Michigan 82, Purdue 70
Derrick Walton capped his Crisler career with a vintage performance. [Bryan Fuller]
"We're not done yet," said a triumphant Derrick Walton, addressing the Crisler Center crowd after a Senior Day victory over Purdue that all but locked in Michigan to a NCAA tournament bid.
The Wolverines looked the part of a team capable of making a run in March. They scored on their first possession against the current Big Ten leaders, getting a Moe Wagner layup off a Walton assist. Those two would lead the way in a game Michigan never trailed.
The matchup of Wagner and national player of the year candidate Caleb Swanigan took center stage in the first half. The German big man didn't just hold his own: he dominated. Forcing the burlier Swanigan to defend in space, Wagner poured in 22 first-half points, making five of six two-pointers and raining in four of his six three-point attempts. While Swanigan had an efficient nine points in the half, timely Michigan double-teams forced two turnovers, and he couldn't get the defense to collapse—the normally hot-shooting Boilermakers went only 5-for-16 on threes.
"That's just my guy, man," Walton said of Wagner. "I've got an absurd amount of respect for him. We go through [the pick-and-pop] so much in pregame, that's just our little thing. He knows where I'm at. I know where he's at. With a defense like that, I feel it was my priority to get him the ball in space."
Purdue adjusted in the second half, putting Vincent Edwards on Wagner and switching on every screen, but by then it was too late. Duncan Robinson's corner three-pointer sent Michigan into halftime with a 15-point lead, and the Wolverines would push the margin as high as 22 points before a last-gasp Boilermakers comeback made matters uncomfortable for a couple possessions.
Wagner scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half. [Fuller]
Fittingly, the seniors to play a huge role in fending off that comeback. Zak Irvin struggled to score again today, but he made his mark with a big defensive play, chasing down Carsen Edwards to force a fast break miss when Purdue had a chance to cut the lead to single digits. The Boilermakers subsequently got it to a six-point game with 2:14 to play. Walton ended the threat by ducking under Swanigan to hit leaning three-pointer that beat the shot clock and effectively ended the threat.
"I silently thanked God because there was no reason I should've made the shot," Walton said. "It was probably one of the worst possessions we had all game. You just kind of dribble the ball around for six seconds. It's just one of those times. We had a lot going against us this season. It was one of those moments where it was kind of 'okay then, we finally got a good bounce of the ball.'"
"I was actually about to chase it. It was not a good shot."
Walton finished with a very Walton stat line: 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting, 11 rebounds, five assists, no turnovers, and a steal. Robinson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman both finished in double figures on combined 7-for-9 shooting. DJ Wilson added nine points and a critical stint at center in the second half when Mark Donnal proved ineffective. Xavier Simpson got into the act, hitting both his field goals—a transition corner three and an eye-opening layup after driving past Swanigan—and dishing out a pair of assists.
Xavier Simpson gave the fans a taste of what's to come after Walton. [Fuller]
The team was in high spirits in the aftermath. Asked if Irvin cried, Walton couldn't help but laugh, then said loud enough for his fellow senior to hear, "I think he choked up on the mic. He did. I looked at him."
"No I didn't!" Irvin yelled from across the room.
They know there's still more to accomplish, however.
"We already experienced something like this where we've had some success," Walton said, referring to the wins at Madison Square Garden. "We want to show who we really are by consistently bringing the same effort."
"You've just got to spend a film session with me to know that they know they haven't punched any ticket," said John Beilein. "There's a lot of work to do. You don't know what can happen down the stretch here with teams that are trying to get in there."
Northwestern fits that description. Michigan will head to Evanston on Wednesday in the midst of their best stretch of basketball all season. The team we've seen the last few weeks could make quite a bit of noise in March. Today's win made it much more likely they'll get the chance to do so.
February 25th, 2017 at 7:35 PM ^
—the normally hot-shooting Boilermakers went only 5-for-16 on threes.
This Big Ten season has been an argument for the case that 3-point defense is largely random. After our opponents shot the lights out in the first 4-5 games of league play, things did in fact regress to the mean.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:28 PM ^
That early stretch was insane, when teams were hitting close to 50% from 3. But like, Purdue shoots about 40% from 3 on the season, and had they hit one more today they'd be on that mark. What helped was Purdue usually shoots about 24 3s a game, but Michigan was able to stick out at the perimeter because Mo and Wilson were able to limit Swanigan inside with only minimal double-teams, and thus not allow the Boilermakers to get those open looks they thrive on.
February 25th, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^
If not for TV Teddy, this team would be in the midst of a 6 (!) game win streak to end the season.
February 25th, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^
Still, 5 of 6 is pretty good and if we win out heading into the BTT, we could pop up to a 6 or 7 seed. Much nicer than an 8 or 9.
February 25th, 2017 at 7:47 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 7:49 PM ^
Sweet 16 team.
February 25th, 2017 at 7:51 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:04 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:31 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:56 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 10:42 PM ^
very slightly positive, essentially negligible though. We played Iowa for 71 possessions so the extent to which those 71 possessions look "better" in the eyes of the formula slightly outweighs the negative effect on the.62 possessions we played Maryland.
February 25th, 2017 at 7:59 PM ^
Swanigan & Haas had 11 combined.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:01 PM ^
He's the best rebounding small guard I can remember. Amazing.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:09 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:14 PM ^
galaxy
February 25th, 2017 at 9:13 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 9:34 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^
Michigan finishes the regular season a perfect 4-0 against the state of Indiana in football and basketball.
On the other end of the spectrum, MSU finished 0-4 against our neighbors to the Southwest.
February 25th, 2017 at 11:15 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:01 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:01 PM ^
and peaking at just the right time. The team we saw today could do some serious damage in the tournament.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:12 PM ^
we might be a really tough out.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 10:45 PM ^
Did you also think Jabrill Peppers might be our best football player?
February 25th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:51 PM ^
Yes--it's pretty shameless to pat yourself on the back twice in a row!
February 25th, 2017 at 9:39 PM ^
February 26th, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
February 26th, 2017 at 9:06 AM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:03 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:06 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^
Credit for owning up to it.
I was not quite that down on the team, but it was not looking good after that game against OSU. That felt like a season-killer. Love how they've responded.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:29 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:35 PM ^
I don't blame people for being down on the team a couple of weeks ago. Like you said, glad they have been able to string together some nice games like this.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:08 PM ^
As with Beilein teams in the past, if they are hitting shots from deep, it can be very, very hard to beat Michigan. They just bomb you over and over and there's very little an opposing team can do. I, like many others, left this team for dead after the Ohio State loss. It's a credit to Beilein and the leadership of the players who got them to rebound that they will be heading to the tournament (barring a catastrophe).
February 25th, 2017 at 8:24 PM ^
There's more to this team than just 3-point shooting. We shot 11-26 (42.3%) from 3 today, which is solid but hardly out of this world.
What really tells the tale for this team is how we shoot inside the arc. When we are getting points at the rim, that's when our offense is humming, and we win. This is where Wagner is so critical, because he's a matchup nightmare for opposing 5s - they can't stay in front of him on his drives. When Wagner is on the floor for 25+ minutes, we've won almost every game.
Wilson is also quite good at putting the ball on the floor. I feel like he needs to look for the drive a little more often.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:40 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 11:58 PM ^
both our bigs present incredible matchup problems because they can shoot from the outside, which forces bigs to come out on them (and which they usually won't do like Purdue didn't in the first half). When the bigs do come out, DJ and Mo can both take it to the hole - Wagner masterfully so.
And this all opens things up for dribble drives or back cuts for everyone else. It's a beautiful offense - and runs great with our top 6 players all being very skilled offensive players (ecept maybe Irvin).
February 26th, 2017 at 10:28 AM ^
Attack with the basketball! This is what I am finally seeing from these guys. Early in the season they were painful to watch. 5 guys standing around 25 feet from the basket waiting for a 3-pointer. To see the confidence growing, especially from Wagner and Wilson, to take the ball to the hoop, is heartening.
February 25th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
February 26th, 2017 at 2:31 AM ^
Bonn Scott days!
February 26th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
February 25th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^
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