Roughly two weeks ago Michigan basketball got clobbered back to reality with its worst loss of the season. On Tuesday night they exercised some of those demons to claim first place in the Big Ten, with a little help from Indiana and only four weeks to go on the schedule. Braden Smith and the Boilermakers didn't go calmly into the night as they missed a three that would have won it at the buzzer, but the attempt never grazed the rim.
Here's three of the takeaways from Tuesday night's Michigan basketball win.
1. Michigan's bench outscored Purdue's 21-0
Four non-starters saw the floor for both teams on Tuesday. Purdue's side went 0-5 from the field, while Roddy Gayle Jr. came off the sidelines again and totally redeemed himself. He, along with Tre Donaldson and Rubin Jones were the three triplets who shot 50% for the Wolverines on the night. Even L.J. Cason got in for some meaningful minutes as well.
This was the spark that coach May was looking for to jumpstart Jones and Gayle. Jones had his moment in the sun with the follow-up dunk to Danny Wolf's missed layup as time whittled down. Gayle had his best outing since the loss in Evanston and now he'll get the enemy treatment as he saunters into his old stomping grounds on Sunday.