Michigan
31-3,19-1Big Ten
Purdue
27-8,13-7Big Ten
Wolverines Fall Short Against Purdue in Big Ten Title Game
3/15/2026 7:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The third-ranked and top-seeded University of Michigan men's basketball team fell to No. 18-ranked and seventh-seeded Purdue, 80-72, in the Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon (March 15) at the United Center. Purdue opened the second half 11-for-13 from the field over the first 10 minutes, turning a back-and-forth game into a lead Michigan could not overcome.
Leaders and Best
Yaxel Lendeborg led the Wolverines with 20 points, including four three-pointers, and added five rebounds. Aday Mara finished with 14 points on efficient shooting, adding seven rebounds and two blocks. Nimari Burnett chipped in 12 points with two three-pointers, while Elliot Cadeau recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.
Second Half
Michigan (31-3, 19-1 B1G) opened the second half slowly, committing a turnover and missing two shots on its first three possessions, while Purdue (27-8, 13-7 B1G) scored on three of its first four trips to take a seven-point lead. The Wolverines answered with three baskets of their own, but a stretch of six consecutive Purdue field goals pushed the Boilermakers ahead 58-46 with 12:06 remaining.
Purdue's run ended at eight straight field goals at the 9:40 mark, with Lendeborg pulling down a defensive board. Mara then threw down back-to-back dunks during a 5-0 run in just over a minute, trimming the deficit to single digits with 8:55 remaining.
The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes before Michigan briefly gained momentum with a 5-0 run on a Morez Johnson Jr. layup and a Lendeborg three-pointer with 3:47 remaining. Purdue attempted just three field goals in the final minutes but converted eight of its final 12 free throws to offset Michigan's late push.
First Half
Burnett knocked down three-pointers from the left corner for Michigan's first two field goals, but Purdue scored seven points between those makes following consecutive U-M turnovers. Roddy Gayle Jr. and Lendeborg fueled a 7-2 Michigan run over 90 seconds to give the Wolverines a two-point lead six minutes into the game.
Michigan then endured a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought before the under-12 timeout, missing five straight shots, including four from beyond the arc. Johnson ended the drought with a tip-in after an offensive rebound. Trey McKenney added a 12-foot floater to restore a two-point Michigan lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.
After assisting on five of the Wolverines' first seven field goals, Cadeau knocked down a three-pointer before throwing a lob to Mara on the following possession. Lendeborg and Johnson followed with dunks on consecutive possessions, and Burnett capped a streak of five Michigan field goals with a layup that gave U-M a four-point lead (28-24) with five minutes remaining.
Michigan's lead grew to six before Purdue answered with a 9-0 run in 88 seconds to take a three-point advantage and force a U-M timeout with 1:25 remaining. Cadeau steadied the offense late in the half, assisting Mara on a drive and scoring twice himself, including a basket as time expired to tie the game at 38-38 at halftime.
What's Next
No. 1-seed Michigan will face the winner of the Midwest Region First Four matchup between UMBC (America East) and Howard (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday (March 19) at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Tipoff time and television coverage will be announced.
Game Notes
• Sunday's contest marked the third Big Ten Tournament championship game meeting between Michigan and Purdue. Michigan won the previous two matchups in 1998 (Chicago) and 2018 (New York City).
• Michigan has appeared in seven Big Ten Tournament championship games in the event's 28-year history, including five appearances since 2017.
• With two blocks against Purdue, Mara moved within one block of joining Roy Tarpley, Ekpe Udoh and Chris Webber as the only Wolverines to record 90 or more blocks in a season. Tarpley holds the program record with 97 blocks during the 1985-86 season.
• Michigan moved to 5-2 all-time against Purdue in Big Ten Tournament play.
• Michigan's two wins in the Big Ten Tournament brought its season total to 31 victories, tied for the second-most in a single season in program history (1992-93, 2012-13). The program record is 33 wins, set in 2017-18.
• Michigan's ranked victory earlier in the tournament set a new program record with nine wins against AP Top 25 opponents in a season. The 1992-93 and 2024-25 teams each recorded eight.
• Cadeau's 10-point, 10-assist performance marked just the second points-assists double-double by a Wolverine in Big Ten Tournament history. Mike Smith posted 18 points and 15 assists against Maryland in the 2021 quarterfinals. Cadeau finished one assist shy of the Big Ten Tournament championship game record (11).
• Lendeborg recorded Michigan's only 20-point game of the Big Ten Tournament.
