West Lafayette, Ind. — For one half, it was even. And then, in an instant, the game — and maybe the season — got away from the MSU men's basketball team.
Looking helpless as Purdue opened the second half on a 33-6 run, the Spartans suffered a crushing 62-38 defeat Wednesday at Mackey Arena, dropping them to 4-6 in the Big Ten and opening the floor for serious discussion about their postseason hopes.
It was MSU's lowest scoring output since a 50-36 loss to Michigan on Jan. 19, 1952.
"I think what you saw," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said, "was a complete meltdown."
It was tied at 26 at the half, but the Spartans (17-8 overall, 4-6 Big Ten) might have been lucky it was that close. They had as many turnovers as field goals (11) and couldn't get junior guard Drew Neitzel an open look to save his life. Neitzel had two points at the half and finished with a season-low five.
"I wouldn't rank Neitzel on his performance tonight," Izzo said. "We didn't give him a chance."
Carl Landry carried the Boilermakers through the half with his usual bruising post play. With almost every Purdue possession working through him, the power forward banged his way to 12 first-half points, and his hook shot plus the foul four minutes before halftime gave the Boilermakers (16-8, 5-5) their first lead of the game, 25-24.
"That's the game plan — get the ball to Carl," Purdue guard David Teague said. "He's the difference-maker."
Even when he wasn't scoring, Landry was wreaking havoc on MSU's frontcourt. Seven of the Spartans' nine fouls in the half came while defending him. Sophomore forward Marquise Gray and junior center Drew Naymick each had two fouls at halftime, and sophomore center Idong Ibok had three. Walk-on junior forward Jake Hannon played the last four minutes of the half to keep it from getting any worse — and even he picked up a foul.
"We didn't handle Landry real well," Izzo said. "All I wanted to do was survive the half."
Goran Suton drew first blood after halftime with a layup, but that was the last time MSU had the lead. Purdue sprinted out to a 14-2 run to take a 40-30 edge and force Izzo into a timeout with 13 minutes remaining.
It only got worse from there. On the ensuing inbounds play, sophomore guard Maurice Joseph threw the ball right past Neitzel, and Tarrance Crump took it for a fast-break layup. Purdue by 12.
Teague continued a one-man scoring show by hitting a prayer from the elbow as the shot clock expired, then hitting an even more improbable buzzer-beater from 3-point range. Purdue by 15.
Neitzel was blocked. Teague hit a 3 and got fouled.
Suton missed the front end of a one-and-one. Landry wrapped in a layup. Junior guard DeMarcus Ducre threw the ball five feet over Neitzel's head and out of bounds. Landry scored again. Purdue by 22.
And so on, and so on.
"It was kind of one of those games where everything felt wrong," Joseph said. "They were hitting crazy shots, we couldn't hit shots. We were missing layups, we couldn't make free throws, we were making turnovers."
Teague and Landry finished with 20 points each, with 18 of Teague's coming in the second half. For the first time all season, no MSU player reached double figures.
MSU has five days off before Tuesday's home game against Michigan. Izzo said they'll need all five.
