No. 18 Purdue beats No. 8 Michigan State 82-81 in OT

MI succeeded at North Carolina State, Illinois and Nebraska, but floundered against Southern Methodist, Purdue and Iowa.

The host Boilermakers (20-5, 8-4 Big Ten) snapped a losing streak at seven games in the series despite blowing an 18-point second-half lead, trailing by four late in regulation and allowing the Spartans to tie it 81-81 with 11.5 seconds left. “We’re gonna be throwing punches”, said fellow MSU senior Matt Costello – though he didn’t mean that literally.

Searching for the proper words to calm a frustrated fan base and shaken team, Spartans coach Tom Izzo spoke calmly.

After just four Big Ten teams played this weekend with mixed results, it’s hard to learn anything new.

“He’s talking 10 times more”, Izzo said. Swanigan, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound freshman from Ft. A couple weeks after that, he chose Purdue. (It’s) frustrating that he doesn’t talk to you all the time because sometimes I look at him and I say something and if he will say, ‘Well why do you get mad at me?’ And I say, ‘Because you never answer me.

“Stats, at the end of the day, I’m sure those numbers do mean something and I feel good about it”, he said.

“I want him to feel really comfortable about it. I would do this with anybody, by the way”. “They are better than us. He’s doing well. But it worked out great for us, too”.

“I was telling these guys since the summer I wanted to beat Michigan State”. “So it’s nothing that I can’t do”.

Hammons was a force down low on Tuesday and was just two blocks away from a triple-double.

“I didn’t come out like I wanted to, but I’m proud of Ray”, Hammons said.

The Spartans’ furious second-half comeback made them wait just a little longer Tuesday night. Davis and Schilling can help Costello at center, and Schilling and Kenny Goins (6-6, 225) will supplement Davis at power forward. It’s going to be tough to win if the Wolverines – desperate for a statement win – finally get their star back.

Costello’s layup with 7:40 remaining gave Michigan State its first lead, 61-60. “That is a big-time team right there”. Or is it safer to make a commitment that Sparty has just hit one of those two week stretches where everything they throw up, regardless of where on the court, that everything just falls throw the net? Valentine made three consecutive 3-pointers as part of a 14-4 MSU run to cut Purdue’s lead to 50-44. The inbounds went to Davis, who was fouled outside the 3-point line by Valentine. He’ll likely be guarding Forbes or Denzel Valentine most of the night. The Spartans have won four straight by an average of 22.5 points per game.

Four of Minnesota’s next six games are against ranked teams, the Star Tribune notes. The losses that sting, however, were earlier – they blew a second-half lead at home against Iowa and didn’t show up defensively at IL.

Their lone defeat in that span came on the road to No. 2 Maryland, which was a tight game throughout and could have gone either way.

Ranked 15th in the nation, Michigan State has an average effective field goal percentage of 55.8%. No other Spartan has taken more than 71 three-pointers.