After a 20-game league season against an expanded 18-team conference, Michigan opens the Big Ten Tournament against one of the three teams it played twice this season. The Wolverines will face Purdue in Indianapolis (9:00 p.m., BTN) with a trip to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on the line.
On Thursday night, the Boilermakers survived an upset scare against USC, 76-71, to advance to the quarterfinals on the back of Trey Kaufman-Renn’s 30 points and seven rebounds.
When these two teams last met, they were at the top of the league, and Michigan outlasted Purdue at home. Since then, both have limped to the finish line. Michigan has lost its last three games and four of its last six, while Purdue dropped four in a row in February en route to a 2-5 regular season finish.
The 3-versus-6 matchup doesn’t have the same juice as the top-of-the-table regular season clashes, but there’s a trophy on the line this week in Indianapolis and two teams hoping to build some momentum headed into the NCAA Tournament.
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