Michigan beats Purdue to win 2nd straight Big Ten Tournament
NEW YORK — The tenacious point guard his coach calls a “pit bull” drove to the basket, but instead of putting up his go-to hook shot Zavier Simpson whipped a pass to the backup big man who became a Michigan folk hero at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
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 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. “Big Bad Jon,” as the guys call him, finished over Haas and let out a roar while chest bumping teammates on his way to the bench.
“I was so happy when he popped off after that dunk,” Wagner said. “I got so excited. He got emotional. Yeah, I know how good he is. That was long overdue.”
The dunk made it 66-48 and brought chants of “Tes-key!” from the Michigan fans — who showed up in droves for the first Big Ten Tournament played in New York.
“That was a blast, especially being here in New York City with all those Michigan fans that traveled from great distances or whoever lived here,” Teske said.
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.
“He had a couple of drives that didn’t go down for him, and he had a couple of 3s where he could never get back-to-back pullups or back-to-back pull-up 3s to get into that rhythm,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
This Michigan team has been coach John Beilein’s best on the defensive side since he took over in Ann Arbor in 2007. It starts with the sophomore Simpson harassing opponents’ best ballhandlers.
Last season’s unlikely run to the tournament championship by Michigan was as an eighth seed and it started with a harrowing plane accident near Ann Arbor, Michigan. No one was hurt, but everyone was shaken. Still, the team got to Washington and ripped off four straight wins to grab an NCAA bid.
This one was less dramatic — though surely the Wolverines did not mind.
NO. 10 CINCINNATI 62, NO. 11 WICHITA STATE 61
In Wichita, Kan., Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin took a moment late in Sunday’s game and was enjoying the atmosphere of his team’s hard-fought regular-season finale.
“I’m busy coaching, but I will admit it,” Cronin said, “during that last under-four (minute) timeout, I stopped and looked around and thought, ‘This is a great game.’ ”
And it ended with No. 10 Cincinnati outlasting No. 11 Wichita State 62-61 on Sunday to win the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference.
Jacob Evans scored 19 points to lead Cincinnati (27-4, 16-2). Jarron Cumberland and Kyle Washington each scored 11 points for the Bearcats, and Gary Clark added 10.
Clark scored Cincinnati’s final four points, a layup with four minutes remaining and two free throws with 3:27 to play, giving Cincinnati a 62-58 lead.
The Bearcats did not score again, but held on in a slugfest that featured only two baskets in the final five minutes.
“I will tell you, honestly, when both teams were playing so hard for so long, it becomes a game of attrition,” Cronin said.
“And sometimes, that takes away your ability to make shots. You’re just battling so hard.”
NO. 25 HOUSTON 81, UCONN 71
In Houston, Rob Gray scored 30 points, Corey Davis Jr. had 17 and No. 25 Houston held off UConn.
Gray was 10 of 15 from the floor for the Cougars (24-6, 14-4 American Athletic Conference), who have won ten of their last 12. Devin Davis added 12 points for Houston, which shot 45 percent from the field and hit eight of 20 from behind the arc. The Cougars finished 15-0 at home, the first time Houston has done that since 1983-84.
Jalen Adams had 22 points and six assists, Terry Larrier added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Christian Vital had 11 points for Uconn (14-17, 7-11), which has lost three of its last four. The Huskies shot 51 percent from the field, including 55 percent in the first half.
Trailing 65-63, Gray hit a free throw to cut the lead to one before hitting a reverse layup and a free throw after getting fouled to give Houston a two-point lead. Following a free throw by Antwoine Anderson, Gray hit a 3-pointer from 25 feet to give the Cougars a four-point lead with four minutes left.