MSU’s 72-55 win over Purdue on Sunday extended Division I’s longest home-court winning streak to 41.
And as the last team to defeat No. 5 MSU (18-2 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) at Breslin Student Events Center, Purdue head coach Gene Keady said the Boilermakers hoped to be the streak spoiler.
“To their credit, our strategy didn’t work,” he said after the game. “It wasn’t in the cards.”
The Boilermakers (13-7, 5-4) looked tough early, but a seven-minute Purdue drought and a 22-0 Spartan run blew the game open.
“Basketball is a game of spurts and we had a couple of spurts,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “We did some real good things and we did some bad things.
“It was a strange game.”
The game started slow, with both teams struggling to put anything together offensively. With 8:24 left in the first half, Purdue led 15-14.
But that’s when MSU found its groove. Scoring the next 22 points, the Spartans stormed to a commanding 36-15 lead and never looked back.
“If it wasn’t for that seven-minute stretch, this game would have went down to the wire,” Izzo said. “Purdue is a very, very good team that just didn’t shoot the ball well. They’ve been one of the better-shooting teams in the Big Ten. Our defense does deserve some credit too.”
The MSU defense also proved dominating, holding Purdue to just 28 percent - 17-of-60 - from the field.
The defense forced 12 Purdue turnovers and one shot-clock violation, as the Boilermakers never made a comeback threat after the impressive MSU run.
“We got impatient and took some quick shots, and with a rebounding team like that it just gets you in trouble,” Keady said.
“I was impressed with Michigan State’s toughness.”
Leading the nation in rebounding margin, MSU continued to control the glass. Outrebounding Purdue 53-29 resulted in 23 second-chance points for the Spartans, compared to the Boilermakers’ three.
Izzo called the second-chance points “the difference in the game.” On the flip side, Keady said MSU’s offense took everything Purdue threw at them.
“We would have liked to cover down on their big guys and make them shoot from the perimeter but they hit them,” he said. “They shot the ball pretty well from the perimeter.”
Leading the way for the Spartans with his 6-of-6 shooting was senior forward Andre Hutson, who finished the game with a team-high 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The performance drew high praise from Izzo.
“I think Andre is starting to really play basketball,” he said of the player who missed a stretch of games last month while battling pneumonia. “He is becoming what everybody thought he would be and that’s one of the best power forwards in this league.”
Hutson said he doesn’t look for the attention, and said a lot of his praise goes to freshman center Zach Randolph and sophomore forward Al Anagonye.
Randolph was second on the team in scoring Sunday with 12 points and tied for the team lead with nine rebounds.
With the top three teams all losing earlier this week - Stanford, Duke and Kansas - Izzo was quick to shoot down any thoughts of his Spartans grabbing the No. 1 ranking they held briefly earlier this year.
“I don’t say that because I’m afraid to be No. 1,” he said. “I just don’t think we’re playing good enough to be the No. 1 team.”
Izzo said MSU’s transition game looks very good, but added the half-court offense needs improvement.
“It’s getting into our offense that I think we’re struggling with,” he said. “At times out there we just looked out of sync. I was a little concerned about our guard play.”
Izzo said a large reason for that is senior guard Charlie Bell, who is still recovering from the flu. Izzo said his legs are still not 100 percent.
The Spartans next head to Illinois on Tuesday.
Eric McKinney can be reached at mckinn54@msu.edu.
