ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Zach Edey took advantage of Michigan’s attempts to defend him with only one player.
Edey matched his season high with 35 points and had 15 rebounds, helping No. 3 Purdue bounce back from a rough start to beat the Wolverines 84-76 on Sunday.
“I’m used to getting doubled as soon as I catch it, as soon as I dribble, but they wanted to play me 1 on 1,” he said. “My teammates recognized that and got me the ball a lot. I just tried to do what I do.”
The 7-foot-4 Edey made 14 of 18 shots and scored 35 points for the third time this season, falling three short of equaling his career high.
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“He probably would have scored 35 on me too,” said Michigan coach Juwan Howard, a member of the school’s Fab Five and a former NBA standout.
The Boilermakers (25-3, 14-3 Big Ten) are closing in on winning a second straight conference championship, building a 2 1/2-game lead over No. 12 Illinois with three regular-season games left on their schedule.
The Wolverines (8-20, 3-14) moved closer to clinching last place in the Big Ten with their fifth straight loss and 10th setback in 11 games under their embattled coach.
Michigan saw about half of its arena filled with black-and-gold-wearing fans chanting and cheering for the visitors, eight days after Michigan State fans in the stands made it look and sound as if the Wolverines were playing on the road.
“It felt like Mackey Arena in there tonight,” Michigan senior forward Terrance Williams II said.
Matt Painter, who played at Purdue in the early 1990s and has coached there for nearly two decades, said he had never had a similar experience on the road in the Big Ten.
“I told our guys at halftime, ‘This might never happen again, so give them something to cheer about,’” Painter said.
Dug McDaniel had 19 points and six assists for the Wolverines, who had four more scorers reach double digits.
As usual, Edey had a few teammates contributing offensively. Lance Jones scored 15, Braden Smith had 11 points and Fletcher Loyer added nine.
The Wolverines played well early in the game and led 22-15 before Purdue took control for good, surging into a 47-36 lead at halftime.
“Michigan just played better than us in the first 10 minutes of the game,” Painter said. “To our guys credit, our guys stayed with it and just made more shots.”
Michigan pulled within seven points midway through the second half, Edey answered with consecutive layups and the Boilermakers were able to keep a relatively comfortable cushion.
BIG PICTURE
Purdue: Edey had another dominant performance, perhaps increasing his chances to repeat as The Associated Press men’s college basketball player of the year.
Michigan: Howard has a chance to set a single-season school record for losses, faring worse than John Beilein’s first team did with a 10-22 record during the 2007-08 season.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Boilermakers might move up Monday in the AP Top 25 because they also routed Rutgers 96-68 and top-ranked UConn lost by 19 points to Creighton.
UP NEXT
Purdue: Hosts Michigan State on Saturday night.
Michigan: At Rutgers on Thursday night.
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