• Michigan basketball defeated Purdue in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals on Friday night in Indianapolis.
• The third-seeded Wolverines will face second-seeded Maryland in Saturday’s second semi.
• Maryland defeated Michigan in Ann Arbor by six points on March 5.

INDIANAPOLIS — Now that’s more like it.

Michigan basketball entered the postseason in a slump, but there were no signs of it on Friday. 

The Wolverines, the final team to begin the Big Ten postseason, looked rested and rejuvenated and as a result played their best game in two months — maybe all season — knocking off Purdue 86-68 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal despite playing in front of a heavily pro-Purdue crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Michigan didn’t play a perfect game: The Wolverines still struggled on 3-pointers, making just eight of 26 (30.8%), but they committed a season-low six turnovers, won the rebounding battle, 39-35, and, most importantly, moved the ball with crisp, decisive passes, assisting on 25 of 30 made baskets.

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It was the first time since Jan. 12, a 91-75 win over Washington, that U-M has won a game by more than four points; as a result, the Wolverines will play Maryland on Saturday afternoon (3:30, CBS) for a spot in the Big Ten final.

For the first time in a long time, U-M didn’t just rely on its “Area 51” combo. Sure, Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf did their part; Wolf had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while Goldin scored 15 point and grabbed eight boards. But this was a total team effort.

Tre Donaldson, finally, played much better, scoring 13 (his most since Feb. 8) and added five assists and four rebounds with just one turnovers. Roddy Gayle Jr scored 11 and Rubin Jones added eight — tied for his most since scoring nine in the season opener.

Will Tschetter also scored eight, six of which consecutively during a first half run.

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Second-half show

Michigan led by four out of the break when Donaldson broke down the defense and kicked out to Jones for a 3 from the left corner.

Goldin then swatted Caleb Furst’s attempt at the rim and Wolf finished a tough right-handed hook and U-M was off to the races. All the Boilermakers could do was force-feed Trey Kaufman-Renn, who at one point took six straight shots in the half and finished with 24 points while shooting 9-for-24.

He had Purdue’s first nine points out of the break, but all that work only got the Boilermakers to a 52-45 deficit. That’s when Donaldson got hot, drilling a 3 from the right wing, making a layup off his own miss and adding a floater in the lane before Gayle made a layup and L.J. Cason added a pair of free throws to give U-M a game-high 15-point lead, 65-50.

Purdue didn’t go quietly, answering with an 11-5 run over the next four minutes, but the Boilers went cold from the floor, making just two of 11 shots before Donaldson found Gayle on a baseline cut and slam to go back up 13 with just more than five minutes to play.

Michigan shot 65.4% (17-for-26) from the floor after the break to Purdue’s 33.3% (10-for-30).

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First half sets the tone

Purdue went up 6-0, only for Michigan to punch back twice as hard.

Burnett hit a tough leaner, then a 25-footer before Jones canned a 3 from the left corner. Goldin hit a pair of free throws and Burnett a baseline floater to go up 12-6.

Michigan’s lead ballooned to 22-14 when Tre Donaldson canned a deep 3 from the left wing and grew to as much as 10, 26-16, when Gayle was stripped but the loose ball rolled right to Goldin’s feet, who fed Wolf in the paint for a left-handed layup.

It was that kind of night for U-M, which had impeccable ball movement early, assisting on 12 of 13 field goals before the half. That included on three straight Tschetter scores — a slashing layup, a deep 2 from the left corner, then a baseline up-and-under — as Purdue was closing the gap.

Next up for U-M

U-M faces second-seeded Maryland in the second semifinal Saturday; the Wolverines fell to the Terps, 71-65, in their home finale in Ann Arbor on March 5. The winner of Saturday’s semifinal faces the winner of the early game between top-seeded Michigan State and fifth-seeded Wisconsin in Sunday afternoon’s championship game for an auto-bid into the NCAA tournament.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.