The Spartans trailed the entire game and didn’t lead since they were up 2-0 in the opening minute of the Ohio State game three games ago.

MSU was among the conference’s top five scoring teams coming into the game, but its offense was painful to watch in the first half, as the team struggled to find any offensive rhythm.

Following the game’s opening timeout, Purdue went on an 11-0 run fueled by four MSU turnovers and sloppy defense by the Spartans.

Searching for scoring, head coach Suzy Merchant went to her bench, but the offensive woes continued as the Spartans went about 11 minutes without a point and more than 13 minutes without a field goal.

MSU shot just 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) in the first half, including 1-for-6 (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc, and headed halftime trailing 33-15.

The 15 first half points and 49 total points were both season-lows for the Spartans.

Senior forward Lykendra Johnson and freshman center Jasmine Hines were the only players to look comfortable offensively for MSU, combining for 11 of the team’s 15 first half points and all but one of its field goals.

Johnson led the team in scoring, finishing the game with 17 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
After trailing by as many as 20 points in the first half, the Spartans emerged from the halftime locker room with a newfound offensive rhythm.

MSU scored more points in the opening seven minutes of the second half than they did in the entire first half and used a 9-2 run to cut Purdue’s lead to 45-32 with 12:43 to go in the game.

Freshman guard Kiana Johnson led the rally, scoring 14 second half points and helped cut the second half deficit to as few as 12 points, but the Spartans never got any closer.

MSU will return home to take on Illinois (6-14, 0-7) on Thursday (6:00 p.m., Big Ten Network).