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Michigan entered Thursday’s game against Purdue in desperate need for a victory. After opening the season 7-0 and rising as high as No. 4 in the country, the Wolverines have dropped four of their last seven games and have fallen to 19th in the nation.
The Boilermakers came into the contest on a bit of a slump as well, having gone 3-3 in their last six games, including a blowout loss to Illinois (63-37) in their last outing.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team building a lead by more than four points. The lead changed hands 11 times before Michigan took an 32-28 advantage into the locker room.
The second half was more of the same, as both teams traded blows on their way to double overtime. In the end, the Wolverines landed the final blow and secured an 84-78 victory.
Here are five takeaways for Michigan’s win:
1. Zavier Simpson returns to form
Zavier Simpson has had an up-and-down season thus far, but he played extraordinary well against the Boilermakers. After being primarily a distributor in regulation, with 9 assists prior to overtime, Simpson was able to get to the rim in the cause damage in the extra sessions.. That’s where the senior is at his best. He showed patience in regulation, but carried the Wolverines in overtime, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with those 9 assists.
2. Shooting Struggles Come home
Michigan’s struggles in shooting have been well-documented in recent weeks, but the Crisler Center had previously been a reprieve for those struggles. That wasn’t the case on Thursday night however, as the shooting woes followed the Wolverines home. Michigan finished regulation 25-of-55 from the floor (45 percent), before going 6-of-11 in the two overtime periods. It was another ugly outing from the three-point line (7-of-29) however. This is growing into a major concern for the Wolverines, and one they need to correct as Big Ten play continues.
3. Scoring by Committee
Those shooting struggles are not limited to one player or even a hand-full of players, it’s everyone right now. With that in mind, the Wolverines combated that tonight by spreading the ball around and getting multiple people involved on offense. Simpson’s 22 points led the way, but Jon Teske had 18, Franz Wagner had 15, and David DeJulius finished with 11 and Brandon Johns Jr. added 8. Teams get out of shooting slumps by moving the ball around and finding guys for good looks. Michigan is getting good looks, and you have to think they’ll start to fall at some point.
4. ELI BROOKS has gone M.I.A.
In the first seven games of the season, shooting guard Eli Brook was scoring 12.3 points per game and was an outside shooting threat for the Wolverines, hitting 50 percent of his three-point attempts. However, in Michigan’s last eight games Brooks has been missing in action. The junior has been held to 8.3 ppg and is shooting just 9-of-28 from deep (32 percent) with six of those makes coming against lowly Presbyterian and UMass-Lowell. The way the Wolverines are struggling from the floor, Michigan needs Brooks to regain some of his early season form quickly.
5. GRINDING OUT A VICTORY
Nothing is coming easy for the Wolverines right now, especially with starting forward Isaiah Livers currently out indefinitely with a groin injury. Michigan showed grit and resilience on Thursday night however to grind out a much-needed victory. The win improves the Wolverines’ record in conference play back to .500 at 2-2. It’s going to be difficult to win games the way Michigan is shooting the ball right now, but give them credit for finding a way to come out on top in this one. Livers’ status remains uncertain, but their is optimism that he’ll be able to return to the lineup soon, which should give them a boost offensively.