Zack Novak hit four threes on Senior Night, but it wasn't enough (photo by Carlos Osorio, AP)

A day that began as festive with Zack Novak, Stu Douglass, and Corey Person being honored on Senior Night turned sour pretty quickly as Michigan dug itself a hole that it couldn’t climb out of against Purdue. With a chance to wrap up a perfect home record for the first time in 35 years and remain in the Big Ten title hunt, Michigan fell 75-61.

Purdue scored the first two baskets of the game as Michigan missed its first five shots before finally getting on the board nearly three minutes into the game on a Jordan Morgan dunk. But Purdue reeled off eight straight to build a 12-2 lead. Michigan pulled within three, but in what would be come a theme of the night, Purdue answered the charge with a run of its own, scoring seven straight to take a 19-9 lead.

Michigan battled back once again, playing the final ten minutes of the first half evenly before going into the locker room trailing 32-28.

Morgan got the second half scoring started with a layup but Purdue’s Terone Johnson scored six straight to widen the Boiler lead to eight. Michigan then went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take its first lead of the game, 42-40, with 12:19 remaining. However, Purdue wouldn’t let Michigan take over, recapturing the lead and building it to seven.

A Tim Hardaway jumper with pulled Michigan to within four with 4:36 to play, but back-to-back threes by Robbie Hummel sealed the game for the Boilers. Michigan was forced to launch threes and foul in an attempt to come back, but it was not to be.

Purdue got a career high 22 points out of sophomore guard Terone Johnson who entered the game averaging 7.6. His previous high was 16 against Wisconsin on January 12, but on this night he hit 9-of-12 from the field and all four free throws to steal the thunder from the Michigan seniors.

Novak and Trey Burke led the way for Michigan with 12 points apiece while Hardaway added 10. Novak hit 4-of-10 three-point attempts, but Hardaway missed all six of his tries.

Purdue shot 50 percent from the field and 7-of-15 from three-point range, and the Big Ten’s worst free throw shooting team hit 14-of-16 from the line. The Boilers came in with a great offensive game plan that Michigan was unable to solve. On nearly every possession, the Purdue guards used the high ball screen to draw a mismatch with Morgan guarding a guard up top, who then drove to the basket. Rather than switch to a zone, Michigan had no answer.

At 21-8 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten, Michigan still has an outside shot at a share of the Big Ten title, but it would require Michigan State to lose both of its final games, at #24 Indiana and home against #9 Ohio State, and Michigan would have to win its final two. The next one is Thursday at Illinois before closing the regular season at Penn State next Sunday.

Hardaway led the way for Michigan with 19 points (photo by Michael Conroy, AP)

Michigan visited West Lafayette on Tuesday night looking for its first true road win of the season and first win in Mackey Arena since 2003. And win it did, reversing the score from Saturday’s loss to Arkansas, and beating the Boilermakers 66-64.

Michigan broke out to a 14-7 lead thanks to seven points from Stu Douglass. The lead then widened to 20-12 with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Purdue fought back, scoring the next seven points to pull within one, but Michigan answered with jumpers from Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway and a pair of free throws by Jordan Morgan. Purdue closed out the half on a 7-2 run to pull within two at 30-28.

The second half began much the same way as the first went: Michigan scoring a few baskets to pull ahead, but never enough to pull away. Each time it looked as if Michigan were poised to put the game away, Purdue would go on a run to get right back in the game.

In the first five minutes of the second half, Michigan built a 10-point lead at 41-31. However, Purdue went on a 20-6 run to grab its first lead since the beginning of the game. A Morgan layup and a Douglass three put Michigan back on top 52-51 with just under seven minutes to play. From there on, the teams battled neck-and-neck, neither leading by more than four points, and trading leads six times.

Trailing by one with a minute and a half left, Zack Novak found Morgan open under the basket and Morgan slammed it home to put Michigan ahead 65-64. Purdue was unable to score and Evan Smotrycz hit the front end of two free throws to give Michigan a two-point lead. A last-gasp attempt by Purdue’s Lewis Jackson missed and Michigan earned its first win at Purdue in its last seven trips. The defense held the Boilers without a field goal for the final 3:54.

Michigan was led by Hardaway’s 19-point effort on 8-of-15 shooting. Morgan and Douglass each added 12, while Smotrycz scored 10. Burke was held to six points, his third lowest output of the season, and lowest in Big Ten play. He shot just 3-of-10 from the field, but dished out six assists.

The Wolverines shot 54 percent from the field and hit 6-of-14 three-pointers while holding Purdue to 44.2 percent overall and 9-of-26 from downtown. Purdue’s stars, Robbie Hummel and Jackson got their points, 16 and 17 respectively, but no one else stepped up for the Boilers.

The win keeps Michigan atop the Big Ten standings and sets up an important road game at Ohio State on Sunday.

After beating rival Michigan State for the third consecutive time last Tuesday, it traveled to Arkansas and laid an egg against a Razorback team that hadn’t beaten a quality opponent to that point. Michigan started slowly, allowing Arkansas to hit its first 11 shots, and dug itself a 20-point hole. While the Wolverines battled back valiantly, it wasn’t enough as Trey Burke’s attempted buzzer-beater rattled in and out.

#22 Michigan v. Purdue
	Tuesday, Jan. 24 7 p.m. ET ESPN W. Lafayette, Ind.
15-5 (5-2)	Record	14-6 (4-3)
Ferris State 59-33 Towson 64-47 W. Illinois 59-55 #8 Memphis 73-61 UCLA 79-63 Iowa State 79-66 Oakland 90-80 Ark. Pine-Bluff 63-50 Alabama A&M 87-57 Bradley 77-66 Penn State 71-53 Minnesota 61-56 #16 Wisconsin 59-41 Northwestern 66-64 OT #9 Michigan St. 60-59	Wins	N. Illinois 96-34 High Point 67-65 Iona 91-90 Temple 85-77 W. Michigan 80-37 Coppin State 78-57 Miami 76-65 W. Carolina 65-60 E. Michigan 61-36 IPFW 81-56 Iowa 79-76 Illinois 75-60 Minnesota 79-66 Iowa 75-68
#6 Duke 75-82 Virginia 58-70 #11 Indiana 71-73 Iowa 59-75 Arkansas 64-66	Losses	#15 Alabama 56-65 #11 Xavier 63-66 Butler 65-67 Penn State 45-65 Wisconsin 62-67 #9 Michigan St. 58-83
68.6	Points Per Game	71.8
60.8	Scoring Defense	60.3
497-for-1,080 (46.0%)	Field Goal %	507-for-1,162 (44.0%)
439-for-1,047 (41.9%)	Def. Field Goal %	438-for-1045 (41.9%)
164-for-480 (34.2%)	3-point %	154-for-434 (35.5%)
128-for-354 (36.2%)	Def. 3-point %	119-for-331 (36.0%)
213-for-301 (70.8%)	Free Throw %	269-for-428 (67.4%)
10.7	Free Throws Made/Game	13.5
33.1	Rebounds Per Game	34.8
31.1	Opp. Rebounds Per Game	34.2
13.3	Assists Per Game	13.5
11.3	Turnovers Per Game	9.7
5.0	Steals Per Game	7.5
2.5	Blocks Per Game	3.7
G – Tim Hardaway (15.1) G – Trey Burke (14.6)	Leading Scorer	F – Robbie Hummel (15.4) G – Lewis Jackson (10.0)
F – Evan Smotrycz (5.9) F – Jordan Morgan (5.6)	Leading Rebounder	F – Robbie Hummel (6.3) G – Kelsey Barlow (4.1)

Thankfully, Michigan doesn’t have to wait long to erase the bitter taste of defeat from its mouth as the Wolverines visit West Lafayette tonight to battle the Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue enters at 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten. The Boilers are yet to beat a ranked team but have lost to all three they have played, a nine point loss to Alabama, a three point loss at Xavier, and Saturday’s 25 point beatdown at the hands of Michigan State.

Purdue is led by forward Robbie Hummel, who surprisingly isn’t hurt this season. The senior who missed all of last season and part of the previous season with knee injuries, is having a stellar season so far. He’s averaging 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, having scored in double figures in all but two games. One of those was Saturday when he was held without a field goal on 0-for-11 shooting. His only two points came on free throws and he wasn’t in foul trouble. But every star has his off nights and for Hummel they’re few and far between. He scored 17 against both Alabama and Xavier and has a season high of 24 against Iona and Coppin State. Two years ago, he poured in 35 against Ohio State including eight three-pointers. At this point this season, he’s shooting 35.1 percent from three (39-for-111).

Second on the team is senior guard Lewis Jackson who averages 10 points and nearly four assists per contest. He scored 26 in a win over Temple but has been held to five points or fewer six times. He’s not much of a three-point shooter, averaging just over one attempt per game, but makes 47.1 percent of his shots.

Fellow senior guard Ryne Smith is the team’s sharp-shooter, averaging 43.4 percent from downtown (53-for-122. Against High Point early in the season, he hit 8-of-15 from three-point range and has hit at least three in nine of 20 games. Saturday’s loss to Michigan State was the first game all season that he was held without a three.

The Boilers are very guard-heavy but shoot worse than Michigan from the field (43.6 percent). Tonight’s matchup pits a pair of teams eager for a win following a disappointing loss, and Michigan looking for its first true road win of the season. It’s games like this that need to be stolen on the road in order to win the Big Ten. Look for John Beilein’s team to come out hungry and pick up a hard-fought victory before a brutal stretch at Ohio State, home against Indiana, and at Michigan State.