[ad_1]

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — David Jenkins Jr. didn’t come to Purdue to star.

He has played the role before.

Jenkins, now playing in his fourth college basketball program, turned to the Boilermakers to win.

But he’s brought that scoring mentality with him and has it in his arsenal if needed.

On Thursday night at the Crisler Center, the Boilermakers won and Jenkins Jr. took No. 1 Purdue to a 75-70 victory over Michigan.

more:No. 1 Purdue Basketball Postpones Second Half Michigan Charge, Improves to 20-1

more:Purdue Women’s Basketball Player Beats Illinois No. 22 Midway

“His impact on the game is very similar to that of Ohio State,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “It was a close game and what he did is he won 3-3[inthe71-69victoryoverOhioStateonJan.5]and you can see that as the difference. He’s going to be a 2-, a for-2 tonight, but he’s also done a lot of little things to help us out.”

After all, you can’t be the No. 1 team in the country without someone like Jenkins Jr. coming off the bench and setting the spark.

Starting point guard Braden Smith fouled for the second time at 9:53 and Painter called on Jenkins to carry the Boilermakers for the remainder of the first half.

Jenkins did more than that.

His 3-pointer with 7:18 left in the first half gave Purdue a 31-28 lead.

Overall, Jenkins provided five points and three rebounds in the first half, providing 14 quality minutes off the bench and running points while the Boilermakers went on a 15–0 run. He finished with eight points and scored three more midway through the second half to stop Michigan’s momentum and push Purdue to double digits.

“I’ll do whatever I can to make sacrifices, both defensively and offensively,” Jenkins said. “And obviously he recruited me to score, so if the opportunity arises, so will I.”

Jenkins took a detour to reach West Lafayette.

He spent two seasons at South Dakota State University, was an All-Summit League performer, and was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2018. He spent two seasons at UNLV, was an All-He-Mountain He-West winner, and spent the last year in Utah.

Then, on June 15, he posted the question on his Twitter account, “West Lafayette, are you ready?”

In no time, he was a perfect fit for the locker room.

“He could have gone anywhere, probably playing more places than here,” said Purdue center Zach Eady. “He’s happy in his role. He’s happy to come in and knock down shots when we need him.”

“He’s great in the locker room. I don’t think people are aware of him. He lives his life with great joy and it spreads throughout the team.”

Despite scoring 1,857 career points, he came to Purdue with no ego and no expectations other than to compete.

Jenkins has scored just 63 points this season, but has made the difference in three of Purdue’s biggest wins this season, in Marquette, Ohio, and now Michigan.

“I’m a humble guy. I don’t care if I’m 20 or 30 or if I’m not,” Jenkins said. “At the end of the day, I’m on the number one team in the country and we’re winning, so it doesn’t bother me.”

Sam King covers sports in the Journal & Courier. Email [email protected] and follow @samueltking on Twitter and Instagram.