West Lafayette, Ind. - In basketball, offense plays a critical part in winning games. Tuesday night, the Spartans didn't have much of it.
The end result was a 72-60 loss, which gave MSU (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) its fourth loss in five games.
Offensively, the Spartans entered the game shooting 47.6 percent from the field. But against Purdue (10-3, 2-0), MSU couldn't seem to make a bucket.
The Spartans finished the night 20-for-62 from the field, a dismal 32.2 field-goal percentage.
Only one Spartan, freshman guard Maurice Ager, reached double figures with 10 points. But even the Detroit native's usually sweet stroke was a bit sour Tuesday.
Ager finished the game 3-of-11 shooting, including a woeful 1-for-5 from 3-point land.
"They just stayed in our face and we had trouble finding good shots," Ager said. "When we did, we couldn't hit them. Those things just happen."
But for MSU, a team that started the year ranked No. 9 in The Associated Press Preseason Poll and dropped out of the ranking last week, those things haven't stopped happening.
It looked as if the Spartans might improve from their poor shooting (31.3) in the first half, when they made their first shot thanks to a dunk by senior forward Aloysius Anagonye. Sophomore guard Kelvin Torbert turned some heads a minute later when he netted a triple from the corner.
Nevertheless, it was just a glimmer of hope for Spartans fans.
Ager found himself wide open at the top of the key on an inbounds play. Right after receiving the ball, he launched a 3-pointer. The ball slightly glazed the rim after an unintentional bank attempt.
During the Spartan's late comeback, Torbert called for the ball. After shaking off a defender, a wide-open look turned into an ugly air ball.
But if any shots are the tell tale of the game, it might be MSU's last three shots with the game out of reach. Sophomore guard Alan Anderson cut to the basket for a layup. Clank, off the side of the rim.
The next possession, sophomore guard Chris Hill couldn't hit the leaner in the paint.
Finally, with just more than five seconds on the clock and the Boilermakers playing no defense, Hill took an uncontested layup to seemingly make the game a 10-point loss. Similar to Anderson's layup try two possessions earlier, Hill's finger roll found nothing but rim and backboard.
"That's all about defense," Purdue head coach Gene Keady said of MSU's disappointing night offensively. "Sometimes, our execution wasn't tough enough against their offense, but our guys just don't want to lose."
But all season and in previous years, the Spartans have been able to rely on their defense when their offense went to sleep. Not Tuesday night.
