Foul Trouble, Lack of Bench Production Costly as Purdue Falls to Michigan
With 1:15 remaining in the game and No. 7 Purdue trailing No. 20 Michigan 70-67, all Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst could do was watch and support their teammates. The two bigs fouled out of the game with less than two minutes on the clock, putting the Boilers in a bind at the game's most important juncture.
The Wolverines extended the lead to 73-67 before a Braden Smith triple cut the lead in half. Then, after Danny Wolf made a pair of free throws to give Michigan an 75-70 advantage. Smith knocked down another long ball, pulling Purdue to within just two points.
Wolf then missed a pair of free throws with six seconds left and Smith tried to make a third and final 3-pointer to lift the Boilermakers to an improbable win. But the shot was off the mark and Michigan held on for a 75-73 victory in Ann Arbor.
Michigan took over first place in the Big Ten with the victory, while Purdue now trails by a half game.
Foul trouble has been a major concern for Purdue in recent games, particularly with Kaufman-Renn. Those issues reared their ugly head again on Tuesday night, which proved to be costly.
"We tried to manage it — it was a very physical game — we tried to manage it to the best of our ability with offense, defense, subs," Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the game. "At some point, he's got to play the whole time, because offensively we need him."
Kaufman-Renn was still productive for the Boilermakers, scoring 22 points and grabbing seven rebounds on 11-of-19 from the floor. Furst — also sidelined after fouling out — ended the game with five points and seven rebounds.
Smith led all scorers with 24 points, along with six rebounds and five assists. Fletcher Loyer chipped in 15.
The glaring statistic from Tuesday night's game? Purdue ended the game without getting a single point from the bench. Cam Heide, Raleigh Burgess, Gicarri Harris and Myles Colvin missed all five shot attempts in Tuesday night's contest.
But the struggles from Purdue's bench players wasn't the biggest issue, according to Painter. He pointed to another category in the loss to Michigan.
"They didn't take a bunch of shots," Painter said of Purdue's bench. "You want your best scorers to shoot the most, right? So when you think of 51 shots between those three guys ... and all those were efficient. You look at their numbers, look what they did.
"The thing that jumps out is Trey Kaufman(-Renn) not shooting free throws. You shoot the ball 19 times, you touch the ball every single possession," Painter said. "We've got to be able to generate some free throws for him. He shoots some floaters and runners, but not 19 of them."
Purdue finished the game shooting just eight free throws, making six. Michigan was 18-of-26 from the charity stripe.
A lot of things went wrong for the Boilermakers in Ann Arbor, yet they still had a chance to beat a top-25 opponent on the road on the game's final play. It's a tough blow for Purdue, but one that's impossible to recover from.
The Boilers must shake this one off quickly, because a feisty Wisconsin team comes into Mackey Arena on Saturday. Winning that game becomes even more critical in Purdue's quest for a third straight Big Ten title.
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