ANN ARBOR, Mich. _ Thursday night was the Zavier Simpson vs. Trevion Williams show.
Michigan's point guard and Purdue's center put on a clinic at Crisler Center, as the Wolverines and Boilermakers dueled their way to double overtime.
And despite a career-high 36 points from Williams, Simpson dragged the Wolverines to a hard-fought 84-78 win over the Boilermakers with 22 points _ 18 of which came after halftime _ and nine assists.
It often wasn't pretty, and the Wolverines (11-4, 2-2 Big Ten) nearly allowed Williams to beat them by himself. Michigan chose not to double Williams down low and allowed him to take as many shots as he wanted. Williams made 16 of 28 field-goal attempts.
But the Wolverines got an outstanding performance of their own from their senior point guard, spurred by a crucial adjustment from Juwan Howard.
Without Isaiah Livers, who missed his third consecutive game with a groin injury, the Wolverines struggled to space the floor on offense and seemed disjointed for much of the first 30 minutes. With around nine minutes left in the second half, and Purdue (9-7, 2-3) in the lead, Howard elected to trade size for spacing by playing Simpson, David DeJulius, Eli Brooks, Franz Wagner and Jon Teske.
That lineup went the rest of the way for Michigan _ and worked wonders, unlocking the offense as Simpson and Williams went to battle late.
Simpson attacked the basket and either scored or generated open shots for teammates. Williams dug out tough baskets down low and even hit an absurd step-back 3 to beat the shot clock. A late basket from Simpson tied the game and the defense forced a stop to send the game to overtime, where the two teams battled to another stalemate.
The difference came in the second overtime, when Michigan opened a nine-point lead with a three-point play from Teske and a pair of 3s from Simpson and Wagner.
And despite numerous missed free throws and a vigorous comeback attempt from Purdue, the Wolverines held on for a crucial Big Ten victory, evening their record at 2-2.
With Michigan's next two games (Minnesota and Iowa) on the road, the Wolverines needed to hold serve at home against an offensively-challenged Purdue team that scored just 37 points in its previous outing on Sunday against Illinois.
It might not have been pretty. But Michigan got the job done and avoided a bad loss at home, thanks to its senior point guard.
