No. 1 Purdue Takes Down Michigan 75-70 to Remain Unbeaten on the Road
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a battle between two of the Big Ten’s premier post players, Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson got the better of Zach Edey on the scoring front, but No. 1 Purdue picked up a 75-70 victory on the road Thursday night at the Crisler Center.
Dickinson had a game-high 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers. However, without freshman guard Jett Howard in the lineup, the Wolverines couldn’t match up with the depth of the Boilermakers.
As fouls mounted for both teams throughout the matchup, Purdue’s bench combined for 23 points, which propelled the team to a 20-1 record on the season and a 9-1 mark in Big Ten play. The team is undefeated on the road.
"We just had to come in there and make sure there was no dropoff from the starters," redshirt freshman forward Trey Kaufman-Renn said. "That's our goal, to give the guys a break and try to build a lead."
The Boilermakers had three players in double figures, with Edey spearheading their offense by scoring 19 points and going 9-of-16 from the field. The 7-foot-4 junior center also pulled down a team-leading nine rebounds and notched two blocks.
Edey started hot from the opening tip, scoring the first seven points for Purdue and tallying 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting before halftime. He took advantage of one-on-one opportunities in the paint, where the team ultimately outscored Michigan by a 40-30 margin.
However, Dickinson answered the scoring challenge by posting 14 points of his own, which included a pair of 3-pointers for the Wolverines in the opening period. Without Howard in the lineup, the 7-foot-1 center stretched the floor and accounted for five of their 11 shots from deep in the first half.
"We just didn't want it to consume us," Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Dickinson's 3-point scoring. "You have to know it's there, but his meat and potatoes are on that block. So we wanted to throw some different looks at him to make it hard."
In a back-and-forth start to the matchup, the Boilermakers took control of the game with a 15-0 run and led by as many as 13 points before the break. The backcourt duo of senior David Jenkins Jr. and freshman Fletcher Loyer combined for 11 points during the scoring surge.
"I've been comfortable playing the role," Jenkins said. "Obviously, just setting up the defense and trying to get the ball into Zach as much as we can. Playing within our offense and just executing all of our sets."
Michigan ended the half with seven straight points, but Purdue went into the locker room leading 41-35. On top of his team-high scoring total, Edey added four rebounds and one block before the start of the second half.
Loyer, who’s posted strong second-half performances this season, kickstarted the final period with his only 3-pointer of the game. He scored nine of his 17 points after halftime and finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line.
"He's really stepped up on the road and had some really good games for us," Painter said of Loyer. "He made his free throws today. But we're very, very fortunate to have him."
As scoring slowed for Edey and Dickinson, sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin stepped up for the Wolverines with 11 points in the second half, finishing with 16 on the night. He scored nine of their first 11 points after the break.
After dealing with foul trouble in the first half, freshman point guard Braden Smith logged 17 minutes to end the game and scored 10 points to go along with two rebounds and two steals.
Coming off the bench behind Edey, Kaufman-Renn went 4-of-4 from the floor and registered eight points in just nine minutes. Entering the matchup, he had a combined seven points in the last seven games for the Boilermakers.
"To his defense, he doesn't play a lot of minutes," Painter said of Kaufman-Renn. "You're asking for production in short minutes, and I don't think that's fair. But I think it's really good for his sanity because he's a good player. He just happens to play behind someone who's having a fabulous year."
Jenkins matched Kaufman-Renn with eight points as well, going 2-of-2 from the 3-point line and 2-of-2 on his free-throw attempts. Junior forward Mason Gillis, who started for Purdue in the second half, added three points, four rebounds and two assists without a turnover.
Michigan cut its deficit to three points in the final minute, but Loyer and junior guard Brandon Newman iced the game by making four shots from the foul line to escape Ann Arbor with a win.
"I really like that, not just this game but throughout the whole year, we've been handling adversity," Jenkins said. "We've been down sometimes at half, just really handling that. We've tried to smash the ball inside sometimes and kick out, and really just play off each other offensively and defensively."
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