Michigan basketball hammered by No. 2 Purdue, 99-67: 'Disappointing loss on all levels'
WEST LAFEYETTE, Ind. — Michigan basketball didn't even get its fans' hopes up this time.
U-M entered as a 17½-point underdog, so hopes probably shouldn't have been high facing No. 2 Purdue, even if the Boilermakers have shown a willingness to play down to their opponents this season.
But when Zach Edey, Purdue's all-everything center, reached an offensive rebound over Tarris Reed Jr. and threw down a ferocious dunk to get on the scoreboard and send the sellout Mackey Arena crowd to its feet midway through the first half, the final result really felt like a mere formality.
Sure enough, the Wolverines' hope didn't last even 20 minutes, as Purdue made its final seven shots before the break to close the final 3:21 of the first half on a 15-2 run en route to dominating a shorthanded Michigan squad, 99-67.
"It was a very disappointing loss on all levels,"coach Juwan Howard said. "We had a 6-minute stretch in the first part we were really strong, competitive. ... That's the team I wish had played and finished up the rest of the game.
"When they went on that 18-4 run, it was led by defensive mistakes, it was led by some defensive mistakes, whether it was lack of communication on the rotation that led to open shots. ... Then once you got the crowd into it, we couldn't respond how we wanted to."
The defense was optional early for the Wolverines, as the Boilermakers hit seven of 12 shots to open, including four of five 3-point tries, to build a double-digit lead just more than 7 minutes in. The Wolverines figured some things out and forced the Boilermakers into a 1-for-12 stretch, but that also coincided with more than 5½ minutes without a point of their own.
Edey's thunderous rebound-turned-dunk revitalized the Boilermakers; they made nine of 12 shots to go into the break with a 24-point lead, nearly doubling up the Wolverines, 49-25.
By the time Lance Jones made his second consecutive wide-open 3-pointer, part of a personal 10-0 run in less than 3 minutes, Purdue's lead had ballooned to 27 with 13:25 to play. It got worse: After one last 8-0 spurt, the Boilermakers had the Wolverines in a season-worst 35-point hole.
The Boilers' scoring was as balanced as Michigan hopes for itself: Jones set a high as a Boilermaker with 24, Edey finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Braden Smith narrowly missed his first career triple-double (11 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds) and while four other players also scored at least six points.
“They’re good, they’re one of the best teams in the conference for a reason,” Howard said. “Edey leading the way, the perimeter shooting as well as the experience they have that surrounds him is at an elite level.”
Despite that 1-for-12 stretch, Purdue shot 51.5% (34-for-66) from the floor and 66.7% on 3s (14-for-21). Purdue could have hit triple digits, but opted to run out the clock with 3.5 seconds left.
Michigan (7-12, 2-6 Big Ten), still without leading scorer Dug McDaniel road games as he works through academic requirements, got valiant fill-in minutes for the second straight game away from Crisler Center his replacement Jaelin Llewellyn.
The former Princeton transfer scored eight straight U-M points late in the fist half with a pair of 3-pointers from the left wing and a slashing layup as U-M turned a 17-point deficit into a 10-point game with 4:05 left in the opening half.
His 29 minutes played were the second time he has topped 15; he set a personal high as a Wolverine with 16 points. Terrance Williams II scored 10 and Jace Howard finished with a career-high seven points.
“Just trying to get some movement in the offense and keep shooting my shot,” Llewellyn said. “You play more, you just get in the flow of the game.
That was about it for the positives on offense: The Wolverines shot just 33.8% (23-for-68) from the field, just 29% on 3s (9-for-31) and managed only two points in transition.
The Edey effect
With 11:52 left in the first half, Edey missed his third consecutive hook shot in the lane. That was good news for U-M. The bad news: Even without a point from the Big Ten's leading scorer, Purdue still had a 21-10 lead after a barrage of Boilermaker 3s.
The first came when Purdue swung the ball around the arc and Smith drilled a shot from the corner; the next was a Jones transition 3 shortly before the first media timeout.
On the other side of the break, Smith canned a wide open look after Llewellyn had to orbit around an Edey screen. Later, Mason Gillis nailed a 3 from the top of the key — putting the Boilermakers up 11 with 12:55 to play — after a U-M help-side defender had to sag on Edey to avoid the entry pass.
"We're not the Purdue Zach Edeys we're the Purdue Boilermakers," Edey said. "We've got so many guys that can score, make plays, you saw it today they all stepped up when I need them to step up."
Edey even impacted the Wolverines rotation, most notably when Olivier Nkamhoua picked up two fouls 1 minute apart in the first half — both on attempted box-outs of the 7-foot-4 All-American — and had to sit for 10 minutes.
He returned with 4:22 to play and had the assist that set up Llewellyn's bucket to get within 10, but Purdue's offensive surge came almost immediately after. U-M lost nearly every notable category when falling out to a large deficit including points in the paint (20-8), second-chance points (9-4) and points off turnovers (7-0).
"Foul trouble to key guys does not help either," Howard said. "But overall it was a really good team and I'd never take anything away from Matt Painter and his staff."
Michigan meltdown
Just more than 2 minutes into the second half, Edey grabbed an offensive rebound with one hand, then turned around and threw down a ferocious slam — a microcosm of the half for the Wolverines.
It came on the heels of a turnaround bucket by Edey, which came directly after a free throw following a flagrant foul, and just before he split a pair of freebies to put Purdue up 55-30; he scored the first six Purdue points after the break.
Williams, who was held scoreless in the first half, converted a pair of three-point plays early in the half for U-M, and a Nkamhoua offensive rebound and putback (his first points off the game) got U-M back within 21. It never got closer than that.
Reed fouled out with 4:14 to play and Will Tschetter fouled out with 2:33 to play
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball blasted by Boilermakers, 99-67, on the road
