Michigan Falls To No. 1 Purdue In Ann Arbor

In a battle between two of the Big Ten's premier post players, Hunter Dickinson got the best of Purdue's Zach Edey in the box score, but Edey and his Boilermakers got the 75-70 win in Ann Arbor.

Dickinson finished with a game-high 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including a couple of three pointers. However, without Howard, Michigan just didn't have enough fire power to keep up with the No. 1 ranked Boilers.

Both teams play a physical brand of basketball through their big, so fouls began to pile up as the game went on. As that happened, Purdue's supreme depth emerged and the bench players chipped in 23 points, which ultimately helped the Boilermakers get to a 20-1 overall mark on the season and a 9-1 mark in Big Ten play. Purdue is currently undefeated on the road, which is really something to be proud of in college basketball and in the Big Ten.

Edey was productive as he always is. The 7-4 big fella scored 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. It's rare for Dickinson to not be the biggest player on the floor, but Edey dwarfs him. Still, Dickinson got his, as did Edey. It was the rest of the Boilers that earned the victory. 

Edey started hot from the opening tip, scoring the first seven points for Purdue and tallying 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting before halftime even hit. He took advantage of one-on-one opportunities in the paint, where the team ultimately outscored Michigan by a 40-30 margin.

However, Dickinson answered the scoring challenge by posting 14 points of his own in the first half, which included a pair of 3-pointers for the Wolverines in the opening period. Without Howard in the lineup, Dickinson was able to stretch the floor a it more, which Edey doesn't handle particularly well.

Purdue eventually took control for a bit in the first half going on a 15-0 run and pushing the lead out to 13. Impressively, Michigan responded and closed the gap to just six points at the break — 41-35.

Combo guard Kobe Bufkin was quiet in the first half scoring just five points, but came alive in the second half chipping in 11 of his 16 total. He also grabbed four board and dished out two assists. Duke transfer Joey Baker got the start in Howard's absence and had a decent night. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting including 3-for-8 from downtown. He's obviously not Howard, but he filled in pretty well against Purdue.

Michigan ended up cutting the deficit to just three points in the final minute of the game, but Purdue's Fletcher Loyer and junior guard Brandon Newman iced the game by making four shots from the foul line to escape Ann Arbor with a win. 

This type of outcome has been somewhat typical for Michigan under Juwan Howard. Against bad teams, the Wolverines seem to play down — see Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan earlier this season. Against good teams, the maize and blue play at a higher level, like tonight. At the end of the night tonight in Ann Arbor, Purdue was just too sound from top to bottom. Even with a pretty solid play, without Howard, the Wolverines scrapped but just couldn't get over the massive hump that is Edey and Purdue.