Purdue Takes Lead in Big Ten : Boilermakers Avenge Big Loss at Michigan, 91-87

In the space of an afternoon Sunday, Purdue staked its claim as the leader of the Big Ten, solidified its No. 6 national ranking and sent a crowd of 13,609 in Michigan’s Crisler Arena into near silence.

However, the Boilermakers didn’t do much to improve their scoring deficit over the past two games against Michigan. After a 91-87 victory, Purdue still is behind by 32 points.

Last March, in the final game of the regular season, Michigan beat Purdue in a 104-68 blowout in Crisler Arena.

It was a loss that cost Purdue the outright Big Ten championship, making the Boilermakers settle for a tie with Indiana. The Hoosiers, not the Boilermakers, ended up the top-seeded team in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA tournament. And the Hoosiers, you’ll remember, ended up winning the NCAA title.

“We might have cost (Purdue) the national championship (last season),” Michigan Coach Bill Frieder said before Sunday’s game.

Purdue’s season ended with a loss to Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“They ruined my whole summer,” Keady said of last season’s Wolverines.

This, then, was turnabout. Michigan and Purdue came into the game tied for first place in the Big Ten with 7-1 records. But after pulling off a difficult victory against the 11th-ranked Wolverines on the road, Purdue (19-2) is alone in first place after the first round of play.

“This takes care of (last year’s loss),” Keady said. “That’s all erased.”

Purdue has lost only to Indiana in the Big Ten, a 82-79 loss at Bloomington, Ind. The Boilermakers’ only other loss is to Iowa State.

Before Sunday, Michigan (18-4) had lost only to Ohio State in the conference, and only to Arizona and Syracuse outside it.

Not only had Michigan won five of the past six games between the teams, but the Wolverines had won the past three in Crisler Arena. Troy Lewis, Everette Stephens and Todd Mitchell, Purdue’s senior leaders, had never won at Michigan.

“We said we were not going to leave Purdue without winning in every place we play,” Mitchell said. “This was the one we had left.”

Purdue won Sunday by keeping Michigan from running away with the game, as the Wolverines did last season and as they did in a 120-103 victory over Iowa Wednesday.

“We thought if we could keep their transition baskets to a minimum, we might have a chance to beat them at the end,” Keady said. “This game was a surprise for us.”

Michigan, which had trailed by as many as five, cut Purdue’s lead to 82-81 with 3:39 to play on a three-point shot by Gary Grant, who finished with 32 points, making 13 of 21 shots.

But Purdue, with an 84-81 lead, went to a spread offense with about 2:30 remaining, and scored on baskets by Lewis and Stephens on its next two possessions after running the shot clock down to less than five seconds.

Glen Rice, a junior forward who leads the Big Ten both in scoring and rebounding, had scored on a tip and added a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining, cutting Purdue’s lead to 88-87. Tony Jones made a free throw for Purdue, making the lead two, then Michigan’s Loy Vaught missed a three-foot half-hook shot that could have tied it.

Jones made two more free throws, and Robinson missed an uncontested three-pointer at the buzzer.

Michigan led by as many as 10 in the first half, propelled in part by the Boilermakers’ 12 first-half turnovers.

Michigan took its lead with an 8-0 run that was keyed by Rice’s dunk off a lob from Rumeal Robinson made from near halfcourt. Loy Vaught’s fast-break dunk on the next play put Michigan up, 39-29, with four minutes left in the half.

But Purdue, behind seven points from Mitchell, tied the score with six seconds to play. Only a 17-foot jumper by Robinson just before the buzzer left Michigan with a 43-41 halftime lead.

Lewis, Purdue’s sharpshooting guard, finished with 20 points Sunday. Last season, in the loss, he scored only five.

Mitchell led Purdue with 22, and Stephens added 16.

“It wasn’t a revenge factor for us,” Stephens said. “The only thing on our minds was to win one at their place.”