Staggered by the news of losing one of its leading scorers earlier in the day, Purdue was already on the ropes when the Boilermakers played No. 7 Michigan, and the Wolverines provided the knockout punch with a 70-53 victory Friday night.
The Boilermakers (11-6, 6-4 in the Big Ten) played without junior guard Sasha Stefanovic (11.1 points per game) who tested positive for COVID-19 early on Friday. Stefanovic is the conference's best percentage shooter from three-point range this season, converting on 45 percent of long range attempts.
“We have to be tougher than we were tonight,” said coach Matt Painter after the game, “We didn’t get a lot of production from anyone, really across the board.”
Michigan (13-1, 8-1) never trailed in the game and led by as much as 18 in the second half. While Michigan’s offense performed up to snuff on the road, it was its defense that won the day. The Wolverines held the Boilermakers to 31 percent shooting at Mackey Arena, Purdue’s lowest shooting percentage of the season.
With Juwan Howard around either as a player or a coach, the Wolverines have never lost at Mackey Arena. Howard is in his second year as the Wolverines head coach. He played for the Wolverines from 1992 to ‘94. Overall, the Boilermakers have lost five straight to Michigan.
In the first six minutes of the game, the Wolverines jumped out to a 14-4 start. Without Stefanovic, Purdue was 0-for-6 from three-point range in the opening half. Brandon Newman made Purdue’s only two three-pointers in the game. The rest of the team was 0-for-10.
Junior forward Trevion Williams had 14 points and eleven rebounds, his sixth double-double this season. Freshman Jaden Ivey, in his first career start, contributed 12 points.
Purdue is idle until Jan. 30 when they travel north to play No. 17 Minnesota.
