4 Takeaways From Michigan’s Big Ten Win Over Purdue

All the free throws, the timeouts, the fouls and even a coach’s challenge made the end of Tuesday’s highly anticipated game between No. 1 Michigan and No. 7 Purdue felt somewhat anticlimactic, a sluggish march across the finish line.

When the buzzer finally sounded — crystalizing the Wolverines’ 91-80 victory that keeps them firmly in control of the Big Ten title race — point guard Elliot Cadeau simply clapped his hands. Standout forward Yaxel Lendeborg just jogged toward his team’s bench. 

In some respects, such a mellow reaction was rather fitting for a Michigan team that secured its 21st victory of the season by double digits and is now 25-1 overall, the best start in school history. The Wolverines came into Mackey Arena, known for being one of the most difficult environments in college basketball, and promptly built a 20-point lead before halftime in a game they largely controlled from start to finish. For a team with bigger goals than simply beating No. 7 Purdue on the road, Tuesday’s result was just another step in the right direction. 

Here are my takeaways: 

1. Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg responds to off-court drama 

Nimari Burnett and Yaxel Lendeborg of the Michigan Wolverines celebrate following the game against Purdue. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Already one of the most enticing games in a week bursting with top-10 matchups, the battle between Michigan and Purdue took on an added layer over the weekend when a video of Lendeborg, the Wolverines’ star forward, made waves on social media for his profanity-laced comments about the Boilermakers. 

“When we see Purdue,” Lendeborg said in the video, “we gonna spank they f—— ass. We gonna beat they f—— ass. F— Purdue.”

Michigan coach Dusty May addressed the video during his weekly news conference in Ann Arbor on Monday, telling reporters that he believed it was recorded last spring, not long after Lendeborg committed to Michigan via the transfer portal following a standout career at UAB.

“I spoke at length with Yaxel about it,” May told reporters. “The most disappointing part of it is that he feels really bad about how he’s perceived from children and those that look up to him. He said, ‘Coach, I don’t even use that language in conversation. I don’t like the way it makes me look. I feel terrible about it.’ Then, obviously, how he’s perceived to our fan base and those that he cares about how it looks.

“It’s a great lesson. It’s one of the reasons he’s here. He wanted to learn to be a better pro. And to be a better pro, you need to have the mindset that you’re probably always being recorded. And if there’s ever a moment that someone can use that information against you, [they will].”

It was easy to understand why the raucous crowd at Mackey Arena roared with delight when Lendeborg missed the game’s opening shot on a 3-point attempt from the right wing, though he silenced those same fans shortly thereafter by burying his second attempt. He added an assist to shooting guard Roddy Gayle for the Wolverines’ second 3-pointer and later capitalized on a size mismatch against point guard Braden Smith for an easy bucket in transition, fueling a 17-3 Michigan run near the midway point of the half. Lendeborg finished the opening stanza with 10 points, two rebounds and three assists while the Wolverines built an impressive 16-point lead.  

It was exactly the kind of response May and his staff would have hoped for from their star. 

2. Purdue crumbled against mammoth Michigan frontcourt 

Purdue head coach Matt Painter looks on during the second half against the Michigan Wolverines. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

A few minutes into Tuesday’s broadcast, the television cameras cut to an oversized Purdue fan taking in the game from courtside seats. College basketball fans everywhere would have recognized this giant almost immediately: former Boilermakers’ center Zach Edey, who won back-to-back Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year awards in 2022 and 2023, even reaching the national championship game during the latter campaign. His 7-foot-4 frame seemed to fill the entire screen. 

On all nights — but especially this one — the Boilermakers could have used someone with Edey’s size when defending a Michigan frontcourt that is among the tallest and longest in the country. When the Wolverines deploy Aday Mara at center, Morez Johnson Jr. at power forward and Lendeborg at small forward, which is a lineup combination that May relies on more than any other, the average height is 6 feet 11. Only one of Purdue’s starters stands 6-foot-9 or taller. 

Michigan’s enviable blend of height and strength was enhanced on Tuesday by an aggression for offensive rebounding that the Boilermakers simply couldn’t match. A team-wide desire to crash the glass generated one extra opportunity after another, with back-tapped rebounds leading to wide-open 3-point attempts for the Wolverines’ array of shooters, who made eight of 16 attempts from beyond the arc in the opening half. The 21-14 rebounding edge for Michigan during the opening half gave way to a 14-4 advantage in second-chance points for May’s group. The trio of Mara, Johnson and Lendeborg grabbed more rebounds during the opening 20 minutes (15) than Purdue’s entire team combined (14). 

Mara, in particular, proved menacing for Michigan at both ends of the floor with 10 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in just 18 minutes before fouling out. His final rebounding tally exceeded each of his single-game totals from the last 17 contests since grabbing 11 against Rutgers on Dec. 6. He also contributed three or more assists for the fourth straight game. 

3. Boilermakers need Braden Smith to score against elite competition 

More than 21 minutes of game time elapsed before Purdue point guard Braden Smith, who leads the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game, finally contributed a basket. By then — at the 18:37 mark of the second half — the Boilermakers were already trailing by 17. 

A potential first-team All-American for the second consecutive season, Smith looked nothing of the sort during a disjointed opening half in which he missed all four of his field goal attempts. And while Smith had already contributed five assists by that point, many of which came on pick-and-roll opportunities with power forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (27 points, 12 rebounds), he seemed perpetually dismayed by a Michigan defense that attacked him with multiple defenders and varying body types: from point guard Elliott Cadeau to center Aday Mara and everyone in between, depending on which ball screen coverage the Wolverines chose. 

Even in finishing with 20 points — all of which came in the second half — Smith perpetuated a mildly concerning trend in which he defaults on his responsibility as the team’s primary scorer in some of Purdue’s biggest games. He scored just 13 points in an overtime win over then-No. 7 Nebraska earlier this month, 11 points in a win over then-No. 21 Auburn on Dec. 20, 11 points in a loss to then-No. 10 Iowa State on Dec. 6 and 10 points in a win over then-No. 15 Texas Tech on Nov. 21. The scoring outbursts he flashed against then-No. 11 Illinois (27 points) and then No. 8 Alabama (29 points) have felt more like exception than rule. 

Once upon a time, Purdue could survive more pedestrian scoring nights from Smith during the earlier portions of his career when Edey, a walking 20-point scorer, could be counted on to shoulder most of the load. But this year’s squad, which has endured ups and downs from Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer and Oscar Cluff — the only other players averaging double-digit scoring — can’t weather long stretches without impactful contributions from Smith as both a passer and a shot-maker. That Smith was largely outplayed by Cadeau, who poured in 17 points and dished out seven assists, must have been alarming for head coach Matt Painter and his staff to watch. 

4. Big Ten title race will likely come down to Michigan and Illinois 

Roddy Gayle Jr. of the Michigan Wolverines rebounds the ball against Oscar Cluff of the Purdue Boilermakers. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Across the Big Ten on Tuesday night, teams like Nebraska, Michigan State and even Wisconsin were rooting ardently for the Boilermakers to upend Michigan and drive a wedge into this year’s race for the regular season conference title. 

Four different teams began the evening within 1.5 games of second place in the league standings. Five different teams were within 3.5 games of the Wolverines’ perch atop the pack. A loss by Michigan at Purdue — which was among the teams chasing the maize and blue — would have transformed the next three weeks into an absolute frenzy. A half-dozen teams would still be clinging to hope. 

Instead, it now seems increasingly likely that a Feb. 27 showdown between Michigan and No. 10 Illinois at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois, will decide the conference race. At 21-5 overall and 12-3 in the league, the Illini are now in second place in the Big Ten standings. The return of injured point guard Kylan Boswell, who averages 14 points and 4.3 rebounds, gives head coach Brad Underwood another viable scoring option for a team that already leads the country in offensive efficiency. 

The question now is whether Illinois has enough firepower and consistency to chase down Michigan. 

4½. What’s next? 

There’s little doubt that Michigan, which now owns an 11-game winning streak, is among the best teams in the country this season, given the manner in which the Wolverines have clobbered most of their opponents: a scoring margin of plus-22.3 points per game entering the matchup with Purdue that ranked second nationally overall and first among teams from the power conferences. But two things can be true simultaneously, which means the following statistic can’t be ignored: Entering Tuesday’s game, the Wolverines had played the 18th-toughest conference schedule out of 18 teams in the Big Ten, according to KenPom. 

It means that for as good as Michigan has been statistically this season, the Wolverines remain largely untested, even at this late juncture. An extremely difficult finishing stretch should offer plenty of insight into how good May’s team really is, beginning with a trip to Washington, D.C. this weekend for a non-conference showdown against No. 3 Duke. The aforementioned road game at No. 10 Illinois should prove equally tricky before the regular-season finale at home against No. 15 Michigan State. 

Purdue, which is all but eliminated from both the Big Ten title and a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, will now embark on a fairly tricky run of its own in the coming weeks. A rivalry rematch with Indiana gives way to a significant home test against Michigan State on Feb. 26 that could greatly influence seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. And a regular-season finale against No. 24 Wisconsin appears far pricklier than it did two weeks ago now that the Badgers have upset No. 8 Illinois and the Spartans in back-to-back games, vaulting into the Top 25.