For more than a month, Purdue forward Robbie Hummel had been waiting for his injured back to heal. His back felt so good Tuesday, he gave his entire team a ride. Hummel scored 11 points and played stifling defense throughout the night, as the Purdue men’s basketball team trumped MSU 72-54 in a rough-and-tumble game between the Big Ten’s top dogs. Although Hummel’s numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet, his versatility caused matchup problems that plagued MSU’s defense. He drained a pair of 3-pointers, made plays off the dribble and recorded big steals at crucial moments.
“Purdue’s a pretty good team without him, but they’re a special team with him and he’s a special guy,” said MSU head coach Tom Izzo, whose team lost its first true road game of the season.
“We all know he’s playing hurt, we all know he’s playing under some tough circumstances. I told him after the game, ‘I have a lot of respect for you,’ because a lot of guys wouldn’t even play with what he’s got.”
With a win, the Spartans (20-5 overall, 10-3 Big Ten) could have started fitting ?their fingers for Big Ten championship rings.
Instead, MSU shot a season-low 32.7 percent from the field. The loss puts Purdue (20-6, 9-4) within a game in conference standings.
Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas led MSU with 14 points, but shot just 2-of-11 from the field. Sophmore guard Durrell Summers, MSU’s most efficient offensive player, had 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, but received little help from his teammates.
Freshman forward Delvon Roe, the reigning Big The Player of the Week, finished with just two points, while forward Raymar Morgan scored three points in 14 minutes in his return from mononucleosis.
“They played well and we missed shots,” Izzo said.
“We did not make shots, and to my surprise I thought we even had some decent ones early. Four or five (missed) layups changes ?the game a lot, and I was very, very disappointed in how ?our stars didn’t play tonight.”
After stealing the show in the first half, Hummel stepped back and let his teammates step into the limelight.
Forward JaJuan Johnson and guard E’Twaun Moore, Purdue’s leading scorers this season, tallied 22 of their combined 30 points in the second half to help Purdue pull away.
Keyed by Purdue guard Chris Kramer’s steal and breakaway dunk, the Boilermakers opened the second half with a 15-5 surge to enliven an already boisterous Mackey Arena crowd.
Kramer finished the game with three steals and affected several other MSU possessions with relentless defense. He outperformed senior guard Travis Walton, who many consider to be a second frontrunner for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Doing most of their damage from the free-throw line, the Spartans were able to cut into Purdue’s lead and trailed 26-23 at halftime despite shooting just 26.7 percent from the field.
“When we were down three at halftime, I was elated,” Izzo said.
“I thought we had a real shot because I did not think we played very well.”
The Spartans will look to protect their Big Ten lead Sunday against a scorching Wisconsin that has won four in a row.
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