2016-17 purdue

There's too much from this tournament run to cram into one GIFs post, so I'm splitting it into two parts; today's covers the Illinois and Purdue games. The glut of quality GIFs is due in no small part to Fred Wright-Jones, who emerged over the tournament as the heir apparent to Andrew Dakich's role as King of the Bench Mob. You can see him above mirroring Zak Irvin's dunk from the end of the bench. There's much more where that came from.

[Hit THE JUMP for the best moments from the Illinois and Purdue wins.]



Now for a cheer they are here, triumphant. [Paul Sherman]

I'm still not sure how that happened.

Almost everything that went right for Michigan in their regular-season win over Purdue went wrong today. Moe Wagner didn't make a shot from the field and spent most of the game on the bench with foul trouble. John Beilein got so frustrated with the officiating that he picked up a rare technical. Derrick Walton had his worst game of the last month or so. The Wolverines had more than twice as many turnovers (13) as assists (six) or made three-pointers (also six, on 25 attempts). Isaac Haas brutalized Michigan's big men. The clock operator Spartan Bob'd Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman out of a potential game-winning steal and layup at the end of regulation. Purdue even hit a buzzer-beating halfcourt heave, because after all, this is the Big Ten Tournament.

Somehow, they persevered. DJ Wilson made up for Wagner's extended absence by scoring 18 of his game-high 26 in the first half, taking advantage of Purdue's big men defending in space like Wagner did the first time around. Zak Irvin alternated great and awful possessions but came up huge down the stretch, tying the game on a layup with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation. He got to the basket twice more for the only field goals either team made in the overtime session until a desperate Purdue heave with two seconds remaining. Irvin finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and his defense was once again a huge positive.



DJ Wilson was on his game. The arena was on brand. [Sherman]

Haas and Swanigan feasted on the interior, especially the former, who went 8-for-10 from the field to net 17 points in just 15 minutes. Swanigan made 5-of-10 twos, dished out five assists, and pulled down 13 rebounds; he also missed all three shots from beyond the arc and committed four turnovers before fouling out in overtime. Michigan overcame their struggles in the paint with excellent perimeter defense. While Purdue shot 42% on threes, they could only get 19 looks, and their primary sharpshooters were shut down; Ryan Cline was 1-for-2 while Dakota Mathias had a rough 1-for-8 performance.

Free throws ended up as the deciding factor. The Boilermakers were 6-for-13; Michigan went 18-for-23. PJ Thompson's miss on the front end of a one-and-one led to Irvin's tying layup at the end of regulation. In overtime, Walton and Duncan Robinson were able to keep the game just out of reach with perfect trips to the line.

With that, Michigan's incredible, unlikely, bizarre week continued. Despite being the eight-seed, they may very well be the Big Ten Tournament favorite from here on out; they're the only team to beat Purdue over the last ten games and they've done it twice. The Wolverines await the winner of Michigan State and Minnesota in the game currently being played on ESPN. They'll have plenty of motivation in the semifinal either way. Getting off the 8/9 seed line would be huge for their hopes of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament; if they didn't accomplish that today, another win might do it.

THE ESSENTIALS

WHAT #25 Michigan (21-11, 10-8 B1G) vs

#14 Purdue (25-6, 14-4)
WHERE A Half-Full Arena

Washington DC
WHEN Noon ET, Friday
LINE Purdue -2 (KenPom)

Purdue -2.5 (Vegas)
TV ESPN

PBP: Dave Flemming

Analyst: Dan Dakich

Right: Purdue couldn't hang with Michigan on Senior Day. [Bryan Fuller]

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THE US

If you missed it, the Illinois recap is here.

Michigan's normal uniforms may still be on the crashed plane, so it's looking like they'll be outfitted in their practice jerseys again tomorrow:

I'm all for wearing these the rest of the tourney regardless of the availability of the regular uniforms.

THE LAST TIME

The lone matchup between these teams in the regular season came on Senior Day at Crisler. The battle of the big men took center stage, and Michigan won it with authority despite an 18-point evening by Caleb Swanigan. Michigan's five-out offense forced Swanigan into an uncomfortable role on defense; Moe Wagner scored 24 points in 27 minutes, going 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Isaac Haas, meanwhile, was forced to sit for most of the game because Michigan could exploit him and Swanigan in space to the point that Purdue was forced into switching on every screen.

Derrick Walton, Duncan Robinson, and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman also finished in double figures for Michigan. Purdue got a strong boost from freshman wing Carsen Edwards, who was benched heading into the game in favor of Ryan Cline; Edwards scored 18, the only time in the last six games he's posted double-digit points.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos. # Name Yr. Ht./Wt. %Min %Poss ORtg SIBMIHHAT
G 11 PJ Thompson Jr. 5'10, 185 70 12 130 Not At All
Very efficient, low-usage PG. Majority of shots are threes. Strong defender.

First matchup: 27 mins, 7 pts (3/4 2P, 0/1 3P), 2 reb, 1 to
G 14 Ryan Cline So. 6'5, 190 46 12 120 Not At All
Just A Shooter™, makes 41% of his threes.

First matchup: 26 mins, 2 pts (1/2 2P, 0/2 3P), 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl
G 31 Dakota Mathias Jr. 6'4, 200 77 15 125 Not At All
Three-point sniper is 2nd B1G in eFG%. Good assist rate but has turnover issues.

First machup: 31 mins, 4 pts (2/4 2P, 0/2 3P), 4 reb (1 off), 2 ast, 1 stl
F 12 Vincent Edwards Jr. 6'8, 225 71 21 120 Not At All
Does a bit of everything on offense, good defender.

First matchup: 38 mins, 13 pts (5/9 2P, 0/1 3P), 5 reb (2 off), 3 ast, 1 to, 1 blk, 1 stl
F 50 Caleb Swanigan So. 6'9, 250 79 28 115 Not At All
NPOY candidate. Beast in post, three-point range, great rebounder.

First matchup: 31 mins, 18 pts (7/8 2P, 1/3 3P), 5 reb (2 off), 5 to
C 44 Isaac Haas Jr. 7'2, 290 49 30 106 Very
Behemoth. Strong post scorer, rebounder, shot-blocker.

First matchup: 11 mins, 8 pts (4/10 2P), 6 reb (3 off), 1 to
G 3 Carsen Edwards Fr. 6'0, 190 58 25 94 No
Solid outside shooter, poor finisher. Can be turnover-prone.

First matchup: 24 mins, 18 pts (3/8 2P, 4/6 3P), 4 reb (2 off), 1 ast, 2 to, 1 stl
G 55 Spike Albrecht Sr. 6'0, 180 25 10 115 Yes*
Still not right after hip stuff. Tiny usage, only 5-for-24 on threes this year.

First matchup: 12 mins, 0 pts (0/1 3P), 2 ast

*Man, that still hurts to type.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the preview.]