Simpson, Teske power Michigan to Big Ten title

NEW YORK — The tenacious 6-foot point guard — whom his coach calls a “pit bull” — drove right to the basket, but instead of putting up the hook shot he usually goes to, Zavier Simpson instead whipped a pass to the backup big man who became a Michigan folk hero at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Jon Teske’s twohanded 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. The Wolverines will enter the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak.

Simpson finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. Mo 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 up. The 7-foot-1 sophomore came in averaging 3.3 points, but he 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 for a 66-48 lead, and he let out a roar while chestbumping 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.”

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.