The Purdue Boilermakers are set to take on Michigan, the reigning Big Ten Tournament Champs.
While Purdue hasn’t had quite the dominant season it has in the past, the Wolverines have been consistently ranked at the top of the NCAA. In the AP Poll, Michigan sits at No. 3, behind Duke and Arizona. Purdue finds itself in the 18th spot between Arkansas and UNC.
This Big Ten Tournament championship game could determine whether Purdue’s “era” is coming to an end and whether Michigan wants to show they are the basketball school of the Big Ten.
Here’s what happened, other than getting these two teams to face each other on Selection Sunday:
Michigan’s composure is like no other.
Down by 15 points? That doesn’t faze the Wolverines.
It was a cinematic 68-65 victory against the 5-seed Wisconsin. This was also a rematch of the 2025 Big Ten Tournament championship game, where Michigan won 59-53. This matchup had extra juice behind it as well, considering that it is Michigan’s lone Big Ten Conference loss of the season. Their only other loss was to Duke.
Michigan went on a 13-2 run early on in the second half, but with 5:29 to go, Wisconsin responded with a 9-0 run and a 17-2 run over 3:38. Their run was thanks to Austin Rapp, who made a sensational six-straight three-pointers over 5:36.
Senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg came in clutch for the Wolverines with a thrilling game-winning shot from beyond the arc. There were .4 seconds on the clock remaining, not enough for the Badgers to do anything with.
Lendeborg himself acknowledged that he hasn’t played well during his past couple of games,
“It gives me a big, big boost… like I said earlier, I’m my worst critic, you know. I’m super hard on myself; I always want perfection out of myself. Given how bad I’ve been the past 3 halves, it’s amazing to finally be able to deliver for my team,” Lendeborg said in the locker room after the win.
Junior center Aday Mara led the team in scoring with 16 points. He also collected 8 rebounds.
Three other Wolverines hit double-digits, including junior guard Elliot Cadeau (15), Lendeborg (12), and freshman guard Trey McKenney (10).
In the paint, Michigan had a 28-10 point advantage over Wisconsin.
This win was huge for Michigan, as the Badgers have one of the most elite guard combos in college basketball: senior guard Nick Boyd and junior guard John Blackwell. During their previous game, an overtime upset win against Illinois, the guards combined for 69 points, with Boyd recording a career-high 38. Blackwell put up 31 points. This marked the first time two Badgers have scored 30+ points in the same game since 1968.
There wasn’t a point in this Big Ten Tournament game where Michigan seemed panicked at all. This has been a pattern for them all season long and is a big reason why they have kept up their overall 31-2 record.)
Braden Smith has the opportunity to make NCAA history in the championship game
In game 16, 7-seed Purdue upset 6-seed UCLA 73-66.
It was about 80% Purdue fans in the crowd at the United Center.
During the quarterfinals on Friday, UCLA had a devastating injury. Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau suffered an apparent knee injury against Michigan State. On offense, he has led the Bruins all season, averaging 17.6 points per game. Even with this, UCLA sneaker passed the Spartans to reach the semis.
The following day, against Purdue, senior guard Donovan Dent left the game in the first half with a calf strain. He didn’t return to the contest, which hurt the Bruins. The good news for UCLA is that both Bilodeau and Dent are expected to play in the NCAA tournament.
It’s hard to say whether the Boilermakers would’ve topped UCLA if these injuries hadn’t occurred; however, that’s neither here nor there.
Both senior center Oscar Cluff and senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn had double-doubles on the night.
The story everyone should have their eyes on during the Big Ten championship game is senior guard Braden Smith’s assist count. The guard needs just 13 assists to break former Duke guard Bobby Hurley’s NCAA career assist record of 1,076. Smith added nine assists in the semifinals, which gave him the most assists by a player in the Big Ten Tournament’s history.
Smith could do something legendary in the championship—he could win the Big Ten Championship and break the NCAA assist record, which has been held since 1993.
In the locker room, Smith said he is mainly focused on winning rather than chasing the assist record.
[…] wins, however, against No. 8 Alabama, No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 21 Auburn, and Nebraska. Purdue’s Big Ten Tournament run included victories against Northwestern, No. 11 Nebraska, UCLA, and the 2025 reigning champs, […]