Feb. 11, 2006
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue may have come up with a new offensive weapon in freshman Marcus Green.
The reserve guard scored 18 of his season-high 23 points in the first half to lead Purdue to an 84-70 upset Saturday over No. 22 Michigan, the Wolverines' third straight loss.
"I didn't think he could shoot the basketball when I recruited him," Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Green, who came into the game averaging 5.0 points and hadn't scored more than 14 in a game this season.
He missed only one of eight shots from the field in the first half and was 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
A 43 percent shooter going into the game, Green finished 9-of-13 from the field.
"It looked like an ocean," Green said when asked how big the basket looked.
The victory was the first for Purdue over a ranked team since Jan. 14, 2004, when it beat No. 19 Wisconsin 53-51. It was Purdue's eighth victory in 10 games at home against Michigan.
Wolverines coach Tommy Amaker said he was disappointed.
"He's a good player," Amaker said of Green. "I'm really disappointed on the way we guarded their entire team, but he was definitely the catalyst when they jumped out."
The Wolverines moved into the Top 25 last week for the first time since 1998 and have lost three in a row, the first two to Iowa and Ohio State, both ranked teams.
Hard work is paying off for Green, Painter said.
"He comes in and watches film on his own, probably more than anybody," Painter said. "He comes in and works on his game, probably more than anybody."
Painter wants more than scoring from Green.
"Coach was talking to me about just playing good defense and rebounding. He told me I'm a better player than (I had played) and I have a lot more to give to this team," Green said. "He said don't work on offense, that'll come. ... He just wanted me to go out there and play hard, not worrying about doing anything wrong."
Purdue (9-14, 3-9 Big Ten) trailed only once after the game's opening basket, and Michigan (16-6, 6-5) found itself down 47-27 at halftime. The Wolverines cut the deficit to 17 by scoring the first three points of the second half on free throws, but Purdue responded to increase the lead to 63-37. The Wolverines never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Free throws allowed Michigan to cut its deficit late in the game, as the Wolverines outscored Purdue 26-17 from the line. Michigan rallied to trail 79-66 and 81-68. Chris Lutz then hit three free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
Marcus White, who fouled out with 4:21 to play, added 15 points for Purdue, while Gary Ware and Lutz each scored 14.
"He did a lot to open up the post. He helped Gary and the post players a lot," White said of Green.
Ron Coleman topped Michigan with 18 points and Chris Hunter had 16.
The Boilermakers built their big lead by shooting 65.5 percent (19-of-29) in the first half. They helped themselves by turning the ball over only twice in the half, while Michigan had eight turnovers and shot only 41 percent.
The numbers didn't change much in the second half. Michigan was held to 31 percent (9-of-19) shooting in the second half, while Purdue shot 55 percent and finished at 61 percent for the game.