Michigan basketball steamrolled by Purdue, 91-64, in primetime showdown: 'They punked us'

Michigan basketball steamrolled by Purdue, 91-64, in primetime showdown: ‘They punked us’

Posted by author January 25, 2025 Basketball

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The bad news for Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May is he’s never been a “burn the tape” guy.

If he had been, what happened Friday night for the No. 20 Wolverines against No. 12 Purdue would’ve been well worth throwing into a bonfire and forgetting all about; as the night was an abject disaster from start to finish en route to a 91-64 loss to the Boilermakers.

“Begin by giving Purdue credit, they set the rules of engagement from the very first possession,” May said. “Hopefully we look back as this is a fork in the road where we go in the right direction, learn from this and keep it moving.”

U-M trailed by double figures less than four minutes into the game and was down by more than 20 just more than 10 minutes in, as the Boilermakers wiped the floor with the Wolverines in Mackey Arena. Purdue had nearly tripled up U-M, 44-15, with less than six minutes to play in the half, and the stats backed up the scoreboard (and the eye test).

With 5:29 to play, Purdue had more points (16) off of U-M’s nine turnovers than U-M had scored, with the Boilermakers putting together three separate runs of 13-2, 12-0 and 12-2 to leave the result in no doubt.

Michigan cleaned little up at the break, finishing with 22 giveaways — its most this season, topping the 21 given away in Game 3 vs. TCU — and surrendering 29 points off turnovers.

“Turnovers obviously is a theme,” May said. “We’re loose, we’re casual. We’ve got, you know, I’ll credit Purdue. For example, the pace of their cuts, the angles and physicality which they screen with, they create advantages and play off those advantages.

“I don’t think we played well in any facet. … those (guys) lose here every couple years for a reason, so it’s more the competitive spirit that we didn’t play with that’s the most disappointing.”

All-Big Ten point guard Braden Smith lived up to his billing, knifing through U-M’s defense for 24 points, 10 assists and seve3n rebounds while Fletcher Loyer added 18 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn chipped in 15 points.

Vladislav Goldin led Michigan with 14 points and Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Tre Donaldson added 11 apiece, but this game was all but over from the tip — an unusual feeling for a team that had only dropped four contests all year, all by one possession.

Michigan (14-5, 7-2 Big Ten) will look to bounce back Monday against Penn State at Crisler Center (6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

Michigan miscues

The tone was set literally from the first possession.

After U-M won the tip, Tre Donaldson made a bad pass 13 seconds in, which led to a steal and layup on the other end. On the next possession, Donaldson was immediately tied up, and the possession arrow went the other way before Kaufman-Renn added an offensive rebound and bucket and Smith made a floater to go up 6-0.

After a Burnett layup got U-M on the board, the Boilermakers took off thanks to U-M giveaways. Rubin Jones picked up an offensive foul on one end before Kaufman-Renn made a hookshot over Goldin on the other end.

On the next trip down, C.J. Cox picked Donaldson’s pocket and finished a layup on the other end before a bad pass from Danny Wolf led to yet another run out and 3-pointer from Cox from the left wing to go up, 13-2.

“I thought our ball pressure was the difference to start with,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Jarring them, getting a couple steals at half court, a couple picks sixes that got us going. … Then they never really got into what they’re doing.

“They did, but they didn’t … your defense has got to help you and I think our defense helped us tonight.”

After a May timeout, U-M put together a few buckets to get back within eight, 17-9, before another Purdue run. Kaufman-Renn hit a hook over Goldin, then Myles Colvin drilled a 3 from the corner — the Boilermakers’ seventh consecutive make.

Less than a minute later, Loyer hit a 3, Smith drilled a jumper from the elbow and then Smith threw a lob in transition over Gayle for A Camden Heide slam to go up 29-9. It only got worse.

Burnett sandwiched a pair of buckets at the rim around a Raleigh Burgess 3 as Purdue went on yet another 12-2 run; a 3-pointer by Loyer, a layup by Smith and seven points from the free throw line to make it 44-15 with 5:29 left.

“I mean they just came out and punked us with offensive rebounds,” Burnett said. “Getting physical with us as we were trying to run through sets, pressuring the ball and things like that. The physicality of the game, we have to impose, especially on the road against a team that just lost the previous one.”

Michigan recovered, slightly, with a quick 6-0 spurt, only for Smith to make a layup then throw a lob to Caleb Furst for a slam. U-M outscored Purdue 11-7 over the final 5:14 to go into the break only down 25.

Purdue had an 18-2 lead in points off turnovers, a 13-2 advantage in fast-break points and 20-14 lead on the glass. In case that wasn’t enough, U-M made just 1 of 16 3-pointers (6.3%) in the opening 20 minutes.

Try and make it respectable

After Gayle scored the first six points of the second half for the Wolverines, Wolf found Goldin for a slam and all of a sudden, U-M had trimmed its deficit to 55-34.

Michigan’s defense even forced Purdue to miss four straight shots, but it wasn’t enough; Burgess drained another 3 and then Colvin stole the ball from Wolf and finished at the other end to make it a 26-point deficit again.

That began yet another spurt for the Boilermakers as part of six straight field goals.

The ultimate humiliation: After Goldin lost a handle on the ball with about 12½ minutes to go, Smith took it cost-to-coast and finished a finger roll as he stuck out his tongue and flexed his muscles to a standing ovation. It was all window dressing from that point on.

U-M’s turnovers continued to pile up, as Donaldson was subbed out with his sixth giveaway midway through the second half, and Wolf forced a bounce-pass along the backdoor which was stoled, U-M’s fourth turnover in 3:13 of action and its 17th on the night.

“We didn’t respond well,” May said. “Once things went poorly we tried to go get it by ourselves. I don’t think our intent was bad, I just think that’s the experience. When that happens, we’ve got to really focus on doing it together, taking what the game gives us and not trying to make individual plays.”

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.