michigan vs purdue: No. 1 Michigan pulls away at Mackey Arena in 91-80 win
On Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 6: 30 p. m. ET, top-ranked Michigan visited Mackey Arena and left with a 91-80 victory over No. 7 Purdue. The Wolverines opened a decisive first-half margin and survived a second-half rally to improve to 25-1 overall and 15-1 in Big Ten play. Purdue fell to 21-5 and 11-4 in conference action.
Michigan built the game in the first half with second-chance scoring
Michigan turned offensive rebounding and hustle plays into an early edge. The Wolverines outscored Purdue 14-4 on the offensive glass in the first half and opened a 16-point lead by intermission. Michigan scored the game’s first 11 second-chance points, using heady tip-outs and quick finishes to extend possessions and create easy looks.
Elliot Cadeau led the visitors with 17 points, four rebounds and seven assists, mixing playmaking with perimeter scoring. Michigan’s balance on the offensive end limited Purdue’s usual ability to control tempo, and the visitors converted enough second-chance opportunities to keep the roof on Mackey’s crowd momentum.
Purdue’s surge fell short: missed chances and a cold bench
Purdue leaned on Trey Kaufman-Renn, who finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds but needed 26 field-goal attempts to get there. The Boilermakers missed a number of close-range opportunities early, making only 4 of 9 layups in the first half and failing to get high-percentage finishes like pick-and-roll lobs to their bigs. Those misses made it difficult to chip away at Michigan’s early cushion.
Braden Smith was held scoreless in the first half for the second straight game, though he managed five first-half assists and rallied with a 20-point second half. Purdue’s bench, however, was unable to supply decisive support: several rotation players went long stretches without scoring, and the group that usually shifts momentum could not string together big runs. Despite keeping turnovers low in the first half, Purdue never found the sustained defensive stops needed to erase the deficit.
What the result means for the Big Ten picture
The loss leaves Purdue mathematically alive in the conference race but facing an uphill climb to catch Michigan. With four Big Ten games remaining, Michigan’s victory tightened its grip on the league lead and furthered its case as the conference’s clear frontrunner. For Purdue, the focus will shift to protecting seeding for the NCAA tournament and finding consistency on both ends of the floor over the final weeks.
Beyond standings, the game highlighted contrasting strengths: Michigan’s ability to convert extra possessions and play with depth, and Purdue’s reliance on a few primary scorers when shots didn’t fall. If Purdue wants to re-enter contention for the league crown, it will need cleaner finishes in the paint, more bench production and earlier defensive stops to prevent opponents from building multi-possession leads.
The two programs will head into the closing stretch of the regular season with clear objectives: Michigan to sustain its dominant run and Purdue to regroup and fine-tune the interior finishes and bench contributions that were missing against the nation’s top-ranked team.
