No. 20 Michigan edges No. 7 Purdue in battle for first place

Danny Wolf had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 20 Michigan to a 75-73 win over No. 7 Purdue in a battle for first place in the Big Ten on Tuesday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Roddy Gayle came off the bench to score 14 points and grab seven rebounds, and Vladislav Goldin and Tre Donaldson each scored 12 points for Michigan (19-5, 11-2 Big Ten), which has won five straight.

Braden Smith scored 24 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 22 points with seven rebounds for Purdue (19-6, 11-3), which had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Purdue held a 65-61 with 4:00 left in the game, but Michigan took a 66-65 lead with 3:08 remaining after a 3-pointer by Donaldson and a basket by Rubin Jones.

Michigan later scored seven straight to grab a 73-67 lead with 39 seconds remaining after Jones threw down a dunk.

Smith hit a 3-pointer to bring Purdue within three at 73-70 with 21 seconds left, but Wolf responded by calmly hitting two free throws to give Michigan a five-point cushion.

The Boilermakers had a chance to win after Smith drilled another triple and Wolf missed two free throws on the other end with six seconds to go. Purdue got the ball back to Smith, but his deep running 3-pointer missed badly to end the game.

Trailing 51-42 with 11:19 remaining in the game, Michigan went on an 8-2 run to cut Purdue's lead to 53-50 after a 3-pointer by Nimari Burnett.

Michigan continued its run, taking its first lead since early in the first half at 59-57 following two free throws by Goldin with 5:33 to go.

After holding a 37-35 lead at halftime, Purdue started the second half on an 11-3 run to take a 48-38 lead with 14:44 remaining in the game.

--Field Level Media