-high 22 points Saturday and Isaiah Livers added 19 to lead Michigan past Purdue 71-63.

The Wolverines (18-9, 9-7 Big Ten) have won five straight overall and four consecutive road games in league play. It was their first win at Mackey Arena since 2014.

Trevion Williams finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Purdue after scoring 36 points and grabbing 20 rebounds in this season’s first contest. Sasha Stefanovic added 13 points as the Boilermakers lost their fourth in a row.

Purdue seemed to have the perfect setup — with former coach Gene Keady and dozens of former players back for alumni day. And they desperately needed a win.

But Purdue produced a dud — flirting with a season-low point total in a home game until the waning minutes.

And it wasn’t really close after Michigan took control with a 9-0 run midway through the first half.

The Wolverines closed out the half with a 15-4 run to make it 36-21 and didn’t allow Purdue to get closer than 10 until Eric Hunter Jr. made a 19-footer to get Purdue within 58-49 with 1:31 left.

Michigan sealed the win by making 11 of 14 free throws in the final 90 seconds.

BIG PICTURE

Michigan: Coach Juwan Howard has the Wolverines heating up at just the right time. Not only are they winning games, but they’re also winning on the road in a conference where home-court advantage has been a huge factor all season.

Purdue: The Boilermakers’ NCAA Tournament hopes took another significant hit with this loss. And it was largely because of Purdue’s inconsistent offense. They scored 15 points in the first 15 minutes, shot just 28% from the field in the first half and wound up losing back-to-back games on their home court for the first time since 2013-14.

STAT PACK

Michigan: Jon Teske was 5 of 13 from the field and had 11 points after shooting 25.6% from the field in the previous five games. … Livers also had six rebounds, while Teske added five rebounds and four assists. … Wagner made thee 3-pointers on a day the Wolverines went 6 of 25 from beyond the arc, missing all eight 3s in the second half. … Zavier Simpson scored only four points but had seven rebounds and six assists. … The Wolverines have won four straight in the Purdue series.

Purdue: Two of the Boilermakers starters — Evan Boudreaux and Matt Haarms — didn’t score in the first half. Boudreaux finished with four points and 15 rebounds, his most since joining Purdue last season. Haarms had four points and three rebounds. … Purdue shot 39.7% from the field and was 4 of 16 on 3s, with Stefanovic accounting for three. … The Boilermakers came into the game averaging 77.6 points and giving up 59.8 points at home this season.

TOUGH DAY

Things got rugged quickly in the second half.

It started when Sasha Stefanovic tried to rip a rebound out of the hands of Simpson, who wound up on the ground briefly.

Fifteen seconds later, Michigan guard Eli Brooks and Purdue swingman Nojel Eastern had a head-to-head collision on an inbound play. Both left the game, but Brooks eventually walked to the locker room with a towel covering his face. He did not return.

Eastern did return but later had a ball bounce off his when Michigan tried to save the ball from going out of bounds.

UP NEXT

Michigan: Will try to extend its winning Thursday when Wisconsin visits Ann Arbor.

Purdue: Can complete a season sweep of rival Indiana on Thursday at Mackey.