Photos by: Aaron J. Thornton
Both the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans Men’s teams were in Chicago this past weekend, with the same mission: to bring the Big Ten Conference Tournament trophy back to their schools. After earning the coveted triple bye to start tournament play in Friday’s quarterfinals round, they would need to win three straight games in three days to win the title.
Michigan entered the tournament pursuing back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles, a rare achievement that had not been done in the last 8 years (it was actually last accomplished by the Wolverines teams in 2017 and 2018). Meanwhile, Michigan State was seeking its first tournament championship in seven years and hoped the postseason stage would provide a spark.
Michigan vs Ohio State – Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Game
Taking the floor first on Friday to open the Quarterfinals round were the Wolverines, playing against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Wolverines wasted little time asserting themselves knocking down the game’s first three shots and quickly jumping out to a 7-0 lead on their rivals from the south. But Ohio State refused to fade quietly. After falling behind by as many as eleven points in the first half, they rallied to tie the game at halftime. With the momentum behind them, a Devin Royal three-point basket gave Ohio State a lead with just under six minutes remaining. Michigan responded and eventually won the game 71-67 to advance to the semifinals behind a 17-point performance by Aday Mara.
Michigan State vs UCLA – Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Game
In the late game on Friday, Michigan State faced the UCLA Bruins in a game where many expected a favorable matchup for the Spartans as they dominated the Bruins by 23 points back in January. This time, the Bruins flipped the script and weren’t going to let the same story be told. Tom Izzo’s Spartans found themselves down by as many as 13 points in the first half behind an offensive barrage from UCLA shooting 63% from the field including 7-of-13 (54%) from behind the arc in the opening period. Going into the locker room trailing by 11, MSU knew they would have to make defensive adjustments and shoot better if they were to mount a comeback.
UCLA cooled off some in the second half but not enough for the Spartans to overcome the first half hole. Michigan State slowly chipped away at the deficit, trimming the lead to as few as two points multiple times in the final minute but ultimately fell short, losing the game 88-84. Jeremy Fears Jr. led the team with a double-double scoring 21 points and delivering 13 assists but UCLA had two of their starting guards each score 20+ points, sending MSU back to E. Lansing much earlier than expected and ending its Big Ten Tournament run after just one game.
Michigan vs Wisconsin – Big Ten Tournament Semifinals Game
After the victory against Ohio State, the Wolverines drew a game that most of the Michigan faithful were hoping for. A rematch with the one team that handed them their first loss of the season, spoiling an otherwise perfect conference record. Saturday offered a chance for redemption.
The first half proved to be a good one, a tightly contested battle, with small runs by both teams keeping the game fairly close. Wisconsin managed to build a seven-point advantage on a couple of occasions, but Michigan responded each time. By halftime, the Wolverines had erased the deficit, and the teams entered the locker room tied at 28–28.
Coming out of the break, the Wolverines put together a 14-3 run to propel them to an eleven point lead in the game within the first five and a half minutes into the second half. The teams traded baskets and Michigan added another small run to extend their lead to 15 points midway through the second half. Then something unprecedented occurred as Badger sophomore forward Austin Rapp caught fire, shooting 6-of-6 from behind the arc over the next five and a half minutes to help Wisconsin erase the deficit and take a four-point lead with just under four minutes to go.
Michigan would recapture the lead with 47 seconds remaining on a three pointer made by Elliot Cadeau before Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd answered and tied the game again on a triple with 30 seconds left. The Wolverines would have one last try to win with the shot clock off and who else would they go to but their Big Ten Player Of the Year winner, Yaxel Lendeborg. As the clock ran down, with less than a few seconds remaining, Lendeborg received the pass from Cadeau, just behind the three-point line. He squared up and nailed a three-point basket to give Michigan the lead and ultimately the victory putting Michigan into the championship game with a last second winning shot for the second straight year. The win over Wisconsin also put the Wolverines into the history books as the only Big Ten team to defeat all other 17 conference members in the same season.
Michigan vs Purdue – Big Ten Tournament Championship Game
Twenty eight years ago, the Michigan Wolverines went to Chicago for the first ever Big Ten Tournament and won against the Purdue Boilermakers. They met in the 2018 tournament championship that was played in New York as well with Michigan hoisting the trophy again. Now in 2026, it was again Michigan taking on Purdue in the final game of the tournament with the title once again on the line.
The championship matchup delivered a competitive battle from start to finish. Neither team managed to gain significant separation in the first half, and the scoreboard reflected the evenly matched play as the teams entered halftime tied dead even at 38–38. Michigan controlled the glass early, outrebounding Purdue 20–11 in the opening half. All five Wolverine starters found the scoring column, with Nimari Burnett leading the team with 10 points before the break.
For the No. 7 seed Purdue, it would take an all out collective effort and productive performance from all of their key players to get the “W”. Trey Kaufman-Renn was one of those guys that stepped up big in the second half for the Boilermakers. The senior forward led a 22-8 run by Purdue, scoring 8 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting over an eight minute stretch. By the final buzzer, four of Purdue’s five starters scored 14 or more points, leading to the 80-72 victory over the top-seeded Wolverines.
It wasn’t that one team shot that much better than the other, both finished with 30 made field goals and shot around 50% from the floor, each connecting on 29% of their attempts from behind the arc. However the difference that stood out on paper was at the free throw line. Purdue shot a substantial number more compared to Michigan in the game. In fact, they not only shot more from the stripe (16 more to be exact), they made 11 more off that number. The lopsided differential in free throws was a huge edge in a tightly contested game where all other stats were close or equal.
After Michigan’s win against Purdue in West Lafayette a few weeks earlier, the Boilermakers certainly deserve all credit for putting together a better game plan and delivering to avenge the earlier loss. And nobody really talked about it but they were very disciplined, committing only 2 turnovers in the game, something that is extraordinary in itself for any team. Between the difference in foul shots, turnovers, and adding in Purdue’s success in winning the assists column, those three things along with sheer determination helped to solidify the win for Purdue and give them the tournament championship. After falling to Michigan in the tournament’s final game in 1998 and 2018, the popular idiom suggests, “The third time’s the charm.”
Heading into the NCAA tournament
With the Big Ten Tournament concluded, attention immediately shifted to Selection Sunday and the unveiling of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket. Michigan and Michigan State both expected to secure high seeds in the NCAA tournament and they did. The Wolverines were destined to be a No. 1 regional seed with their overall performance during the season. While the Spartans earned the No. 3 seed. Interestingly enough, both Michigan and Michigan State will play in Buffalo for the first and second round. Michigan (31-3) will match up on Friday against the winner of the Howard (23-10) vs UMBC (24-8) game taking place on Tuesday evening. Michigan State (25-7) will take on North Dakota State (27-7) on Friday as well. With the regular season and conference tournament now behind them, both in-state rivals turn their focus to the biggest stage in college basketball— March Madness
By: Aaron J. Thornton
