Hummel misses late as No. 20 Michigan beats Purdue

January 25, 2012

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Robbie Hummel's shooting slump is over, but he missed the shot that mattered most.

Hummel scored 16 points but was off on a 3-pointer that could have given Purdue the lead late.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points to help No. 20 Michigan beat the Boilermakers 66-64 on Tuesday night.

Hummel, Purdue's leading scorer, was coming off an 0-for-11 shooting effort in an 83-58 loss to No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday. He had made just 10 of 42 shots in his past three games.

Still, Purdue consistently tried to get him involved against Michigan, and the Boilermakers went to the senior with the game on the line.

"He got some shots in rhythm, was able to knock them down," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "It was good to see him, for his confidence, make some shots. It would have been great for him (to make the shot) at the end there. That's who we wanted taking the shots. We wanted to get to the rim or we wanted to get a rhythm jump shot from one of our shooters. The last two or three shots, we'd take any day of the week, but they just didn't go down."

Hummel made 6 of 14 shots and created problems for Michigan when he moved to center.

"We had to make a lot of adjustments today," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "When they went with Robbie Hummel as a 5 man, it was very difficult to guard. It was a great move by Matt."

But Michigan negated Hummel's effort by shooting 54 percent.

"We got some momentum with some made baskets and some made 3s," Painter said. "We simply couldn't stop them."

Jordan Morgan had 12 points and seven rebounds, Stu Douglass scored 12 points and Evan Smotrycz added 10 points for the Wolverines (16-5, 6-2), who entered the game in a tie for first place in the Big Ten.

Michigan outrebounded the Boilermakers 30-23.

Lewis Jackson scored 17 points for the Boilermakers (14-7, 4-4).

Michigan led 65-64 and had the ball in the final minute, but Jackson stole the ball from Morgan. Purdue's Ryne Smith missed a 3-pointer from the right corner but came up with the ball in a scramble. Hummel missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Michigan got the rebound. The Wolverines ran the clock down to 3.8 seconds before the Boilermakers fouled Smotrycz. He made the first and missed the second free throw, and Jackson's heave from near midcourt bounced off the backboard.

Purdue has lost two of its past three at home after a 26-game home winning streak.

Hummel didn't take a shot for more than 12 minutes at the start of the game, but he got hot at the end of the first half. He scored Purdue's last seven points before the break to cut the Wolverines' lead to 30-28.

Michigan started strong in the second half. Baskets by Hardaway and Zack Novak pushed the lead to 39-31 with 17:01 to play.

Michigan led by 10 points before the Boilermakers rallied. A 3-pointer by Smith and a basket by Johnson cut Michigan's lead to 44-39 and forced the Wolverines to call a timeout.

A 3-pointer by D.J. Byrd and a three-point play by Anthony Johnson gave Purdue a 49-47 lead.

Michigan's Trey Burke scored to tie the game at 61 and set up the final 3 minutes.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cliffbruntap

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