'Stagnant' Purdue heads back to the NCAA bubble

• Illinois at Purdue%2C 4%3A30 p.m. Saturday%2C BTN

EAST LANSING, Mich. — When Purdue coach Matt Painter finally unleashed the Two Towers attack, the decision was born of frustration, not of strategy.

Painter had watched his wilting offense — "stagnant" is the word freshman Dakota Mathias repeatedly used after the game — feed Michigan State's game-changing run to start the second half.

The results didn't change much with A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas playing side-by-side. Purdue abandoned the approach after two possessions yielded two turnovers.

Michigan State's eventual 72-66 victory pleased a Breslin Center crowd on senior night and raised the stakes on Purdue's season finale against Illinois on Saturday.

"We got stagnant, and when guys get stagnant and the crowd gets loud and the ball sticks, it's hard to play," junior guard Rapheal Davis said. "I know I got stagnant a lot out there — each guy. It's not the team we are. We should be better than that."

With their seventh straight victory over Purdue, the Spartans pulled into a third-place tie in the Big Ten Conference standings with the Boilermakers. Purdue must beat the Illini at Mackey Arena and Ohio State must lose at home to Wisconsin in order for the Boilermakers to secure a fourth-place finish and a double-bye in the conference tournament.

A loss to Illinois might also cripple Purdue's NCAA tournament chances.

"We're looking at it as this is our season," said sophomore guard Kendall Stephens, who ended his shooting slump with five 3-pointers and 16 points. "it's definitely a must-win for us."

For the second straight game, Purdue failed to capitalize on a strong position late in the first half. Ohio State overcame a 12-point halftime deficit in a 65-61 victory over the Boilermakers on Sunday.

Purdue led Michigan State by nine points going into the final minute of Wednesday's first half. But the Spartans feasted on turnovers while building a 10-point lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half.

"We knew that going in: They feed off transition points," Mathias said. "We just had way too many."

Michigan State senior Branden Dawson, a Purdue nemesis throughout his career, left the game late in the first half after crashing to the floor on a rebound attempt. The Big Ten's leading rebounder had two boards and no points in his nine minutes. Spartans coach Tom Izzo had no update on Dawson's status after the game other than to say Dawson "was out of it when I went in at halftime."

But Travis Trice made the most of senior night, hitting 3 of 6 from 3-point range en route to 26 points and six assists. Trice's father, Travis, played two season at Purdue. Denzel Valentine supported him with 16 points and five rebounds, and his ability to hits 3s in transition led a Spartan squad that capitalized on takeaways all night.

In an attempt to answer what at the time was an 18-4 Michigan State run, Painter sent 7-foot-2 freshman center Haas in to play alongside 7-foot starter Hammons. The two had only played together once all season, on an inbounds play at the end of a first half in the non-conference season.

He'd seen enough lack of movement on offense while Michigan State racked up 19 fast-break points.
"We didn't move the ball well, and if we're not going to move the ball well we might as well play those guys a little bit together," Painter said. "If you're going to be stagnant, might as well be stagnant with two 7-footers. At least they have a reason."

Even with Dawson absent, Hammons had perhaps his worst game of the Big Ten season, scoring seven points on 3-of-11 shooting. The junior, whose play sparked Purdue's surge in the conference season, lost his matchup against Spartans backup forward Matt Costello.

Purdue scored 12 points off of Spartan turnovers before halftime. It held Michigan State to one field goal in a span of seven-plus minutes in the first half during a 14-2 run.

The Boilermakers took a nine-point lead into the final minute of the half, but couldn't hold it. Marvin Clark, Jr. and Denzel Valentine hit 3s in the final minute to cut the halftime lead to 30-27.

What began as a short spurt eventually grew into a 21-4 Michigan State run. Purdue turned the ball over seven times in the first eight-plus minutes of the second half, directly leading to 11 Spartan points.

"We gave them too many free points in transition, and if you allow them to hit some transition 3s and they get open looks, then they start making tough ones, and we let them get their heads up," Painter said.

MICHIGAN ST. 72, PURDUE 66

Percentages: FG .453, FT .667.

3-Point Goals: 10-21, .476 (Stephens 5-8, Mathias 4-7, Octeus 1-3, Edwards 0-1, Davis 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 3.

Blocked Shots: 6 (Stephens 2, Hammons 2, Haas, Octeus).

Turnovers: 14 (Hammons 2, Davis 2, Octeus 2, Edwards, Haas, Stephens, Mathias, Scott, Smotherman).

Steals: 6 (Mathias 2, Scott, Edwards, Davis, Smotherman).

Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .442, FT .586.

3-Point Goals: 9-23, .391 (Valentine 4-9, Trice 3-6, Clark Jr. 2-4, Costello 0-1, Forbes 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 3.

Blocked Shots: 7 (Costello 4, Trice 2, Wollenman).

Turnovers: 8 (Valentine 2, Trice 2, Schilling, Dawson, Forbes).

Steals: 8 (Dawson 2, Valentine 2, Costello 2, Forbes 2).

Technical Fouls: None.

A—14,797.

Officials—Ted Valentine, Pat Driscoll, Ray Perone.