Michigan Basketball: Duncan Robinson Says Wolverines Excited For Challenge

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Michigan has the chance to secure another top five win on the road Thursday night.

The No. 25 Wolverines travel to face No. 3 Purdue, which has been dominating Big Ten foes of late, especially since topping Michigan at the Crisler Center by one point a couple weeks ago.

“It presents a great challenge for us,” fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson said. “It’s a really good opportunity. They’re a really tough team to beat, especially at their place, but we’re excited for the opportunity for sure.”

Despite several calls not going Michigan’s way in the final minute the last game against the Boilermakers, Robinson said you can’t just focus on the ending.

“[We’ve] got to minimize our mistakes, especially in the first half, we let them get loose a little bit and in a one-point game, that ultimately was the difference,” Robinson said. “Every possession matters and you have to compete that way.”

Both teams will be more familiar with each other having already played, but the big difference will be the location. Purdue’s Mackey Arena is regarded as one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten.

“We’ve had some success this year, winning some games in some tough places,” Robinson said. “Obviously, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen every time, but that we’ve been able to handle that adversity before gives us some extra confidence going into this one.”

That home court advantage the Boilermakers will have makes a quicker start that much more important — something the Wolverines have struggled with of late.

“You always want to get off to a fast start, especially in an environment like that,” Robinson said. “If they can get their fans behind them it makes them even tougher to play against, but we just have to stay the course. When adversity strikes, and we know it will, just band together.”

He hopes that finally having an extra day off will help the team be rested and ready to go. The team had Monday off and practiced Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Monday was great,” Robinson said. “For a lot of us, coaches, players alike, it was nice to unwind a bit and get back to it on Tuesday.”

Michigan coach John Beilein calls the extra practices not immediately before a game get better days.

“We had a great get better day yesterday,” Robinson said. “It kind of reminded us of a practice early in the season. We focused on our principles and what we do on both ends of the floor. Obviously, there was some Purdue prep, but the majority we focused on us.”

In Purdue’s three games following its win over Michigan, it has beaten opponents by an averaged of 28.3 points.

“It was a tough, tough game,” Robinson said. “You want to get that game, especially at home. Games like that never sit well, so we’ll be geared up for this one.”

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