Four games. Four days. One Big Ten championship.
The Purdue Boilermakers defeated top-seeded Michigan 80-72 at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday to win the 2026 Big Ten Tournament championship. Purdue became the first No. 7 seed in tournament history to win the event, and it is the program's third Big Ten Tournament title.
Behind dominant performances from Oscar Cluff, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Braden Smith, Matt Painter's squad overcame foul trouble, a halftime tie, and the Big Ten's Player of the Year to cut down the nets.
Hours later, the Boilermakers learned they earned a No. 2 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Purdue will face No. 15 seed Queens in the first round in the West Region, where Arizona is the No. 1 seed. It marks the 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the program and the ninth consecutive year Purdue has been seeded No. 4 or better.
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Oscar Cluff led Purdue with 21 points, 12 of which came in the second half. He played the final 5:31 with four fouls, a gutsy move by Painter that paid off. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 20 points after battling foul trouble of his own in the first half. Fletcher Loyer chipped in 14.
Braden Smith filled the stat sheet with 14 points, 11 assists, and three steals, leaving him just one assist behind Bobby Hurley's all-time NCAA Division I career assists record of 1,076. He even did it in two different jerseys. Smith came out of a first-half media timeout wearing a black No. 41 jersey with no name on the back after ripping his No. 3 during play. Doesn't matter what number is on the chest, the assists still count, and they're still piling up toward history.
Michigan did not go down quietly. Yaxel Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year, led the Wolverines with 20 points. Aday Mara added 14, and Elliot Cadeau recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. Nimari Burnett contributed 12 off the bench.