No. 13 Michigan State Grabs Close Road Win Over No. 8 Purdue, 76-74

Carson Cooper scored 15 points, Kur Teng had 13 and No. 13 Michigan State survived Braden Smith’s missed 3-point attempt with a second to play for a 76-74 victory over No. 8 Purdue on Thursday night. Jeremy Fears Jr. added 12 and Coen Carr had 11 for the Spartans (23-5, 13-4 Big Ten), who snapped a seven-game losing streak at Purdue. Smith, who became the fifth player in Division I history to reach 1,000 career assists, finished with 12 points and 10 assists for Purdue (22-6, 12-5). Jack Benter had 11 points for the Boilermakers. After Smith’s two free throws closed the deficit to 66-64 with 5:48 left, the Spartans responded with a 6-0 run. Trailing 74-67, Smith hit a 3-pointer and a driving layup to trim the lead to 74-72 with 2:16 left. Trailing 76-74, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn missed a chance to tie it with a jumper in the lane with eight seconds left. Michigan State’s Cam Ward missed the front end of one-and-one. The Boilermakers got the rebound and called timeout with 3.4 seconds left to set up the final shot. Michigan State shot 53% while Purdue hit 49%. Purdue had nine turnovers, three more than Michigan State. The Boilermakers took a 39-36 lead at halftime. Michigan State hit 48% in the first half with seven lead changes. Oscar Cluff, who had all 10 of his points in the first half, scored to put Purdue ahead 36-34 with 2:55 left in the first half. Purdue sank 6 of 11 3-pointers in the first half while Michigan State went 3-for-9 on 3-pointers. Purdue’s largest lead in the first half was at 13-6. The Spartans used a 10-0 run to take a 16-13 lead with 12:28 left in the first half. Next, Michigan State plays at Indiana on Sunday, while Purdue is at Ohio State. The Spartans’ victory had significant Big Ten tournament implications, as they are now in a three-way tie for second place in the conference behind 16-1 Michigan. Michigan State, Nebraska, and Illinois are all 13-4, while Purdue fell to 12-5 with the loss. The first four teams in the conference receive a bye directly to the quarterfinals, while teams seeded five through eight have to play an additional game before then. Purdue, if it sticks as the fifth seed, would take the winner of the second-round matchup between No. 13 and No. 12 in the Big Ten, then, if the Boilermakers win, face the rested fourth seed in the quarterfinals – which could very well be Michigan State. The Associated Press contributed to this report.​No. 13 Michigan State survived Braden Smith’s missed 3-point attempt with a second to play for a 76-74 win over No. 8 Purdue.