CHICAGO — If the Wolverines needed a reminder of what’s to come and the battles that lie ahead in the NCAA Tournament, the Big Ten tournament provided that.

And if they needed any fuel heading into the Big Dance, Sunday’s setback to Purdue in the conference tournament final at United Center certainly provided that, too.

“I think that this loss and all the losses we had this season make us know that we are not unbeatable. We can lose games too, so we cannot relax,” big man Aday Mara said.

“We know the month we have now and how important the next games are. We have to feel this pain so the next time we go into the game we make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Perhaps the most disappointing part of Sunday’s performance — one that ended in frustration instead of celebration — and what cut the deepest was the fact Michigan (31-3), in one of the few instances this season, had no answers on defense.

The Boilermakers consistently hunted mismatches on switches, picked apart the Wolverines in pick-and-roll action with Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn, and got way too many easy baskets down low.

Purdue made 11 of its first 13 shots in the second half to seize control, turning a tie at halftime into a 13-point game. Most of that damage came around the rim, where Michigan’s imposing frontline offered little resistance and the Boilermakers finished 15-for-18 on dunks and layups.

As Michigan coach Dusty May bluntly put it, Purdue played with more physicality and more edge. That showed as Purdue’s frontcourt pairing of Oscar Cluff and Kaufman-Renn combined for 41 points, made 17 of the team’s 30 baskets and only missed nine shots all while playing their fourth game in four days.

“We’re supposed to be dictating how the game was played,” forward Yaxel Lendeborg said. “They played more games than us, they were more fatigued than us … but us letting our aggressiveness drop and them taking over the game is what hurt us.

“We can’t let nobody come in here and punk us again. We had that happen with Duke. They did the same thing. They punked us down low and they won the game. We should’ve learned from that mistake, but this is a worse learning point for us because we lost a championship that we deserved and wanted.”

On the other side of the locker room, guard Roddy Gayle Jr. touched on other lessons Michigan can take from this Big Ten tournament experience.

Before the final, the Wolverines had to grind out a narrow win over Ohio State in a game that was tied with 4:46 to go. After that, they prevailed in another close victory over Wisconsin on a last-second 3-pointer by Lendeborg after blowing a 15-point second-half lead.

Come March Madness, being in tight games late that can go either way and are essentially coin flips are a dangerous way to live.

“I think our urgency and our focus has got to be at a whole other level,” Gayle said. “We had lapses of judgment as far as not knowing the scout or letting guys do what they’re good at. As the defensive team I know we are, we’ve got to make guys go to their backup moves and not let them be comfortable in their sets.

“I think everybody understands that they left a little bit on the court, know that they didn’t do everything that they could. We know that if we lose one more time we’re going home. I think that everybody understands it’s time to empty the tank. At this point of the season, we can’t have any lapses, and we have to come together and play for each other.”

If there’s one thing for May to take solace in, it’s what he’s seen from his team and how it regrouped after its first two losses of the season.

After the Wolverines were upset at home by Wisconsin on Jan. 10, they ripped off 11 consecutive wins and didn’t drop another game until more than a month later. Then after falling to Duke on Feb. 21, they bounced back with six straight wins, with four of those coming after guard L.J. Cason’s season-ending ACL injury.

“The times we have lost we’ve been able to respond relatively quickly and get back to our best version. There’s no reason to think that we’re not going to do that,” May said. “A lot of us are disappointed in the way we performed, but we have a group that’s connected and I’m sure they’ll be excited to get back and figure this thing out.

“We’ve got to turn the page and focus on playing good ball.”

Michigan has done that for much of the season. One doesn’t win the outright Big Ten regular-season title by four games and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament without doing so.

Even though the Wolverines might be licking their wounds and entering the Big Dance on a sour note, they’ve been humbled but not discouraged.

“We still feel like we’re the best team in the country. We’ve just got to do the stuff we did the whole regular season,” guard Elliot Cadeau said.

“(We’re) coming out with more intensity next game and using this loss to have a chip on our shoulder.”

With the stakes heightened and one-and-done time of the year here, the Wolverines are determined to make sure Sunday’s stumble will be their last.

“We know what we’re able to do,” Mara said. “We’re excited for the games coming up and we think we can win it all.”

Injury update

Lendeborg had ice wrapped around his left ankle postgame in the locker room after he said he suffered a low ankle sprain late in the loss to Purdue. He said he won’t need X-rays and he’ll be fine moving forward.

“I'm all right,” Lendeborg said. “I'm living off adrenaline right now, so it's not as bad. But when it happened in moment, it was very bad.”

Lendeborg was injured on a drive from the perimeter with 2:30 to play. After a spin move by Lendeborg knocked down Fletcher Loyer around the free-throw line, Lendeborg passed the ball before he awkwardly slipped and fell to the court.

Lendeborg was slow to get up and was grimacing as he got back on defense. An official ended up stopping play on Purdue’s possession and Lendeborg was subbed out.

“It was getting to a point where it was kind of dangerous for me,” he said. “I went to the ref and told him the guys were flopping, throwing their body on the ground. I told him, ‘Somebody is going to get hurt.’ It happened to be me.”

Lendeborg checked back in less than a minute later, hit a 3-pointer with 46 seconds to go to cap his 20-point performance and played the final 1:33. He expects to play in Michigan’s NCAA Tournament opener against either UMBC or Howard on Thursday.

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