Michigan aims to measure progress in Purdue rematch

The last time Michigan played Purdue on Jan. 24, the game effectively ended within the first four minutes. The Boilermakers raced out to a 13-2 lead before stretching the lead to 21 points by the midway point of the first half. The Wolverines never found their footing in the game, completely outmatched by Purdue, and lost by 27 points, 91-64.

In the two and a half weeks since that uninspiring trip to West Lafayette, Michigan has bounced back, winning all four games since. It hasn’t been in dominant fashion, with all four wins coming by four points or fewer, but the Wolverines have racked up four straight wins. That’s set them up with some momentum heading into Tuesday when Michigan will get a second crack at Purdue, this time in its home arena.

For Wolverines coach Dusty May, Tuesday’s rematch is an opportunity to show how his team has taken the next step forward following that first blowout loss.

“We don’t use the word revenge, but we have to play much better basketball,” May said Monday.  “We need to make some adjustments schematically, but more importantly, our mindset. That was a tough night. They deserved to win how they did, and then I thought we deserved the result that we got that night. But we’re excited to see our growth, our improvement from then til now, and it’s part of the process. That night, a lot didn’t go right for us. A lot went wrong, and Purdue caused most of it.”