Published Jan 24, 2025
Three takeaways: Purdue demolishes Michigan in 27-point blowout
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Brock Heilig  •  Maize&BlueReview
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Nothing went right for Michigan on Friday night at Mackey Arena in a 91-64 blowout loss at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers. The Wolverines turned the ball over 22 times and shot just 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) from beyond the arc. Purdue, which was coming off a stunning 73-70 loss to Ohio State on Tuesday, exposed Michigan in just about every way possible.

The loss will cost Michigan valuable positioning in the Big Ten standings. Had the Wolverines beaten the Boilermakers, they would have obtained a two-game lead over Purdue in the loss column.

But now, Michigan falls to 6-2 in the conference, and Purdue moves into second place with an 8-2 record. Here are three takeaways from the blowout defeat.

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Braden Smith showed up, where were Michigan's stars?

Heading into this high-stakes game between the No. 2 (Michigan) and No. 3 (Purdue) teams in the Big Ten standings, the stars on both teams were going to have a heavy influence on the outcome of the game.

One could argue there were three First-Team All-Big Ten players on the floor for Friday night's game in Braden Smith, Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf. There were plenty of stars on the floor at Mackey Arena, but only one showed out.

Smith was sensational, leading Purdue in the runaway win. He finished with 24 points and 10 assists without ever leaving the floor until the game was well in hand. The Purdue point guard had a personal revenge game after not playing well against Ohio State on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, though, Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf had little impact on the game. The two Michigan big men combined for 18 points.

Goldin and Wolf were outclassed by Smith in West Lafayette, and the de facto absence of the two 7-footers put the Wolverines at a major disadvantage.

As good as Goldin and Wolf have been at times for Michigan this season, Area 50-1 will need more consistency going forward.

It wouldn't hurt for Dusty May to show some emotion

The first half could not have possibly gone any worse for Michigan. With 10 turnovers, the Wolverines, once again, were careless with the basketball and looked disinterested at times on the floor.

Purdue appeared to be the team that wanted it more, and the Boilermakers went out and took it.

And even in the midst of the epic meltdown, Dusty May, a very calm and even-keeled head coach, remained that way. The Michigan head man didn't appear to get angry or even look disappointed, and he certainly didn't scream — even after Tre Donaldson turned the ball over on two straight possessions to open the game.

May arrived at Michigan as a very calm head coach, so this isn't anything new, but what will it take for the head man to show some emotion?

Even with his team playing the worst basketball it's played all season, May remained stone-faced. Perhaps May releases more of his emotion behind closed doors, but Michigan needed a jolt of energy on Friday night. May could have been the one to provide that spark.

Michigan has a long way to go to become Big Ten title contenders

The most evident takeaway from Friday night's loss is that Michigan has a very long way to go if it wants to compete for a Big Ten title. Mathematically, it's far from impossible — there are still 12 games left in conference play and the season isn't even halfway over.

But on Friday night, it sure seemed like Michigan is all but eliminated from Big Ten title contention.

The Wolverines spent much of the first part of the season beating up on middling and inferior Big Ten opponents, but now that they've gotten into the heart of the Big Ten schedule, it appears Michigan is running out of gas.

After being upset by Minnesota, Michigan scored an overtime win over Northwestern, but even after a five-day break between games, the Wolverines couldn't put together a respectable performance against Purdue.

Purdue was the first top-tier opponent Michigan has played in the Big Ten, and it was clear on Friday night that the Wolverines do not belong in that top tier of the conference.

With two games against Michigan State and a home game against Illinois still left on the docket, Michigan still has a number of tough games on its schedule.

Big Ten title hopes may be out the window, but Michigan can still compete for Big Ten Tournament seeding and NCAA Tournament seeding.

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