Breakdown: Purdue's double-OT loss at No. 19 Michigan

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Thanks largely to a performance for the ages from Trevion Williams and in spite of the first-half loss of Matt Haarms, Purdue reversed its road realities Thursday night at No. 19 Michigan.

But, the best showing for the Boilermakers to date away from Mackey Arena — at least against peer-level competition — fell just short, in an 84-78 double-overtime loss to the Wolverines, two games after Purdue won a double-overtime home game vs. Minnesota, but also just a few days after the Boilermakers scored a paltry 37 points on the road at Illinois.

Our breakdown.

Matt Painter wanted to see "fight" from his team, and he sure got what he was looking for, the big-picture revelation from an otherwise agonizingly narrow defeat for the Boilermakers.

The road has not been kind to Purdue this season, and it appeared as if circumstance wouldn't be either on this night, when Matt Haarms was lost in the first half to an apparent hip injury. He didn't play in the second half or either overtime.

Nevertheless, riding Williams for all he could provide — 36 points and 20 rebounds when all was said and done — and emboldened early in the second by freshman Isaiah Thompson's scoring outburst, Purdue led by a half dozen a little less than six minutes into the second half. Thompson, the 6-foot-1 guard who started the second half In place of Haarms, a 7-3 center, scored 12 of his 14 points in that span.

"He was fabulous," Painter said. "He gave us the punch we needed at that time."

In part because of it, a back-and-forth game that included 17 lead changes would come down to the final minutes, and then some more, and then some more after that.

It was the Williams Show, though. Playing in the state where he attended high school, the Boilermaker big man scored 17 of his 36 between the final 7:42 of regulation and the end of the first overtime.

His improbable three-pointer at the end of a stalled possession for Purdue with less than a minute-and-a-half to play put Purdue ahead 60-58, before Zavier Simpson did the same thing he did every time Michigan needed a bucket in crunch time: He got to the basket and scored, the area where Haarms' absence was brutally apparent.

Simpson finished with 22 points and nine assists. Twelve of those points came after the one-minute mark of regulation.

Purdue had a chance to win it at the buzzer and sidestep OT altogether, as Eric Hunter dribbled to the basket as the final seconds ticked away. At the last moment, though, he dumped off to Williams at the rim. Franz Wagner knocked his shot away from behind; the shot likely would have counted.

"It was definitely rushed," Williams said. "I wouldn't say I was ready for the ball. I thought Eric was going to float it, and I was going to get the rebound or something or get a tip back. ... It was definitely rushed.

"It didn't go our way, but we still fought."

Michigan scored the first nine points of the second overtime, but Purdue did manage to trim to four and give itself a chance thereafter.

Beyond the obvious — Williams was phenomenal — Purdue cut its turnovers dramatically after halftime, after 11 of them in the first half led to 13 Wolverine points. Purdue committed just four over the final 30 minutes, and Michigan got just six points off them, though "just" is relative in a game that could have been decided by any extra point for either side at any time.

But it was Williams and Thompson who gave Purdue a shot at a signature road victory.

And it was Simpson who dashed those hopes.

Again, Michigan repeatedly beat Purdue off the bounce in the final minutes of regulation and the two overtimes. It was generally ball-screen action, where Haarms' presence, not just his length and shot-blocking acumen at the basket, but his mobility away from it, combine to create an element unlike any other in the Big Ten against pick-and-roll sort of offense. Williams has come a long way defensively, and with his conditioning, but Haarms' absence at the center position was felt when it mattered most, and Simpson and David DeJulius took advantage.

"It's one of those things where that next guy has to be up and you have to play to the strengths of your guys," Painter said, "but there's no question (Haarms) helps us."

Purdue's M.O. with the excellent big men it's had has been simple: If you get single-covered, score.

The rule hasn't changed, and Williams took it to heart at the Crisler Center.

"That's our rule every time," Williams said. "If we don't follow it, we're coming out. Coach always tells us, 'If you're one-on-one in the post, score.'"

Michigan single-covered him all night long, and all night long, he scored.

"He put on a show tonight," Thompson said. "I feel like he's one of the best big men in the country. We definitely feed off him, and he showed the country tonight what he's about, and hopefully he can keep doing that for us."

On a lesser scale, Thompson showed what he's capable of, too.

His scoring outburst to start the second half was a game-changer for Purdue.

He made shots, but also free throws, showing a poise about him for a freshman playing a ranked opponent on its home floor and providing Purdue a different, but badly needed, scoring element from the backcourt.

"I just have to relax," Thompson said. "I felt like I was more locked in tonight than I was for the Illinois game. It just comes with a mindset and a focus and I just always want to stay confident out there, whether I'm making shots, missing shots, I just want to stay consistent with myself."

All that being said about both Boilermakers, Simpson made every winning play Michigan needed to win this game.

It means Purdue's capable, capable of winning these high-end road games, the sorts of games they may have to win to be viable n the Big Ten race, and perhaps make the NCAA Tournament.

"We just want to play with toughness and compete," Thompson said. "We felt like we didn't compete at Illinois and tonight at Michigan we were a totally different team. We had a chance to win and came up just a little short."

Tonight, the Boilermakers looked like an NCAA Tournament team.

Last time out at Illinois, they looked anything but.

To compete as they did vs. Michigan, down one of their most important players on the fly, was a welcomed sight, even in defeat.

"We kind of accepted it early at Illinois when we got down, 'We're on the road, we'll take the loss,'" Eric Hunter said. "We didn't do that today. ... It was just not accepting taking a loss."

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