ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan didn’t have to wait long to get another crack at Purdue.
In the second meeting between the teams in six days, the Wolverines made sure they didn’t miss their shot.
Behind big games from the big men, a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half and a sound defensive effort, Michigan picked up a marquee win it has been searching for and took down No. 3 Purdue, 82-58, Thursday at Crisler Center.
Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson finished with 22 points and nine rebounds and freshman forward Moussa Diabate had 15 points for Michigan (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten), which shot 51.6% from the field (32-for-62) and made nine of its 12 3-pointers after halftime.
Fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks scored 18, freshman forward Caleb Houstan added 15 and grad transfer guard DeVante’ Jones had 11 points and 10 assists.
After finishing the first half with a flourish, the Wolverines kept rolling. They created turnovers and held the Boilermakers to one-shot possessions. They used a 3-pointer from Houstan to cap a 17-5 run over both halves to take a 41-29 lead a minute out of the break.
Michigan added more distance as it continued to click on both ends and nobody other than Jaden Ivey could score for Purdue.
Dickinson rattled in a 3-pointer from the wing. Jones found Diabate for a soaring left-handed jam and scored a runner off the glass. Then after Dickinson rejected a shot by Ivey, Brooks buried an open 3-pointer to make it 53-36 with 13:33 to go.
Purdue could only cut the deficit to 13 twice before Brooks played the role of the closer. He scored on three consecutive possessions for Michigan, splashing a pair of deep balls and a jumper to force a Purdue timeout at the 8:14 mark.
That only offered a brief reprieve for the Boilermakers as Houstan added a 3-pointer of his own to put the Wolverines up, 69-47, with 7:45 remaining.
Michigan poured it on as it continued to rain 3-pointers. Houstan, Brooks and Dickinson each hit consecutive deep balls in a little over a minute to provide the exclamation point and put the game out of reach, 78-52, at the 4:01 mark.
From there, Michigan’s lead ballooned to as much as 29 points before the final buzzer sounded and a court-storming celebration ensued.
Ivey scored 18, Trevion Williams added 10 points and Zach Edey had 10 points for Purdue (21-4, 10-4), which was held to a season low in points, was outrebounded 35-25 and shot 22.2% from 3-point range (4-for-18) as its six-game win streak came to an end.
Michigan was locked in from the start, came out firing and made eight of its first 10 shots. During one sequence, Dickinson swatted a shot back into Ivey’s face that sent him stumbling to the ground and Diabate followed with a two-handed slam.
On the next possession, Houstan drained a 3-pointer from the wing. Jones scored on a driving layup then came away with a steal for another layup. Diabate scored on back-to-back baskets at the rim, including a three-point play, to give Michigan an 18-10 lead with 14:34 left in the first half.
Despite the crisp offensive execution, Michigan’s hot start eventually cooled a bit. The offense momentarily stalled as the Wolverines missed shots around the rim and the defense had its hands full with Ivey and Williams, who played much of the first half with Edey in foul trouble.
Ivey scored eight straight for Purdue before Williams scored down low and whipped a pass out for 3-pointer to tie it at 24 at the 8:16 mark.
Michigan dominated from that point and closed the half on a 14-5 run that was fueled by its defense and Dickinson. He knocked down a 3-pointer. He scored in the paint. He fired a pass from atop the key to Diabate for a dunk as the Wolverines rattled off seven unanswered points.
Then after Ivey snapped a six-minute scoring drought with a free throw, Dickinson drained another 3-pointer and muscled up a shot over Williams in the post as Michigan took a 38-29 lead into the break.
Michigan will wrap up its stretch of four games in eight days with Saturday’s home tilt against No. 16 Ohio State.
