Michigan Basketball: Wolverines knock out Purdue with elite defense

Michigan basketball landed a sizable victory in West Lafayette on Friday night to maintain its lead atop the heavyweight Big Ten conference.

From start to finish the Wolverines were able to puff their chests out by sustaining strong play all the way throughout the contest. They went into one of the toughest venues inside the conference and came out victorious on the other end. Not many teams can say that when they visit the confines of Mackey arena in almost any year.

Michigan’s defense seized the day with a performance that will be lauded by analysts who cover the sport nationwide.

The Wolverines held Trevion Williams in check and didn’t let the Boilermakers catch fire from beyond the arc. It also helped that Purdue’s sharpshooter Sasha Stefanovic missed the game because of a positive test for COVID-19.

Purdue shot a measly 31% from the floor and a woeful 16% from deep. That was the story of the night as Michigan never let the Boilermakers get within striking distance. Purdue hit on only two 3-pointers and could have desperately used the threat of Stefanovic to keep the outcome of this one a little tighter on the scoreboard.

Isaiah Livers notched 39 minutes on the hardwood and he made every single one of them count. He scored 22, along with grabbing 10 boards as he continued his lights out shooting from the charity stripe to add to the list. Livers shot 50% on the evening and drilled three of five from downtown. That’s now back to back games with 20 plus points for the senior stalwart.

Hunter Dickinson seems to have hit the proverbial freshman wall since the Minnesota loss. Luckily it didn’t cost the Wolverines in the last two as he is still working through some kinks to try and return to his prior form.

Getting his game back to full strength has got to be a sticking point for Juwan Howard and the coaching staff moving onward.  When that occurs, then Michigan basketball could be unbeatable if everyone else pulls their weight.

When Livers, Dickinson and Franz Wagner do what they are capable of doing, then Michigan is a legitimate final four club without question.

They are efficient enough on both sides of the spectrum that they can put themselves into position to win a lot more games on the upcoming nightmare of a schedule that beckons them.

Next up is a rescheduled matchup with Penn State on Wednesday in Happy Valley. It will allow the maize and blue to have a full 25 game docket that they were originally supposed to have pending any issues with covid-19 of course.

Indiana rounds out 2021’s first month next Saturday inside Crisler arena before the gauntlet of the Big Ten arrives in February.