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#BoilerNotes
- Purdue advances to its third Big Ten Tournament championship game in school history with its 76-59 win over Michigan ... Purdue finished runner-up in the 1998 tournament and won the 2009 title in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
- Purdue's 26 victories are the sixth most in a season in school history ... Purdue has had eight seasons of 26 or more wins in 118 years of basketball -- Matt Painter has had four of them in 11 seasons.
- Purdue has won five games in a row, by an average of 17.4 points per game ... four of them have come by at least 11 points and 22 of the 26 wins have come by at least 10 points.
- Purdue has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field in six straight games, going a combined 180-of-319 (.564) from the field ... the Boilermakers are 50-of-109 (.459) from 3-point range in that span ... the Boilermakers also have 123 assists (20.5 APG) during that span, recording assists on 68.3 percent of their made field goals.
- Purdue outrebounded Michigan by a 41-26 margin, the 15th opponent it has outrebounded by double-digits ... In the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue has outrebounded its opponents by a combined 33 rebounds (+16.5) ... in the Feb. 13 meeting, Michigan outrebounded the Boilermakers 39-35, remaining the only team this season to outrebound Purdue.
- Purdue made 4-of-12 3-pointers to give the Boilermakers 256 trifectas this year, the second most in a season in school history (284 in 2011-12).
- Matt Painter coached his 400th career game in the win over Michigan ... he now owns a 263-137 career record in his 12th season as a head coach.
- Purdue's 44 points in the paint against Michigan equaled a season high for the Boilermakers ... Purdue also had 44 paint points against Rutgers on Jan. 18.
- Purdue has trailed for a combined one-minute and 10 seconds in 80 minutes of action at the Big Ten Tournament.
- Purdue has outscored the opponents' bench in 31-of-33 games this season.
- A.J. Hammons recorded his 24th career double-double with a dominating 27-point, 11-rebound, 3-block performance in just 31 minutes ... Hammons surpassed 900 career rebounds, becoming the third player in school history with 1,500 career points and 900 rebounds (Joe Barry Carroll and Terry Dischinger) ... Hammons has 1,566 career points (18th), 906 career rebounds (3rd) and 336 career blocked shots (2nd) ... Hammons has scored in double-figures for 14 straight games, the longest Purdue streak since JaJuan Johnson (43).
- Ryan Cline tied Robbie Hummel for fourth on the Purdue freshman 3-pointers made list (42).
- Rapheal Davis now has 997 career points and needs just three points to become the eighth player in school history with 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A.J. Hammons had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 13 Purdue beat Michigan 76-59 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
Hammons made 11 of 17 shots, mostly from inside. Vince Edwards added 13 points, and Isaac Haas finished with 11.
''I really just came out with more energy, got better post position and then on top of that I really just went to the moves I know and they were falling for me,'' Hammons said. ''We just kept going to what was working and my teammates just had great confidence in me the whole game.''
Next up for Purdue (26-7) is the winner of the second semifinal between Michigan State and Maryland. The Boilermakers are seeking their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2009.
Hammons ''was a big, big difference in that game,'' Michigan coach John Beilein said. ''We felt if he got 40 and we could shut down the other guys we could still maybe win the game.
''They are really tough to stop and you're going to have to make shots. There were some periods in today's game where we really had some good looks and we didn't make them.''
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman led Michigan with 15 points. Derrick Walton Jr. scored 14 points and Zak Irvin had 11.
Coming off victories over Northwestern and No. 1 seed Indiana, the eighth-seeded Wolverines (22-12) were playing their third game in three days.
No. 4 seed Purdue scored the first eight points of the game and the first nine of the second half. It enjoyed a comfortable double-digit lead for most of the afternoon, but Walton's three-point play got Michigan within six with 7:35 remaining.
''The end of the first half and the start of the second half is so vital especially when you already have a lead,'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said. ''So we were able to put that on top of the eight-point lead we had at the half and that probably ends up being the difference in the game.''
The Boilermakers responded with a 16-3 run to put the game away. Edwards made a 3-pointer and Rapheal Davis and P.J. Thompson each made two foul shots to make it 76-57 with 50 seconds remaining,
Purdue dominated inside, with 22 of its 29 field goals coming in the paint. The Boilermakers had a 44-28 edge in points in the paint.
TIP-INS
Michigan: The Wolverines had lost four of their last five heading into the Big Ten Tournament. ... Irvin was 1 for 7 from 3-point range as Michigan went 6 for 25 from beyond the arc. ... The Wolverines were outrebounded 41-26.
Purdue: For the second day in a row, Purdue faced a team that had played three games in three days - Illinois on Friday and Michigan on Thursday. ... Purdue is 17-0 this season when playing in weekend games.
UP NEXT
Michigan: The Wolverines are on the bubble for when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Sunday.
Purdue: The Boilermakers advance to the Big Ten title game on Sunday against the winner of Michigan State and Maryland.