Purdue coach Matt Painter thinks incoming freshman Rapheal Davis falls into Chris Kramer’s category.WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue got the ball in the right player’s hands.
The shot just didn’t go down.
Trailing Michigan by one with 12 seconds left, Robbie Hummel launched a three-point shot from the top of the key.
He missed.
The Wolverines grabbed the rebound and held on for an eventual 66-64 victory in front of 14,533 fans Tuesday at Mackey Arena.
“The last good look we got, Lew (Purdue guard Lewis Jackson) did a great job penetrating, he pitched it back to me, which basically was what the play was,” said Hummel, who had 16 points. “I got a great look, I just didn’t knock it down.
“I was basically wide open. Lewis did 100 percent what he needed to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t.”
Twenty-one seconds earlier, teammate Ryne Smith missed an open three-pointer from the right corner. After a scramble for the loose ball, Purdue (14-7, 4-4 Big Ten) regained possession but came up empty on Hummel’s shot.
“We ran a play we wanted,” said Jackson, who had 17 points and eight assists. “I would do that play 100 more times. The shot just didn’t fall. We all know Rob’s a great shooter. I don’t regret the way it happened. If coach called that again, there’s no second-guessing.”
The Boilermakers fouled Evan Smotrycz with 3.8 seconds left. He made 1 of 2 free throws. Jackson then missed a desperation three-pointer from near half court.
“That’s four out of five games the ball is in the air, and we can win or lose in that situation,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “We’ve been able to win three of the four. We were very fortunate to beat a good Purdue team, a team that only had one loss at home.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the No. 20 Wolverines (16-5, 6-2) with 19 points. Stu Douglass and Jordan Morgan scored 12 points.
Michigan started fast in the second half, using an 11-3 run to take a 41-31 lead with 16:37 to go. Purdue responded with a 20-6 run, capped by a Hummel basket, to take a 51-47 lead with 8:14 to go.
The final seven minutes featured seven lead changes. Michigan took the lead for good when Morgan dunked with 1:31 remaining.
“We got some momentum with some made baskets, some made threes, and we were doing a good job of executing and getting good looks,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We simply couldn’t stop them.”
Hummel missed a three, but Terone Johnson grabbed a rebound and was fouled with 1:07 to go. He missed the front end of a one-and-one. Purdue still had a couple of more chances, but Smith and Hummel couldn’t convert.
“That’s who we wanted shooting the shots,” Painter said. “We wanted to get to the rim, or we wanted to get a rhythm jump shot from one of our shooters. The last two, three shots, they are shots we’d take any day of the week. They just didn’t go down.”
