Michigan
Purdue
Wolverines' Late-Game Challenge to Purdue Falls Short
2/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Purdue (20-7, 11-3 Big Ten) whittled at the U-M lead, going ahead for the first time in the game, 51-49, on Carson Cunningham's three-point bucket from the right wing with 11:01 left in the contest. Michigan answered with four points -- a Kevin Gaines (Las Vegas, Nev./Clark HS) free throw and Gavin Groninger (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield HS) three-pointer -- to take a 53-51 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
But a three-point play by Purdue's Mike Robinson gave the Boilers the lead for good at 9:49. The Wolverines stayed with Purdue the remainder of the game and had a chance to tie the game late when Chris Young (Plymouth, Mich./Catholic Central HS) went to the free throw line at 0:11 with two tries. Young scored the second of two free throws to pull Michigan within one, 74-73.
U-M was forced to foul and sent Purdue to the free throw line three times in the last nine seconds. The Wolverines fouled Cunningham, who made the first charity and then chased down the rebound after missing the second attempt. He was again fouled and this time converted both tries to ice the win. Gaines drove the lane uncontested to make it 77-75 at 0:04.
The Wolverines, playing without their two leading scorers, raced out to a 9-0 lead as they held the Boilermakers scoreless for the first 2:45 of the game. With guard Jamal Crawford (Renton, Wash./Rainier Beach HS) on the bench serving an NCAA suspension, forward LaVell Blanchard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) joined him after getting tangled with Robinson in the first minute of play.
After Purdue settled the game down and slimmed the Wolverines' lead to 17-10, Michigan rattled off another 9-0 streak to push its advantage to a game-high 16 points. Groninger drilled a three from the top of the key -- his fourth of the first half -- to give the Wolverines a 29-13 advantage with 6:28 left in the half. Purdue then made its run, using a 9-0 burst to cap an extended 17-4 stretch to helped the Boilers pull the Wolverine lead down to three points, 33-30. However a pair of Pete Vignier (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck HS) buckets allowed Michigan to enter the break with a 37-32 lead.
Groninger scored a career-high 19 points -- 15 coming from three-point range -- and Gaines followed with 18 points to lead a balanced Michigan scoring game. Brandon Smith (Amarillo, Texas/Palo Duro HS), who scored 12 points, grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Brian Cardinal recorded his third straight 20-point game against the Wolverines, leading the Boilers with 20 points.
Michigan is at Northwestern on Saturday (Feb. 26, 11:07 a.m. CST), then closes its home schedule Wednesday (March 1, 8 p.m.) vs. Iowa.
N O T E S
-- Michigan put together a shooting exhibition early in the game, connecting on over 75 percent of its field goal attempts in the early stages. The Wolverines finished the game shooting .518 (29-for-56), their second Big Ten game shooting better than 50 percent. U-M shot a season- and conference-high .642 (32-for-70) against Northwestern Jan. 19.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
