Dusty May Breaks Down the Challenges Michigan Faces Playing Purdue in Mackey Arena

The Wolverines are headed to Purdue on Tuesday for a big-time matchup.

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Michigan is likley going to be the No. 1 ranked team in the nation after a dominant win over UCLA this past weekend. Arizona entered the week ranked first, but two losses should send the Wolverines up to the pole position, but things aren't going to be easy for Michigan this week — the Wolverines will have to earn that ranking.

Michigan will head to Purdue for a big-time Tuesday matchup with the Boilermakers, before playing a non-conference game against Duke on Saturday. The Wolverines have just one loss this season, and on Monday, head coach Dusty May talked about last year's 91-64 loss at Purdue.

"We learned from it, and it was one of the moments that we learned from and stuck in our minds," May said of last year's loss to the Boilermakers. "And to be honest, even now, I told the staff watching these games, watching Purdue play Nebraska, or watching Michigan State play whoever, UCLA, watching those games, I said we need to really now take inventory of how difficult it is to play in these games.

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"As we're recruiting, really try to separate how good of a shooter he is and his dimensions and say can we see him competing at this level in this environment, because we want to be doing this every year. And so these games, yes, it helped us tremendously last year, and it obviously helped that they were a top five team, and I think we had immediate results from what we learned from that game.

"But part of it, too, is we worked what we didn't do well last year, and they capitalized on it and it got away from us, but as we show, we really improved in the two weeks before we came back home, and in the next couple weeks, we had a really strong performance against them in the Big Ten Tournament as well."

It's not just Mackey Arena that is difficult

Michigan couldn't do anything in Mackey a year ago and the Boilermakers blew the doors off the Wolverines. Michigan would end up getting the better end of Purdue in Ann Arbor and during the Big Ten Tournament last year, but coach Dusty May says it's not Mackey Arena that makes playing Purdue difficult — it's the players and fans.

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"The thing that makes it really tough to play there are Purdue's players, because they're in those uniforms," May said of Purdue. "They're old, they're good, they're physical, they have an identity that's been around since I was a little kid, like I'm 49, so for the last 40 years, they have this very similar identity.

"They've done a really nice job of adapting to the modern game, to offenses and defenses. They're creative staff. They've got a good mix of older guys, younger guys, a lot of them have that Purdue DNA there with them, and so they have a really strong culture and program that has been established. So that's the first thing that makes it tough, and then with that, you have a fan base that, they show up, and it's part of their routine.

"When there's a game, they go to the game, they don't go to the game because they're playing this opponent, or because it's on a Saturday at the right time. They're there, and they build their calendar around those games. And so that makes it unique, and then most importantly, outside the players, it's the energy that the fans bring. They're an educated fan base, they know the game, they appreciate the game, they know what winning looks like, and so them being a part of it is certainly a factor, where they're contributing to Purdue's success on a nightly basis.

"It's an unbelievable challenge for us that I think our guys are up for, and what a great, another great college basketball night in that environment with the quality of players that are on the court. It's going to be awesome."

Michigan will head to Purdue for a Tuesday game that will tip at 6:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.