Purdue Falls Short Against #13 Michigan State

The fireworks began almost before the sold-out crowd at Mackey settled into their positions. After the Spartans converted the game’s first basket, Purdue went on a 9-0 run. All-American Braden Smith assisted on the Boilers’ first two field goals, and Oscar Cluff had six points before the first media timeout.

Down 13-6, which turned out to be the biggest Boiler lead of the game, Sparty answered with 10-0 of their own. Jeremy Fears, Jr. converted the rare four-point play, Kur Teng drilled a jumper, and Cam Ward put in two layups in that stretch to lead 16-13 with 12:28 to go in the half.

The Boilermakers went cold, scoring only two points in five minutes, but found themselves tied at 17 with 11:27 remaining. Throughout the remainder of the half, the teams went back and forth, neither team extending a lead of more than five points. Gicarri Harris, who entered the game hitting just 17% of his attempts from distance, drained a long ball with 52.7 seconds before the half. That gave Purdue a 39-34 lead, and after two Spartan free throws, they settled for a three-point lead at the break.

Both teams finished the first half with very respectable shooting numbers. Purdue shot 54% from the field, including 6-for-11 from deep, while Michigan State made 48% of their shots.

After the halftime break, the Spartans’ offensive precision improved even more. Michigan State hit 15 of their 26 second-half shots for an efficient 58%. Leading the way in the second half was Teng, who pitched in 13 points and three three-pointers off the bench. Carson Cooper scored eight of his team-high 15 points in the final 20 minutes.

At the 11:13 mark in the second half, the game had seen 12 lead changes. From there, however, the Spartans began to take control, led by Fears, who leads the country in assists. His driving layup with 4:05 remaining gave Sparty a 72-64 lead, their largest of the game, and prompted a timeout from Boiler head coach Matt Painter.

That is when Smith attempted to put his teammates and the 14,876 fans in attendance on his back.

Jack Benter nailed a three-pointer, and Smith answered with one of his own and shot from down low. Michigan State’s lead dwindled to 74-72 with 2:11 to go, forcing Spartan coach Tom Izzo to call a timeout of his own.

After the two squads trading points, Spartan forward Jaxon Kohler missed two three-point attempts, and Purdue had the ball down only two. With the ensuing possession, Benter launched a long and rushed attempt to take the lead with just under a minute to go.

The Boilers’ defense stepped up and forced a shot-clock violation with 26.1 seconds remaining and down 76-74. Purdue worked the ball around, but Trey Kaufman-Renn‘s eight-footer bounced off the rim, and Ward pulled down the strong rebound with 8.1 seconds on the clock. Ward was fouled and was sent to the line for a one-an-one bonus situation.

As it turned out, the Boilermakers fouled the right guy as Ward only hits on 47% of his free-throw tries. True to form, his first foul shot missed. Purdue rebounded the ball and advanced past half-court to call its last timeout with 3.4 seconds left.

Fletcher Loyer inbounded the ball directly in front of the Purdue bench to Smith, who launched a desperate attempt from the logo to win the game. The shot bounced harmlessly off the rim, and the Spartans claimed the hard-fought victory.

Izzo certainly understood the magnitude of what his team had just accomplished.

“I think it’s the best [road wins] in a couple of years, if you really look at it,” he said after the game. “I have enormous respect for this program, this place, those players, and that coach, [Painter].

“They’ve got a hell of a team; it was just our night. They made threes; we weathered the storm of all of those threes, and doing that on the road at Mackey Arena, I think was — I’ll give my team some credit on that — it’s impressive.”

End Of My Purdue Rant: Close Isn’t Good Enough

The Boilers have now faced four ranked teams at home this year, and they have lost them all. The team had lost four games at Mackey the previous three years combined. With March looming, moral victories are not what Purdue or their fans want. Being close and “almost” winning big games is unacceptable in West Lafayette.

The senior leaders on the team are not accepting their recent effort and did not hide their frustration regarding the latest home misstep.

“It sucks,” Kaufman-Renn said. “It always sucks to lose a game.”

Smith was a bit more verbose, but the sentiment was the same.

“We try to go out there and win every game that we play, whether that’s home or away,” he said. “We are where we are because we’re not playing to the best of our ability for a full 40. We’ve got to get to that point for a full 40 minutes we can be really good. We’re not there yet.”

The Boilermakers’ next chance to turn the tide is Sunday when they hit the road to face Ohio State. Game time is scheduled for 1:30 pm ET.