Michigan Basketball Controls Purdue In Great Senior Night Performance
It was a senior night to remember as Michigan basketball stunned the first-place Purdue Boilermakers in a great 82-70 performance at the Crisler Center.
It was a huge night for Michigan basketball as they took on the No. 14 Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday. Not only was it senior night, but it was a game that could all but secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a win. Michigan quickly showed it was up to the challenge.
Related Story: Michigan could secure tournament bid with Purdue win
The first half was all Michigan. Caleb Swanigan and Purdue struggled against the Wolverines’ offense, especially a dominant Moritz Wagner and Derrick Walton. Wagner was nearly unstoppable on offense, sinking four three-pointers to take advantage of some seemingly lazy Purdue defense.
Meanwhile, Walton was in a triple-double watch after the first half, sinking some clutch three-pointers himself and running the court when he needed to. Both he and Wagner led Michigan to a 45-30 halftime lead.
Purdue wasn’t going to make it easy, though. The Boilermakers came into the second half strong. The Purdue defense switched on everything, slowing down Michigan’s offense and forcing it to attempt some bad shots. Things looked even worse as Wagner picked up his third foul of the game with 16 minutes left to play.
Yet even with Wagner on the bench, the Wolverines continued to control the game with some great defense. Even Duncan Robinson was playing very good defense against the best team in the Big Ten. During this portion of the game, Michigan actually expanded its lead to 22 points.
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It would continue to be a struggle, though. Purdue is not an easy team to put down. Even with Wagner back on the court, the Boilermakers made a run to put the game back within 6 points in the closing minutes. Thanks to some clutch free throw shooting and more defensive effort, Michigan managed to take the game back for an 82-70 victory. Senior walk-on Sean Lonergan even got some action in the last minute of his last game at the Crisler Center.
Derrick Walton finished the game with his third double-double of the year, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He also had 5 rebounds. Wagner scored 24 points in the game, 22 of which came in that dominant first half. He also played a huge role in shutting down Caleb Swanigan and forcing him into 5 turnovers.
Xavier Simpson continued to show improvement in the minutes he was on the court. He had 7 points on two field goal attempts, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in his limited minutes, as well as his usual solid defensive contributions.
Zak Irvin continued to struggle on his senior night, only scoring 4 points and grabbing 2 rebounds. Luckily for Michigan, he didn’t need to step up much.
Next: Michigan plays to competition's level
With this impressive win over a top-15 team, Michigan should have punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. However, the Wolverines will want to overcome their last games at Northwestern and Nebraska just to be sure.