Michigan punches out Purdue in Big Ten Tournament

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Mar 14, 2025

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INDIANAPOLIS — Round 1 was a first-half knockout. Round 2 went down to the final bell.

Round 3 between Michigan and Purdue was a decisive decision in the Wolverines’ favor.

No. 3 seed Michigan took control early against No. 6 seed Purdue, never let up and snapped a three-year streak of early exits in the Big Ten Tournament with an 86-68 quarterfinal win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday.

Danny Wolf had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Vlad Goldin added 15 points and eight rebounds and Tre Donaldson scored 13 for Michigan (23-9), which picked up its first win in March after an 0-3 start to the month and first win in the conference tournament since 2021.

Michigan advances to face No. 2 seed Maryland in a semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Terrapins beat the Wolverines, 71-65, on March 5 in Ann Arbor in their lone regular-season meeting.

After leading by as much as 10 in the first half and by four at halftime, Michigan made its first five shots out of the break to regain a double-digit lead. Rubin Jones drained a 3-pointer. Wolf found a rolling Goldin for a dunk. Donaldson hit a catch-and-shoot 3 to make it 52-41 four minutes into the second half.

Trey Kaufman-Renn was a force inside and scored Purdue’s first nine points in the second half, but Donaldson matched his production. Donaldson splashed another 3-pointer off a cross-court pass from Wolf. He turned an offensive board and a steal into two buckets. Michigan’s lead grew to 65-50 with 11:19 left.

Purdue cut it to single digits once, 70-61, before Michigan delivered the knockout blow. A mad scramble for a loose ball ended up with a three-on-one fast break for the Wolverines that end with a layup. Donaldson knifed his way into the paint and found a cutting Roddy Gayle Jr. (11 points) for a dunk. A three-point play by Goldin capped a string of seven unanswered points and made it 77-61 with 4:17 to go.

Michigan never let the lead dip below 13 points the rest of the way. The Wolverines finished the game shooting 51.7% from the field (30 for 58) to go along with a season-low six turnovers.

Kaufman-Renn had 24 points and Braden Smith scored 12 for Purdue (22-11), which shot 33.8% from the field (22 for 65) and trailed most of the way.

The two teams split the regular-season series, with each side winning at home. Purdue steamrolled Michigan, 91-64, on Jan. 24 and the Wolverines prevailed in a close one, 75-73, on Feb. 11. In the third meeting, Michigan was without two rotation players: Sam Walters (back) and Justin Pippen (concussion protocol).

The Wolverines went down 6-0 early before they responded with a 12-0 burst where they pushed the ball and were aggressive on offense. Nimari Burnett jump-started the spurt with a tough take and finish at the rim before knocking down a 3-pointer in transition.

The Wolverines continued to build their lead. They attacked the basket. They were active on the glass and had good energy on both ends. Most importantly, they took care of the ball and didn’t commit a turnover until the 11:04 mark when freshman LJ Cason was called for a charge on a drive to the rim.

During one sequence, Donaldson buried a 3-pointer, poked the ball away for a steal and dumped off a pass to Wolf for a fast-break layup that put Michigan up, 26-16, with 9:49 left in the first half.

The Boilermakers leaned on Kaufman-Renn and Smith and took advantage of second-chance opportunities to cut the deficit to four. But Michigan quickly extended the margin back to double digits. Wolf swished a corner 3-pointer. Donaldson pulled the chair on Kaufman-Renn in the post to cause a traveling violation. Cason lobbed a pass into the post to Goldin that led to a three-point play to make it 38-28.

Despite their best half in some time, the Wolverines didn’t make a field goal in the final 3:10, had a basket waved off due to an offensive foul and gave up an open 3-pointer on a blown coverage en route to a 40-36 halftime lead.