Michigan Basketball vs. Purdue: How to Watch, What to Know
Michigan basketball has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against the Purdue Boilermakers. Here’s how you can watch and what you need to know.
We can officially say Michigan basketball is on a run in the Big Ten Tournament. After beating Northwestern in overtime and then upsetting Indiana in a thriller, the Wolverines will meet Purdue on Saturday in the first semifinal game.
Related Story: Kam Chatman beats buzzer, stuns Indiana
This is the fourth time a John Beilein team at Michigan has made it this far in a conference tournament.
First of all, let’s relive how Michigan got to this point.
On Thursday afternoon the Wolverines met Northwestern for the second time this season. The Wildcats made a push at the end and used an Alex Olah offensive board and put-back to send the game into overtime.
Duncan Robinson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 70, and then Zak Irvin hit the go-ahead jumper with three seconds left to give Michigan the win.
Highlights:
On Friday the Wolverines faced another must-win game, and it was against an Indiana team that had beaten them badly earlier in the season.
Derrick Walton Jr. recorded a Big Ten Tournament single-game record 12 assists, and Kameron Chatman hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining.
Highlights:
Now Michigan has the Boilermakers, who beat Illinois, 89-58, on Friday afternoon.
The Basics
Who: No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 8 Michigan
When: Saturday, March 12 @ 1 p.m. ET
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
TV: CBS
Stream: CBSSports.com
Line: Purdue -6.5
A Few Things to Know
1. Purdue runs a very efficient offense
The Boilermakers are one of the few teams left in the country that actually prefers to throw the ball into the post to a traditional big man.
A.J. Hammons (7-foot) is ranked in the top 10 of just about every imaginable statistic; he’s the heart of Purdue’s offense and had 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting against Illinois. Isaac Haas (7-foot-2) will also get in on the fun and would be putting up much better numbers if Hammons wasn’t in front of him.
Purdue ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten in offensive efficiency (113.2 points per 100 possessions) and effective field goal percentage (52.9 percent). The Boilermakers are also a good 3-point shooting team, but only 31.8 percent of their shots come from behind the arc.
2. Purdue hits the glass hard
Because the Boilermakers almost always feature at least one 7-footer on the floor at any given time, along with a 6-foot-9 Caleb Swanigan, Purdue doesn’t struggle on the boards. The Boilers only let teams get a second chance on 22.2 percent of their misses (No. 1), and they rebound their own misses 36.1 percent of the time (No. 2).
3. Michigan has proven it can beat Purdue at its own game
There’s no doubt that when Purdue is able to do what it does best—rebound, be physical in the paint, disrupt shots—it’s one of the best teams in the Big Ten. That’s what made Michigan’s 61-56 upset of the Boilermakers earlier this season very weird.
The Wolverines out-rebounded Purdue, 39-35, and also pulled down four more offensive rebounds, and they outscored the Boilermakers in the paint by spreading them out effectively.
Another big factor in the upset was that Michigan attempting 22 free throws on the night. The Wolverines hardly ever get to the line, but they were doing it against Purdue.
More wolverines: Spring position preview: running backs
Defensively the Wolverines decided to not resort to hard double-teams on Hammons and Haas, but instead let Mark Donnal and Ricky Doyle go one-on-one, with occasional help from sagging defenders. That strategy worked for the most part; Michigan’s bigs held their own and shooters weren’t sitting wide open because of double teams.