After falling behind by 12 points in the second half, the Michigan Wolverines rallied to beat the Purdue Boilermakers, 80-75, in a tough Big Ten Conference road game played at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Trey Burke once again led the charge for the Wolverines and finished with 26 points, including seven clutch free throws in the final minute of play alone. Burke also contributed seven assists to go along with five rebounds and three steals. All but four of the sophomore guard's points came in the second half, which U-M started off four points behind the Boilermakers, and in which it eventually trailed 52-40. After a Burke three-point jumper that trimmed the deficit to nine, Michigan steadily cut into Purdue's lead, and finally went ahead, 59-58, with 5:20 remaining. The Maize and Blue never relinquished the lead.
Burke's fellow Wolverine guards, Nik Stauskas (17 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (16 points), also had solid performances on the night, and each hit a crucial three-point shot in the last four minutes. Purdue's Terone Johnson led all scorers with 32 points, but missed a chance to tie the game with three seconds left when a hard pass slipped through his hands. Burke then sank two free throws to seal the comeback victory for Michigan.
The win keeps alive U-M's hopes for a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, but which it can only accomplish by defeating the Indiana Hoosiers at home on Sunday. CBS will have the telecast for the game, to be played inside Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, with tipoff slated for 4 p.m. ET. Michigan entered the contest against Purdue ranked No. 7 in the country, and improved its record to 25-5 overall for the season, with a mark of 12-5 in conference action.
Learn more about the win over the Boilermakers in a recap on U-M's official athletic website, MGoBlue.com. Stay current with Michigan men's hoops on Facebook and Twitter.
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