#4 Purdue 65, Michigan St. 68- Another Buzzer Beats the Boilers

For the third time in only five losses this season, Coach Painter’s Boilermakers fall to a last second shot, this time on the road in East Lansing, 68-65.

It’s a crushing loss for Purdue who controlled their own destiny in the Big Ten. Three wins and they’d have sole possession of the Big Ten Title, now they’re in a three way tie for second place with a road game against Wisconsin coming up next week.

For Michigan State, this was stopping the bleeding after losing 5 of their last 6. If Coach Izzo was starting to feel the pressure of the bubble, this signature victory against a top 5 team makes March a guarantee.

There’s no way to not mention the officiating in this one. A major late call against Zach Edey gave MSU free free throws in a crucial moment. Edey was called for offensive fouls for being bigger than his opponent. Gillis was fouled out on a question rebounding call in a big late game situation. The Big Ten has some reckoning to do, but don’t expect Coach Painter to look to blame the refs.

His Boilermakers gave this one up, and Tyson Walker’s game winner took it as he isolated against Trevion Williams and hit his first shot of the second half and third basket of the game for his 8th point of the night.

The Spartans had one game plan for Purdue, and that was to limit the Boilers deadly outside shooting. They did just that. Purdue was just 1 of 9 from three in the game, an early three pointer by Ivey in the first half was their only made three for a team that’s one of the country’s best perimeter shooting team.

Izzo was determined to leave his bigs one on one in the paint against Trevion Williams and Zach Edey. Edey made them pay, scoring a career-high 25 points on just 15 shots, but his size and dominance seemed to work against him at times when his shooting motion in the paint had the officials calling offensive fouls on him, and a phantom foul was called against him after a missed free throw despite appearing to be wrapped and held by Julius Marble.

Michigan State on the other end did just enough, mostly by taking advantage of Purdue turnovers. They held a 17-10 edge on turnovers and significantly outscored them in transition. It was just enough to stave off a late comeback by the Boilers on the road.

Jaden Ivey had 16 points and created the game tying basket for Williams late in the game, but he turned the ball over 5 times while struggling to stay attentive and with his man on defense.

Michigan State was 9 of 20 from three, out shooting Purdue, including the dagger late.

Coach Izzo wanted to take out sharp shooter Sasha Stefanovic, and he did just that. Michigan State’s size and athleticism bothered the senior all game, forcing Stefanovic into his worst game of the season, scoring just 2 points.

For Coach Painter, his team was once again on the precipice of a major accomplishment. This time, the Big Ten Title. They could have cleanly taken the league, but another last second shot took overtime away from a team that was probably lucky to cut a double-digit deficit down to zero on the road.

It wasn’t Purdue’s best effort and Edey’s dominance nearly was enough to make up for it, but instead, more questions will be asked. Is Purdue’s defense good enough to win in the big games? Are their guards?

They’ll get a chance to prove they are again when they travel to Wisconsin on Tuesday. A win there and the Big Ten is back in their hands.