On Tuesday night, the Michigan State Spartans outplayed the Purdue Boilermakers in every phase of their game. The result was a convincing 75-66 Big 10 victory for the Spartans, which moved them one-half game behind idle Michigan for the conference lead.
Michigan State dominated the Boilers in almost every statistical category.
Shooting-wise, the Spartans shot a sizzling 58.3% from the field, which was aided by ten dunks on the night. They also made more free throws (15) than Purdue shot (11).
Michigan State won the rebound battle, 23-21, and coaxed Purdue into 12 turnovers, of which 10 were steals. Those Boilermaker mishaps resulted in 19 Spartan points.
The loss dropped Purdue to 19-8 overall and 11-5 in conference games. The Boilermakers are now in fourth place in the Big 10, just one-half game ahead of Maryland. That is significant because the first four spots in the standings at the end of the season earn a double-bye in the conference tournament in March.
Not only that, Tuesday’s defeat marked the third in a row for the Boilermakers, the first time in five years that has happened.
As has been their wont, Purdue stormed out of the gates early on with consistent shooting and taking care of the basketball. C.J. Cox’s three-pointer with 9:11 remaining in the half gave the Boilers a 21-14 lead.
Trey Kaufman-Renn sunk a jumper with 4:26 left in the first half, which made the score 26-20 in favor of Purdue. After that, however, the Spartans reeled off ten straight points over the next two minutes, and they held on for a 33-31 lead over the Boilermakers at halftime.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter understood the significance of that Spartan run.
“Yeah, that was a big game-changer,” said Painter. “We were up 26-20 and (Coen Carr) dunks four times — it’s hard to remember which dunk. The one, if we’re talking about the first half, we had a little bit of a lead. You want to go into halftime with some momentum and then start the second half and play well.”
When the two teams returned to the court for the second half, Michigan State asserted their authority by pouring in the first eight points to take a double-digit lead, 41-31. They stretched the lead to 13, their biggest of the game, on a Coen Carr layup with 13:06 to go, making the score 52-39.
At this point, Painter faced a big decision in slowing down the Spartans, one that could dictate the outcome of the game for his team. Ultimately, his first-half choices forced his team to try and play through their struggles.
“I called two (timeouts) in the first half, you don’t want the game to be over right there,” explained Painter. “So it got to 13 and then we made a play, I think made a three. You’re in a dilemma right there. Do we really have to burn (a timeout) to slow (things down)? Or can we show some toughness here and execute. But it’s also hit and miss.
“But you’re in a dilemma as a coach. I’ve called it before and then later on said, ‘Man, late in the game and I need one but I burned it.'”
Despite Painter’s choices, the Spartan lead remained consistent throughout the next ten minutes. Purdue did cut the deficit to four with three minutes remaining after a Kaufman-Renn bucket, but Michigan State was able to salt the game away at the free-throw line and by getting high-percentage dunks and layups late.
Although he scored 17 points and added eight assists, point guard Braden Smith uncharacteristically committed six turnovers, much in part to Michigan State’s defensive pressure and Purdue’s inability to handle it.
“When they get aggressive like that, that’s exactly what he (Smith) has to do is get the ball out of his hands,” said Painter. “At times, people do that, at times, they don’t. We just have to do a better job of, when they get aggressive, not overdoing it, not over-dribbling. But you have to give them credit.”
Kaufman-Renn scored in double-figures for the 27th straight time, pumping in 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. Michigan State was extremely balanced offensively; six Spartans scored at least nine points, led by Jase Richardson’s 12.
The huge question fans of the black and gold have regarding their team going forward is simple: How does Purdue react to their rare three-game slide? Painter feels the answer is taking greater value with the basketball to get back to registering games in the win column.
“The turnovers for us, that’s something, we just can’t have the live-ball turnovers that we’ve had. And our number is not huge, but we’ve got to be better. That’s got to be a start for us.”
No current Boilermaker has experienced such a losing streak, and their tough conference slate does not get any easier. Next for the Boilers is a rematch with their hated in-state rivals Indiana on Sunday in Bloomington. Following Purdue’s 81-76 victory over the Hoosiers on January 31, the game promises to be ultra-competitive.
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