Terrance Williams disappointed 'it felt like Mackey Arena' in loss to Purdue
Michigan suffered its fifth consecutive loss on Sunday against Purdue, falling to 3-14 in Big Ten play in the process. To make matters worse, what was supposed to be a home game for the Wolverines felt more like a road contest.
Purdue fans packed the Crisler Center and made their presence felt. Chants of “Boiler Up” could clearly be heard on TV throughout the game, and Purdue players even waved their arms at times during the game, encouraging Boilermakers fans to get louder.
Michigan forward Terrance Williams said after the game that he was disappointed with how many Purdue fans were in the crowd.
“It’s definitely like a disgust factor. It felt like Mackey Arena in there tonight… I ain’t going to lie to you,” Terrance Williams said. “And, you know, it’s just disappointing, because we go on road trips, and their fan base, no matter what their record is, it’s going to be all their fans and a little bit of Michigan fans. But today, it was more like 75 percent Purdue fans, 25 percent [Michigan] fans. Literally, it felt like Mackey Arena tonight.”
Purdue fans who made the trip to Ann Arbor went home happy as the Boilermakers earned an 84-76 victory to improve to 25-3 on the year.
It has been another special season for a Purdue program that is hoping a great regular season will transition to postseason success in 2023-24.
The season hasn’t gone nearly as well for the Wolverines. Michigan is 8-20 (3-14) and only 2-14 over its past 16 games after getting off to a 6-6 start.
Fans are frustrated with where the program is right now, but players are also frustrated with the fans.
“They’re going to support us when we’re up; they’re not going to support us when we’re down,” Williams said. “So I just hope that don’t happen again in the future, whenever I’m gone or whenever that situation arises. I just hope it doesn’t happen again, because that was disappointing.”
While Williams was upset, Purdue coach Matt Painter was understandably thrilled with the turnout by Boilermakers fans. He told his team at halftime to take advantage of the support.
“I told our guys at halftime, I said, ‘This might never happen ever again.’ I said, ‘So give them something to cheer about,'” Painter recalled. “Because I came out and I said, ‘Hey man, this is a pretty good crowd.’ Because I know they’re on spring break. And I was like, ‘This is a pretty good crowd.’ And somebody said quick to me, ‘You understand that 1,500 people over there to your left is all Purdue people?’ So I didn’t even know.”