Michigan basketball Big Ten Tournament final prediction vs Purdue

Michigan basketball is heading to the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the second straight season.

The Wolverines survived an epic game comeback against Wisconsin on Saturday, March 13, beating the Badgers, 68-65, in the semifinals.

On Sunday, March 15, they'll face a suddenly-hot Purdue squad coming off victories over Northwestern, Nebraska and most recently, UCLA.

Who will come out victorious in the first-ever 18-team Big Ten Tournament?

Here's a prediction from Freep's experts on site in Chicago:

Michigan Big Ten Tournament game vs Purdue prediction

Tony Garcia

Michigan has now played four games in a row where their opponent has been within one possession at the under-four timeout. Each time, the Wolverines have had the answer. With the Boilermakers on their fourth game in four days (not to mention U-M appears to be a bad matchup for them) they won't be able to hang with Dusty May's crew, which will hang its third consecutive league banner (2025 tourney, 2025-26 regular season, 2026 tourney). The pick: Michigan 83, Purdue 72.

Carlos Monarrez

Michigan dodged a hot UCLA team, which lost to Purdue in the semis, 73-66, with their two best players sidelined with injuries for all or most of the game. Point guard Braden Smith and Trey Kaufmann-Renn are always threats, but if Yaxel Lendeborg gets going early and Elliot Cadeau stays out of foul trouble, this won’t be close. The pick: Michigan 75, Purdue 69.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball Big Ten Tournament final prediction vs Purdue