Coach Matt Painter isn’t going to beat around the bush. Michigan now stands as the best performing men’s basketball team in the country, as of Monday’s AP Poll.
In Monday’s pregame press conference, Painter addressed to the media that this may be one of the toughest competitors the Boilers have faced all season.
“When you’re dealing with an elite offense, elite defense, but also a team that can play multiple ways. So it’s not like they just have their starting five and that’s it,” Painter said. “They have speed, they have athleticism. They have the ability to break you down off the dribble from a lot of different people. Their skill level, great rebounding team, best defensive team in the country, in just a lot of different ways to get you from an offensive standpoint.”
They’re complete on both ends of the floor, bringing depth and balance offensively with nine rotation pieces, while defensively, they overwhelm teams with size.
If Purdue wants to win this game, they’re going to have to make shots, plain and simple. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Michigan is going to protect the paint, and the Boilermakers will have to find their points somewhere else.
The Wolverines’ only loss came back in January at home to unranked Wisconsin, and that game provided the blueprint. The Badgers lit it up from deep, shooting 46% from three and knocking down 15 3-pointers to hand Michigan its lone defeat.
Purdue is coming into this game at the right time, though, riding the momentum of two huge road wins over top-10 Nebraska and a solid Iowa team. Much of the reason the Boilermakers were able to take those games came down to toughness and rebounding.
Over the past two contests, Purdue has dominated the glass, outrebounding its opponents 88–61. Senior forward Trey Kaufmann-Renn has led the way, hauling in 31 rebounds across the two games.
“You know, TK has really set the tone for us. . . I just thought his 19 total rebounds against Nebraska is 11 rebounds in the first half against Iowa,” Painter said. “Think about that. You know, he got 30 rebounds in 60 minutes. It’s pretty hard to do.”
The Boilers will carry these thoughts as they continue to prepare for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Tuesday night back in Mackey.
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