Michigan 75, Purdue 66, Big Ten Tournament Champs
BIG NASTY. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Four wins. Four days. A trophy.
Old hat.
For the second straight year, Michigan pulled off the improbable and ran through the best the Big Ten had to offer for a conference tournament championship. They sealed it this evening by running away from Purdue, which never held a lead after the game's opening three minutes. The big, bad Boilermakers could only stay at arm's length, then the Wolverines laid the hammer down in an incredible second half only marred by some late free-throw trouble that never put the outcome in serious doubt.
Just about everything John Beilein touched turned to gold; he outdueled Purdue's Matt Painter in what's been the Big Ten's most intricately fascinating coaching matchup the last two years. Painter chose to hedge hard against the ballhandler on high screens in the first half; while Michigan went 3-for-11 on mostly wide-open threes, they drew Purdue's towering big men far from the hoop—the Wolverines went 13-for-19 inside the arc and didn't have a shot blocked or commit a turnover.
Much of that was due to the stellar play of Jon Teske, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the first-half minutes after Beilein gave Wagner the usual break following his first foul. Teske was a force on both ends and Beilein let him ride for 12 first-half minutes. Teske rewarded his coach's faith with dunks off the pick-and-roll, increasingly lengthy midrange shots off the pick-and-pop, a thunderous block, and a stellar late defensive posseession on an otherwise dominant Isaac Haas, who picked up a cheap frustration foul in response.
"I really have no words to explain," said Teske.
Big lights. Little dude. Huge buckets. [Campredon]
Zavier Simpson was masterful on both ends as well. His chemistry with Teske created multiple open baskets. He got the hoop with regularity and finished. When Purdue overplayed him on screens, he generated wide open looks for Michigan's shooters. He played lockdown defense on Purdue's best perimeter player, Carsen Edwards, who went only 3-for-9 in the first half.
"He's a pit bull," said Beilein. "We have a picture of a big, mean pit bull in our locker room for every game. And he is that guy. He's one that loves to play defense."
"Muhammad and I just wanted to come out and set the tone," said Simpson. "We wanted to play great defense from the start so our energy could be contagious. And as you've seen, others followed."
While the Wovlerines went into the break up 38-33, however, it felt like they'd missed a golden opportunity to blow the game open. The announcers, and most everyone else, felt a tight finish coming.
That did not happen. Painter chose not to continue playing with fire on screens, switching them to prevent open looks instead of sticking with the aggressive hedging approach. After a few forced shots over Haas, Simpson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman ruthlessly attacked the basket, combining for 15 second-half points and five assists.
"It takes a long time to sort of build up the substance to your team that can persevere and just won't give in," said Beilein. "They won't give in to fatigue. They won't give in to momentum changes. They just stick in there."
"You always learn something when you play them," said Painter. "And you fix something. As a coach you think you've got them figured out, you don't have them figured out."
Wagner was all smiles in the second half. [Campredon]
Moe Wagner, with his mother watching from the stands, removed any doubt of the outcome. His 4-for-5 second-half performance featured a Dirk-like turnaround fallaway three as the shot clock expired, a blow-by layup, and another triple right in the grill of Matt Haarms. He did more than just score; he led the break after a steal then hit a trailing MAAR for a big three, and he battled hard on the boards, helping M limit Purdue to three offensive rebounds after they'd pulled down seven in the first half.
"Those guards are good but not everybody has a guy like Wagner that can stick 3s, drive the ball, and play with passion," said Painter.
Then Duncan Robinson got a thunderblock on Carsen Edwards and Zavier Simpson slipped a beautiful pass to Teske for a posterizing dunk on Haas, and the party was on. Michigan stretched the lead as far as 18 before a too-little, too-late Purdue run got them as close as seven while the Wolverines scuffled at the charity stripe. That's a concern for later.
For now, Michigan is once again on a tear heading into the NCAA Tournament, and today's championship may well have locked up a three-seed. John Beilein is a wizard.
Back-to-back champs. [Campredon]
[Hit THE JUMP for more photos and the box score.]
Marc-Gregor's full 199-photo album, which I cannot recommend enough, is posted on Flickr.
What an incredible run and an amazing team. Go Blue!
Requesting a gif of Z mean muggin' in the second half. It was stellar. You know the one, going into commercial. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Edit: Delhiwolverine already clipped it. NEEDS THE GIF! WANTS THE GIF!
Edit2: Ace already giffed it. Nothing gets by Ace.
People were talking in the 10-8 / 11-7 neighborhood.
Counting the BTT, we finished 17-5.
In my mind, we beat Purdue twice this year.
To be fair he's been playing on a bad ankle and it's not been going well, especially 3 straight days on it.
It was. I didn't even know a foul had been called until Teske went to the line.
It was. I didn't even know a foul had been called until Teske went to the line.
McGary nearly brought the whole Georgia Dome down with that dunk.
Thanks Ace. This team and your arrangements of words made it much fun.
that assessment. Who is better?
You must not read the game threads. Michigan could go on a 90-game winning streak, and there'd still be somebody criticizing every player for every mistake and talking about how frustrating it is to watch a Beilein-coached team play basketball.
But... let's worry about December in December. March -- and, God willing and the creek don't rise :) -- April have just begun.
Go Blue!
Maizen is in Bolivia, so we won't have much of that anymore
What a shame. I was really hoping for another thread about how Beilein is overpaid.
Speaking of salaries, Jon Sanderson (basketball S&C coach) has certainly earned his. Two years running we ran the gauntlet of four games in four days. Our conditioning level is amazing.
Wisely! After that game, I foolishly thought we had enjoyed the season-defining highlight for Michigan. A trouncing of our chief rival on their floor in their precious sport with their most talented team and a #2 ranking! I considered the rest of the season to be gravy. I was short-sighted, that was just the first of two demolitions of (again) #2 Sparty. And then, we follow it up to beat the team that most rational peeople considered to be the true cream of the B1G in COMMANDING fashion. Great summary Ace. Amazing that we led pretty much the entire game; the 2nd half was not close. The announcers were dumbfounded. And you know what, I distinctly remember them being dumbfounded last year. No one seems to want to recognize what a great team we have, last year or this year. But... the results speak for themselves! Michigan basketball is an elite program. Let that sink in, and I mean it. Michigan bball is elite!
...that was just another video of Sparty slapping the floor.
Yes, We can have nice things...onward and upward!
can't wait for all the gifs!
history of not doing that great in the tournament, we could very well see them again.
Succinct and insightful recaps.
Hail.
Any way we can just get the NCAA to schedule the tournament to be played in consecutive days starting tomorrow?....No? I'd like our odds if we could just play 6 more games in a row
Also, like the Heininger Certainty Principle, is it time to unveil the Beilein Certainty Principle? His teams may disappoint in the fall, but will be on a roll come March
"Beilien Certainty Principle."
SCIENCE!
I like the Beilein Certainty Principle even better.
E before I both times.
Gotta get Livers healthy first.
and maybe spend a few days practicing free throws...
This team has so many ways it can beat you. It really is impressive. Tough, tough out. Theyve left little doubt who the best team in the B1G was by seasons end.
Wagner was our leading scorer despite playing only 17 minutes.
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