Michigan rolls as different ranked groups flounder on Tuesday evening in males’s hoops

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It is Tuesday evening and upsets are within the air throughout faculty basketball. But how about right here — No. 1 Michigan on the freeway to the hazard zone of Purdue’s Mackey Arena?

(This simply in from Iowa City. No. 9 Nebraska goes right down to Iowa’s protection 57-52, the fewest factors in a Hawkeyes’ victory in 13 years).

That staff in blue down there on courtroom, rolling up a 20-point lead on the Boilermakers, it certain could be the reply to lots of questions nowadays.

Who has been this season’s most relentless steamroller, successful 20 video games by double digits, 13 by at the very least 20 factors, 10 by 30 and 7 by 40 — and struggling its solely loss by three?

Who brings to city a 24-1 report, the very best dash by 25 video games that the Big Ten has seen in 15 years?

Who is already 5-0 in opposition to ranked opponents, pounding three of them by at the very least 30 factors?

Yep, Michigan.

(This simply in from Tempe. No. 13 Texas Tech has been knocked off 72-67 by Arizona State, loser of 11 video games in a row in opposition to Associated Press ranked opponents).

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Who is right here taking part in a sport as No. 1 within the AP ballot for less than the second week in 33 years?

Who reacts to the second by having seven totally different gamers bury a 3-pointer earlier than the sport is 16 minutes outdated?

Yep, Michigan. Turbulence? No indicators of that in Mackey.

(This simply in from Raleigh. North Carolina State has smashed No. 16 North Carolina 82-58, the Wolfpack’s largest rout of the Tar Heels since 1962, when North Carolina had a struggling first-year coach named Dean Smith).

Purdue is likely one of the most hazardous stops wherever, with a house crowd that may sound like an lively volcano. But who takes the fireplace and brimstone out of the place with a 16-0 run within the first half, turning Mackey Arena right into a babbling brook?

Yep, Michigan. “That’s what they do to teams,” Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer will say later. “That’s why they win games.”

(This simply in from Kingston, Rhode Island. No. 18 Saint Louis had received 18 video games in a row and never misplaced since Nov.. 28. Rhode Island, eighth place within the Atlantic 10, stops the Billikens’ streak 81-76).

Who has taken over this evening with a field rating that’s positively glowing? Six gamers rating in double figures, 24 of the 30 area objectives include assists. Who shackles the Purdue offense to 39 % capturing and has large defenders — 6-foot-9 Yaxel Lendeborg and 6-foot-9 Morez Johnson Jr. — placed on a fairly gorgeous show of guarding posts one minute and level guards the following?

Yep, Michigan. “This is the most unselfish team in America in my opinion,” Lendeborg says.

“The difference is how hard they play, how long they are, how athletic, but (also) that versatility,” Purdue coach Matt Painter says of Michigan’s large guys making life troublesome for anybody on the opposite staff desiring to get to the basket. “They’re difference-makers defensively. Those guys make mistakes and they just cover their mistakes up. Where the rest of the world, we don’t. The rest of the world fouls.”

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(This simply in from Dallas. After 17 lead adjustments and 16 ties, SMU has run away from No. 21 Louisville 95-85).

Who squeezes the final minutes out of a convincing 91-80 victory that has left the Mackey Arena thunder largely mute?

Yep, Michigan. Make that 21 wins this season by double digits for the Wolverines.

“Where’d y’all go?” Johnson chides the Boilermakers’ pupil part as he walks up the ramp from the courtroom.

(This simply in from Columbus. Ohio State, beforehand 0-6 this season in opposition to ranked opponents, has hammered No. 24 Wisconsin 86-69).

Six top-25 groups have misplaced to unranked foes in about 4 hours. An evening of booby traps. But not right here. Here, the staff with so many solutions simply retains arising with extra.

Who is on the prime of the heap in nearly each metric? No. 1 within the NCAA’s NET rankings with a 10-0 report in Quad 1 video games. Leading the KenPom’s rankings with the fearful mixture of the No. 1 protection and No. 3 offense. Fourth within the nation within the NCAA stats in scoring offense, second in area purpose share protection, second in scoring margin, third in assists per sport, fourth in blocks, seventh in capturing, tenth in rebound margin. On and on and on.

Who has had six totally different gamers lead the staff in scoring up to now seven video games?

Yep, Michigan. “They have each other’s backs on both sides of the ball. On offense, on defense they cover for each other as well as any team I’ve ever been around in 25 years and they take pride in doing it,” coach Dusty May says.

It is Elliot Cadeau’s flip at Purdue with 17 factors. Five others go 13-13-13-12-10. Try to cease that. “We have a lot of players that have been in situations like this and our freshmen, they act like veterans,” Cadeau says. “So we’ve got a complete bunch of level-headed individuals.

“Every time we have a big game I feel like we’re all locked in. We all have an intense mindset and we’re just going to keep that.”

So who’s No. 1 with out debate? Yep, Michigan.

Depends on which coach you ask Tuesday, if that’s important.

Start with the person whose staff at the moment owns the spot.

May: “This is nice for our followers, it’s nice for recruiting, it’s nice for the eye it places on our program. But so far as will we care? Absolutely not. April 7, if we’re No. 1 that’s what we’re finally involved with. But within the meantime we’re making an attempt to win a Big Ten championship, we’re making an attempt to set ourselves up for the very best seed doable, issues like that.”

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Now the coach whose staff was No. 1 months in the past.

Painter: “You can be preseason No. 1 in the country, it means nothing. But when you’re in the middle of February, and you’re No. 1 in the country, it means a whole lot, because you earned that one.”

Now that they’ve moved into the AP penthouse, the Wolverines have commenced their February heavy lifting. The No. 7 and 21-4 Boilermakers right here. Saturday, No. 3 and 24-2 Duke in Washington, D.C. Next week, No. 10 and 21-5 Illinois in Champaign. If Michigan nonetheless has just one loss in two weeks, take into account the incandescent aura it is going to be carrying round.

“We’re going to treat it like a Sweet 16,” May says of the unusually positioned Duke outing, smack in the course of the Big Ten stretch run. “I’d say first round of the NCAA tournament, but we’re not going to be playing Duke in the first round.”

There received’t be a lot time for preparation for a very good staff the Wolverines don’t know. Yeah, that sounds just like the match. “If we do it well, then it’ll be an awesome win, May says. “If we don’t, then it’ll be a great learning experience for us moving into the next month.”

As for the Big Ten season title, the Wolverines have a 2.5 sport lead on the sphere and are up 3.5 video games on preseason choose Purdue. “These dudes ain’t losing four games,” Painter says, “We’ve got four losses. They ain’t losing four games.”

May simply needs to remain on activity. “When you become No. 1 and you do it in a week where you have to go to Purdue and play Duke at a neutral site then you know it could be short-lived if you let it affect you at all.”

But who has proven completely no signal of that occuring, be it their stats or their scores or their report or the hostile crowds whose hopes preserve arising empty by double digits?

This simply in from West Lafayette. Yep, Michigan.