2019-20 purdue #1

1 hour and 28 minutes

The Sponsors

We can do this because people support us. You should support them! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be writing for The Athletic if we're lucky.

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1. Hoops vs Minnesota

starts at 1:00

Michigan's worst defensive game in a very long time. Teske got run by Cockburn, Williams, Garza, and Oturu—just not Tillman. Marcus Carr is finishing through Teske's chest in this game. Why aren't they doubling? Especially in this game? Other things: Wagner finding a groove, still can't muscle guys. He's not a 4: guy Livers should have been guarding can muscle a freshman Wagner. Eli has to hit his open threes or they need to let DDJ start. Juwan's stubbornly sticking to his rotation despite ample evidence at this point that Nunez can't be out there.

2. Hot Takes and Purdue

starts at 27:02

Let C.J. cook! Trevion Williams puts up a career game, as one does. Teske made it difficult-ish on Williams, who had the game of his life. But if you're going to double off anyone it's the team with Aaron Wheeler and Nojel Eastern. Losing Haarms opens the door for Michigan to run their three-guard lineup, and Simpson goes 8/8 of two after that. Both teams were turning it over at first then it became a pretty good game. It looks like a Beilein team now.

3. Gimmicky Top Five: Most Terrifying Things in the Big Ten This Year

starts at 45:34

Rutgers. Let the peacock fly! That joke this week man. I would like to see Michigan not give up career highs to every center they face. Is it fun or horrifying to cover a Big Ten this good? Ibi Watson is shooting 49% on threes.

4. Ace's Hockey Podcast

starts at 1:12:50

Sweep of Notre Dame that felt like all the rest of their games this year except the result. Straus Mann is a good goalie (ND has one too)! Big Ten has one team that's talented, Wisconsin, and they're terrible on defense. Recruiting is better than basketball.

MUSIC:

• "Tired of Being Along"—Al Green
• "Make a Change"—Durand Jones & The Indications
• "War is Coming (If You Want It)"–Car Seat Headrest
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS:

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

If you come back for your senior year you might get to see Nana again.

1/9/2019 – Michigan 84, Purdue 78 (2 OT) – 11-4, 2-2 Big Ten

"Survive and advance" is the kind of thing people say in March after a 13 seed gives their team the business for 35 minutes and then skids to a halt just short of the finish line. As bits of conventional wisdom go, it's actually not bad. You're locked in a 68-team tournament with a bunch of opponents who are also pretty good. There's no such thing as a bad tourney win. Yes, even that one against Montana.

Michigan just played a 2 OT game in which six guys got more than eight minutes. We are in survive and advance mode. Every time Michigan poked their nose in front late your author had a thought bubble appear above his head. In it, his friend Jerry popped up, said "survive and advance!," and then muttered something about Huddersfield Town FC your author tried to ignore.

This is a comedown from annihilating Gonzaga to win Poseidon's Trident but I've mostly made my peace with it. Sugarplum dreams of this team being elite have given way to some harsh realities. Michigan is pretty short and not particularly athletic and the preseason expectations were closer to right than bouncing up to the #4 team in the country. The Big Ten is a ball of knives. We are barreling towards the first-ever NCAA tournament with Rutgers but not North Carolina.

Every game is a swing game, except one. Kenpom gives Michigan a 92% shot at beating Nebraska at home just before the season's end. They do not have an 80%+ shot in any other game. Nor do they have an insurmountable task. Games at OSU and Maryland sandwiching the Nebraska game are 26% and 29% shots. Everything else is in coinflip land. There are no bad wins from here on out, especially when Michigan is down its most efficient offensive player and one of three defensive cornerstones.

Did we win? Good. No further questions.

[After THE JUMP: Further questions!]

This was not your standard KenPom cover.

Michigan overcame the continued absence of Isaiah Livers, a titanic performance from Trevion Williams, another woeful shooting night from beyond the arc, untimely missed free throws, and getting hammered on the glass to beat Purdue in double overtime, 84-78.

It took a wild sequence of events to even reach overtime. Williams, having the game of his life, beat the shot clock with a contested stepback three-pointer—his second made triple of the season—to give Purdue a late one-point edge. Zavier Simpson responded by splitting a screen and hitting a difficult layup over Williams for the tie. Williams hit right back with a drop step spin move that caused a Jon Teske goaltend. After a Michigan timeout, Simpson maneuvered by a Teske screen and snuck a finish under Williams from the left side to knot it back up. On the final possession of regulation, Franz Wagner blocked Williams from behind after he appeared to be alone under the hoop for a buzzer-beating layup.

you're kidding me right [Campredon]

The first overtime saw Simpson go back-and-forth with Williams. The final two baskets of the session were a Williams post finish off his seemingly unstoppable spin move and Simpson blowing by the entire Purdue defense for a lefty layup. After an impressive David DeJulius stop on Eric Hunter Jr. that may have featured a missed shot clock violation, Simpson nearly ended the proceedings with a halfcourt bank shot that rimmed out.

Those who survived to see the second overtime received some respite as Michigan was able to build a lead for the first time all game. Teske completed an and-one from DeJulius, Simpson drilled a spot-up three, DeJulius found Wagner in the corner for another from long range, and Michigan opened up a nine-point gap before the Boilermakers scored their first point of the period. When Purdue responded with a quick four-point run, DDJ canned a stepback jumper, then he and Simpson iced the game at the line. I have skipped over multiple protracted and useless reviews for the sake of narrative and sanity.

This was not an easy watch. Williams was practically unstoppable, posting career highs with 36 points and 20 rebounds with two assists, a block, no turnovers, and only two fouls in 44 physical minutes. On offense, at least, he more than made up for the sudden absence of fellow big man Matt Haarms, who left the game in the first half with an upper body injury and did not return. Meanwhile, Michigan made only five of their first 26 three-pointers before going two-for-three in the second overtime.

NEIN [Campredon]

But Purdue received little in the way of secondary scoring. All 14 of Isaiah Thompson's points came in a surprising second-half burst, while Hunter went 4-for-14 from the field on his journey to ten points. Simpson took advantage of Haarms's absence with repeated forays to the rim, scoring 22 points and making all nine of his two-point attempts in addition to handing out nine assists; all but four of his points came after halftime.

Teske was no slouch himself, tallying 18 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and a steal in 39 minutes while being tasked with guarding the 270-pound Williams one-on-one with little to no help. The strategy eventually paid off when Michigan's shooting finally came around late; it was generally sound, too, as Purdue couldn't crack a point per possession.

The game featured 17 lead changes, 11 ties, and no lead greater than five points by either team until the second overtime. You are right to feel emotionally exhausted.

The win draws Michigan level in the Big Ten standings at 2-2 while also moving them ahead of the Boilermakers, who drop to 2-3. While they'll need to overcome a quick turnaround and the near-impossibility of winning on the road in the Big Ten this year, they'll move above .500 if they can beat Minnesota in The Barn on Sunday.

Try to at least regain your breath before then.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]