Michigan played the role of No. 1 perfectly on Tuesday night, crushing No. 7 Purdue 91-80 at Mackey Arena. They made 57 percent of their three-pointers and had six players in double figures in their first game as No. 1 in 13 years.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It's been 13 years since Michigan was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press college basketball top-25 poll. They left no doubt on Tuesday night as to why they're considered the best team in the country.
Michigan blew out No. 7 Purdue 91-80 at Mackey Arena, which is one of the most difficult places to play. That didn't matter to the Wolverines. They were up by double-digits early thanks to a 16-0 run, and led throughout, answering every Purdue run with a run of their own.
They are now 25-1 on the season, and 15-1 in the Big Ten after their 11th straight win.
"We needed to deliver a lot of punches, whether it was the first or second (halves),'' Michigan coach Dusty May said. "We knew this was going to go how many rounds? Ten rounds? We do four-minute games, and there's ten rounds. And we knew this would go all 10. And so if we took a shot, then we had to respond.
"Our guys did that over the course of the game. That was impressive, the way we answered those runs with really sound play. Several times, especially in the second half, Purdue made a play, the place erupted, and our guys were able to answer and calm the storm a little bit. I thought our poise, I thought our togetherness was incredibly impressive.''
Here's the game story from Michigan Roundtable publisher Brandon Brown.
Michigan silenced the Mackey Arena crowd early with efficient offense, and never looked back. They shot 53 percent from the field, and were 13-of-23 from three-point range, good for a season-high 57 percent. Seven different players hit a three, and six Wolverines scored in double figures. Guard Elliott Cadeau led the way with 17 points.
"That's how we're built,'' May said of Michigan's depth. He got 34 points off his bench. "We have a team that so many guys are capable of stepping up and making contributions, and some nights they don't get to play near as much as they deserve.
"We felt like at halftime all nine guys playing the first half had played well. And so it's usually much simpler if a guy doesn't have his best stuff. You can play someone else, and tonight we just kept going with whoever we thought gave us the best chance to win the next possession.''
Purdue, the preseason Big Ten favorite that was ranked No. 1 themselves earlier in the year, fell to 21-5 overall and 11-4 in the Big Ten. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and guard Braden Smith had 20 points — all in the second half — and six assists. He passed Keith Jennings for No. 5 all-time on the NCAA assist list. He is 90 assists away from NCAA leader Bobby Hurley of Duke.
It was clear who the better team was on Tuesday night. Even Purdue coach Matt Painter had to admit that.
“It's ust one of those things where we have to be better,” he said. “A lot of us not being better was Michigan. You’ve got to give Michigan credit.”
Purdue couldn't recover from that early Michigan run, which was done with many of their backups on the floor.
“Look at their bench,” Painter said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. A lot of times, a team has a really good starting five but they have a dip when they (substitute). These guys don’t have a dip.”
Both teams have huge games this weekend. Purdue hosts in-state rival Indiana on Friday night, looking to avenge a loss to the Hoosiers in Bloomington in late January. Michigan plays No. 3 Duke in Washington D.C. on Saturday night in one of the biggest nonconference games in recent memory.
NCAA all-time assists leaders
Here is the list of the top-20 all-time assist leaders in NCAA history, as of Thursday, Jan. 15:
1,076 — Bobby Hurley, Duke (1989-93)
1,038 — Chris Corchiani, N.C. State (1987-91)
1,030 — Ed Cota, North Carolina (1996-2000)
1,009 — Jason Brickman, LIU-Brooklyn (2010-14)
986 — Braden Smith, Purdue (2022-present)
983 — Keith Jennings, East Tennessee State (1987-91)
972 — Steve Blake, Maryland (1999-2003)
960 — Sherman Douglas, Syracuse (1985-89)
956 — Tony Miller, Marquette (1991-95)
954 — Aaron Miles, Kansas (2001-05)
950 — Greg Anthony, Portland/UNLV (1987-91)
947 — Doug Gottlieb, Notre Dame/Oklahoma State (1995-2000)
939 — Gary Payton, Oregon State (1986-90)
934 — D.J. Cooper, Ohio University (2009-13)
902 — Cameron Langley, North Carolina A&T (2017-22)
902 — Orlando Smart, San Francisco (1990-94)
894 — Andre LaFleur, Northeastern (1983-87)
893 — Chico Fletcher, Arkansas State (1996-2000)
890 — Cassius Winston, Michigan State (2016-20)
884 — Jim Les, Cleveland State/Bradley (1982-86)