Local Sports

Michigan Beats Purdue For Big Ten Tournament Championship

Jon Teske's two-handed slam brought down the house and pretty much finished off No. 8 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. With Zavier Simpson playing catalyst on both ends of the floor - running Michigan's efficient offense and leading its lock-down defense - and Teske scoring a surprising 14 points, the 15th-ranked Wolverines beat the Boilermakers 75-66.
 
Fifth-seeded Michigan (28-7) became the first team to repeat as Big Ten Tournament champs since Ohio State in 2010 and '11.
 
Simpson finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. Moe Wagner led Michigan with 17 points and was named most outstanding player of the tournament, despite playing only 17 minutes against Purdue because of foul trouble - which plagued him all week.
 
That's where Teske stepped in. The 7-foot-1 sophomore came in averaging 3.3 points, but scored 12 in the first half and picked up the slack guarding Purdue's 7-2 center Isaac Haas.
 
Simpson and Teske put an exclamation point on Michigan's four-day Garden party with 6:02 left in the second half. Simpson drove and dished to Teske cutting to the basket. 
 
The dunk made it 66-48. 
 
Purdue (28-6) chipped away in the final minutes with Michigan missing free throws but it was way too late.
 
Haas led Purdue with 23 points, but Purdue's top-two scorers, Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards, combined for 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting. Carsen Edwards scored 53 points in the first two games here, but just 12 against Michigan, shooting 4 for 16.
 
The Wolverines will enter the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak.
 
The Boilermakers beat Michigan in the regular season twice by a total of five points. Unable to complete a three-game sweep, they probably watched any chance of grabbing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament go away.

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook