Missed opportunities loom large for Purdue in OT loss to Michigan
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — It's not that Purdue lost to Michigan Friday at the Big Ten Tournament — 74-70 in overtime — that might be unsettling as the NCAA Tournament looms, but how the Boilermakers lost.
Top-seeded Purdue didn't lose to the Wolverines for the second time in as many meetings this season because it missed its first seven shots in overtime and barely scored in the extra session.
It lost because it had so many opportunities to win in regulation, none of which it capitalized upon, in a loss that played out largely in parallel to the storyline Purdue wants, and needs, to shake after its improbable losses in the each of the past two NCAA Tournaments.
There were so many opportunities.
So many.
Probably the biggest: With 18.2 seconds left and Purdue leading 66-64, P.J. Thompson stepped to the line for a one-and-one that could have gone a long toward icing a victory.
Some context here: Purdue is the best foul-shooting team in the conference and has made a living all season making its free throws in this very situation.
Thompson missed it.
"I told the team it was on me," Thompson said. "I told them I have to hit my free throws down the stretch and I will. I have before this season and I will (again) at some point in the NCAA Tournament."
At the other end, Zak Irvin — the player Purdue couldn't get a handle on late when no other Wolverine could make a shot — tied it with four seconds left. When Carsen Edwards' desperate three was blocked, the two teams went to OT after Purdue had led by three with 33 seconds left.
Thompson's miss, though, was one of many for Purdue on this atypical day at the stripe.
Purdue, a nearly 82-percent foul-shooting team this Big Ten season, was 6-of-13.
Then, there's the layup.
A minute after draining a key three-pointer to put Purdue up 64-61 with a little more than two minutes left, Dakota Mathias saw his wide-open layup rim off, as a golden opportunity went by the wayside.
"I was surprised I was that open," said Mathias, who was an uncharacteristic 1-for-8, with three turnovers. "They had a breakdown defensively obviously. I have to knock that down. I've been knocking it down all year. I just missed it."
These are the sorts of plays Purdue's made when it's won big games so often this season, but opportunities that came and went, unfulfilled, this time around.
Then, there's the handful of golden chances Purdue generated at the rim for Caleb Swanigan and Vincent Edwards, who finished a combined 8-of-22 from the floor. Several of those misses were of the particularly high-percentage variety.
"It was just one of those nights," Edwards said. "We've gotten those shots before and made them. Today, we didn't make them."
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There were some other things that held Purdue back, too, as offensive fouls wiped what might otherwise have been a deciding margin off the board.
Swanigan was hit with one on a 50-50 call in the second half, negating a score, but the most impactful came with less than six-and-a-half minutes left, when Purdue freed Carsen Edwards for a clean dash to the basket, which would have produced an and-one had the Boilermaker freshman not been called for a charge instead.
"I didn't think (the defender) was there," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "I don't know how we didn't get that one."
But though some close calls went against Purdue, it was ousted quickly from the Big Ten Tournament for a number of reasons.
For one, D.J. Wilson.
In Ann Arbor, it was Moritz Wagner who rained threes on Purdue; today, it was Wilson, including back-to-back triples in the first half that keyed a 14-2 Wolverine run after Purdue had claimed a nine-point lead with the half nearing. Purdue was lucky to be down just one at the half after Thompson buried a halfcourt shot to beat the buzzer.
Wilson was everywhere for Michigan, making 11-of-18 shots and scoring 26 points — the sort of one-man-show performance that's been a common denominator among Purdue's losses this season.
The power forward made those two threes, but also scored driving to the basket, posting up and working the offensive glass, a glaring sore for Purdue again, the continuation of a trend.
Michigan — the worst offensive rebounding team in the conference this season — secured 11 offensive rebounds, one more than Purdue. The real difference: The Wolverines scored on nearly all of them.
If there's any one metric that stands as the reason Purdue lost, it's the fact that 18 of Michigan's points — a quarter of its scoring, came off second chances.
That totally offset the fact that Michigan was an uncharacteristic 6-of-25 from three-point range.
"You have (second chances) a lot with teams that shoot a lot of threes," Painter said. "They had a lot of misses. We did a good job defending the arc. They were 6-25, but with that you get a lot of misses.
"You have to step to your man, pick up the basketball, be able to pick up the flight of it and pursue it."
The second-chance points kept Michigan in position to win and it did just that at the end.
Irvin scored the game-tying bucket to end regulation, then a pair of scores against Vincent Edwards, who was playing with four fouls, in overtime.
"At some point, you have to make that sacrifice and take that last foul," Edwards said. "To let him get the second layup, it killed us. The only thing to do right there was to foul before he could get the shot up. It's something I have to (remember) in the future and got about it that way."
Purdue had every opportunity Friday in D.C., thanks in part to a resurgent game from Isaac Haas, who scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and a big one from Carsen Edwards, who scored 17 on 7-of-10 shooting.
But Purdue didn't finish the game when given opportunities, probably the most toxic taste it can have in its mouth as it heads wherever it will be sent come Sunday evening.
"I don't think it's something we should be concerned about moving forward," Thompson said. "We know we've won games like this all season. But I do know we didn't do what we're supposed to do tonight.
"The good thing is we know we're going to the NCAA Tournament, no matter what seed we are, and we can control (what happens) on the basketball court. I'm looking forward to that."
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