Five takeaways from Michigan’s loss to Purdue

Thursday’s tilt with Purdue offered Michigan a prime opportunity to register a marquee win, one that could bolster a meager NCAA Tournament resume. Instead, the No. 1 Boilermakers proved their might, dashing Michigan’s hopes with a 75-70 victory. 

“It definitely felt like another one of those frustrating losses where a couple more bounces here and there, a couple of those timely threes that they hit, if they didn’t go in, we could be sitting here with a W right now,” Hunter Dickinson said. “We feel like we played good enough to win but, at the end, they just made a couple more plays than us.” 

Here are five takeaways from Michigan’s loss: 

Jett Howard’s absence exposes lack of depth 

Jett Howard missed Thursday’s game after rolling his ankle in the first half of Sunday’s win over Minnesota. Though Jett was listed as a game-time decision, he never made it onto the floor for warmups, with Juwan Howard saying postgame that Jett “felt pain today” in his ankle. 

“Looking at the big scope of things, health is important,” Juwan Howard said. “Don’t want him to go through a season where he injures it tonight and he’s out again a couple days. Those type of things do happen. Want to afford him an opportunity to get healthy.”