Michigan
19-7 (9-4)
Purdue
20-6 (8-5)
U-M Wins Thriller against Purdue in Comeback Fashion
2/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2016
» Trailing 56-50 with three minutes to play, the Wolverines finished the game on an 11-0 scoring run.
» Zak Irvin was clutch down the stretch, scoring 16 of his 22 points in the second half.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: Michigan 61, #18 Purdue, 56
Records: U-M (19-7, 9-4 Big Ten), PUR (20-6, 8-5 Big Ten)
Attendance: 12,707
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Feb. 16 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 7 p.m. [ TV: ESPN ]
• Kornacki Postgame Feature: LeVert Returns, Walton Arrives in a Nick of Time
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team came from behind to defeat the Purdue Boilermakers (No. 18 AP, No. 16 Coaches), 61-56, on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13) inside the Crisler Center. The Wolverines shot just 36.4 percent from the floor but found ways to score when they needed to, finishing the game on an 11-0 scoring run to secure the comeback victory.
After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, Michigan fought back to retake the lead, 41-40, early in the second half but found itself trailing, 56-50, with three minutes to play in the contest. Just as they did all evening long, the Wolverines found a way to answer the call. The Boilermakers had possession with a chance to make it an eight-point game, but sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman intercepted a pass and dribbled forward on the break. The playmaker found junior guard Zak Irvin on the wing, and the sharpshooter drained his fourth three-pointer of the game to pull Michigan back within three.
On the next possession, junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. absorbed contact down low and finished off the glass to get the home team back within one point with 2:06 remaining. After Purdue missed on the other end, Irvin pulled up at the free throw line and buried a jumper, giving the Wolverines a 57-56 advantage with 1:09 to play. With the crowd electrified, the Michigan defense locked down and held the Boilermakers scoreless the rest of the way, seeing out the win from the foul stripe.
Irvin led all scorers with 22 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting. Irvin scored 16 points in the second half, including all four of his three-pointers. Abdur-Rahkman contributed nine points, and junior forward Mark Donnal added eight points. The Maize and Blue won the rebound battle 39-35, marking the first time all year that Purdue was outrebounded.
The opening minutes of the first half were tightly contested. Abdur-Rahkman got the Wolverines on the board first, using a ball fake to get enough separation to drain a three-pointer off the inbounds play. After the Boilermakers scored on the other end, junior/sophomore Duncan Robinson hit a floater with his right hand to make it 5-2. Two minutes later, Irvin found space just passed the free throw line and stroked a mid-range jumper to give Michigan a 9-7 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the half.
Purdue took a 15-11 lead with 12 minutes to play, before sophomore forward Ricky Doyle muscled his way inside for a layup to bring the home team back within two. The Boilermakers began to find success in the paint, however. Behind a pair of buckets from Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons, Purdue went on an 8-0 scoring run that stretched its lead to 10, 23-13 at the 9:31 mark.
The Wolverines then put together a 6-0 scoring run that cut the deficit to four, 25-19. A pair of free throws and a jumper from Donnal bookended a mid-range leaner from sophomore guard Aubrey Dawkins during the run.
The Boilermakers pushed their lead back to nine points with 1:59 to play, but Michigan finished the first half with momentum. Irvin connected on another mid-range jumper, and senior guard Caris LeVert provided a sweet assist to set up redshirt freshman forward D.J. Wilson for an easy layup inside. With 17 seconds remaining, Wilson made a huge block on the defensive end, and Irvin was fouled in transition. Irvin made both shots from the foul stripe, sending the Wolverines into intermission down four, 31-27.
Michigan continued to ride the momentum early in the second half. After Robinson got the scoring started with a left-handed finish at the rim, Irvin scored eight-straight points to get the Wolverines within one, 39-40, with 15:31 remaining. On the next possession, Walton found Donnal rolling to the hoop, and the big man threw it down with authority to give the Maize and Blue its first lead of the half, 41-40.
After a 6-0 mini-run from Purdue, Abdur-Rahkman intercepted a pass and found Irvin in transition, and the sharpshooter splashed a wide-open three-pointer from the wing to get Michigan back within two, 50-48.
Next week, Michigan heads to Columbus, Ohio, to play in its third ESPN "Super Tuesday" game at Ohio State (Feb. 16) inside Value City Arena. Tipoff against the Buckeyes is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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61 | 56 |
• With today's win, Michigan moves to 67-86 in the all-time series with Purdue and holds a 6-5 record over the last 11 games. U-M has a 41-33 record at home against the Boilermakers.
• For today's game, U-M coach John Beilein, his staff, the Wolverine players and the Maize Rage wore special #ChadTough T-shirts to help raise awareness for the Chad Tough Foundation. The special T-shirt day is a tie-in with Coach Beilein's campaign to raise money for the foundation as part of the ESPN Infiniti Coaches Charity Challenge. To date, Beilein continues to lead the fan voted campaign, which could yield up to $100,000 for the Chad Tough Foundation.
• With the win over No. 18/16 Purdue, the Wolverines mark their second win over a ranked opponent this season, the first coming over No. 3 Maryland (Jan. 12), and coach Beilein's 28th career win over a ranked opponent.
• The Wolverines have used the same starting lineup -- Donnal, Irvin, Walton Jr., Robinson, Abdur-Rahkman -- for 12 straight games, producing an 8-4 record.
• After an 11-game absence in which U-M went 7-4, Caris LeVert played 11 minutes today to grab five rebounds and one assist.
• Zak Irvin tied his season high of 22 points in the victory over Purdue. Sixteen of Irvin's points were scored in the second half.
• Michigan held Purdue to just 56 points, 22.4 points beneath their season average (78.4). Last time the Wolverines took on the Boilermakers (Jan. 7), Purdue assisted on 26-of-30 made field goals, while U-M held them to just eight today.
• The Wolverines out-rebounded Purdue, 39-35, which marks the first time this season that a team has collected more boards than the Boilermakers.
• Michigan ranks seventh nationally with 9.8 turnovers per game. With its 15.6 assists per game (61st nationally), the Wolverines are seventh nationally for assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.58. The Wolverines finished with six turnovers -- tying their season low -- and seven assists today.
• Despite the 61-56 victory over Purdue, the Wolverines shot a season low three-point field goal percentage, 25 percent, making a season-low five three-point field goals. On average, the Wolverines make 10.5 three-pointers per game, which is the top in the Big Ten and sixth nationally.
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
