He and fellow senior Branden Dawson returned to the starting lineup but only Trice was able to finish the game.

After hitting his head and leaving the game with about eight minutes left in the first half, Dawson went to the locker room and did not return to the contest. After the game, Izzo said Dawson “got knocked out cold” and doesn’t currently know what the specific injury is.

Trice said a halftime conversation with junior guard Denzel Valentine made it clear that he needed to dominate in Dawson’s absence.

“He was like ‘we’ll have to take over’,” Trice said. “Losing (Dawson) was key, especially in a game when it comes down to being physical.”

Trice played with urgency from the start, slamming home two dunks in transition to score four of MSU’s first six points in the game. Standing at just six-feet tall, he went on to swat away a Purdue shot after an MSU turnover, and later, he showed his strength as he muscled up a floater to beat the shot clock to cut Purdue’s lead to 11-10.

With both teams jockeying for position in the Big Ten, it was just the type of grinder you’d expect. In the post, Purdue freshman center Isaac Haas and junior center A.J. Hammons went to battle with MSU sophomore forward Gavin Schilling, junior forward Matt Costello, and redshirt junior forward Colby Wollenman.

“We did a pretty good job inside with so many different guys,” Izzo said. “We were digging on Hammons—he’s played so well this year. Haas is so big, I mean, it was a case when we lost Dawson early, that made it difficult.”

Defense was the storyline for MSU in the second half, as the Spartans locked in and held Purdue to just four points for nearly the first ten minutes.

“We just bared down and realized that we had to get a win and we really stepped it up defensively,” Valentine said.

Valentine appeared to fall awkwardly on his leg and headed to the locker room with the training staff at the 16:42 mark. He returned minutes later to an applause from the Breslin crowd.

Filling in for Schilling and Costello, Wollenman found Marvin Clark wide open in the corner for three to put MSU up 39-33. The tide began to turn.

With MSU leading 47-39, Purdue sophomore guard Kendall Stephens drained a three to cut the Spartan lead to just five. Trice answered loudly, sinking back-to-back threes, once again willing his team along.

After pulling down an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, Costello weaved his way along the baseline and under the hoop before throwing down a one handed-reverse. His dunk blew the top off of an already rocking and extended MSU’s lead to 56-44 at the 3:57 mark.

A three from Purdue’s Stephens narrowed the gap to six points with under a minute left but four MSU free throws led to a bit of breathing room. The Boilermakers hit a couple of threes late, but it wasn’t enough.

Trice was able to give a final kiss to the mid-court logo and MSU transitioned to senior night festivities with an important Big Ten win.

“I feel like it’s a good way to end my career at Michigan State (in) the last home game in that fashion,” Trice said. “Just the way we played as a team. We didn’t play well in the first half (but) we answered the call.”