Purdue’s Chris Kramer frustrated both sophomore guards throughout the night — guarding Summers in the first half and Lucas in the second — as No. 19 Purdue upset No. 6 MSU 72-54 at Mackey Arena.

“He was a pretty tough defender,” said Summers, whose team fell to 20-5 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten. “The biggest thing he was doing was trying to deny the ball and be a little physical, and what I was trying to do was do the same back to him and not let him get into my head.”

Although Lucas and Summers were MSU’s leading scorers with 14 and 11 points, respectively, Kramer was able to frustrate both of them throughout the game. In the first half, Summers scored the Spartans’ first two baskets, but sandwiched between those was a charging foul Kramer drew from Summers on the block.

As MSU slowly was working its way back into the game in the second half, Kramer spent time on Lucas, shutting down the MSU point guard while Purdue (20-6, 9-4) extended its lead.

On the night, Kramer finished with three steals and drew three charging fouls.

MSU’s defensive stopper

While Kramer was living up to his billing as the Big Ten’s top defensive player, MSU senior guard Travis Walton tried to use Tuesday’s game as another opportunity to state his case for consideration for the 2009 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Purdue guard E’Twaun Moore scored 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting, turning the ball over three times while being guarded by Walton for most of the night.

After the game, Walton, who has stated throughout the year his desire to win this year’s award, said that goal was the last thing on his mind.

“Kramer played good defense because his team helped him out on defense and I played good defense because my team helped me out on defense,” Walton said. “When you lose a game the way we did, I didn’t do my job.”

Injury-riddled stars

Both teams’ top players battled through pain on Tuesday, as Purdue’s Robbie Hummel scored 11 points in his second game back after missing the prior three due to lower back problems. Likewise, MSU junior forward Raymar Morgan played 14 minutes in his first action since Feb. 1.

Morgan, who has been battling an illness since Jan. 16, scored three points on 1-for-5 shooting coming off the bench.

“I thought that was pretty good for the first time back,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “Everybody talks about these three games but he had four weeks out, so I think when you look at it that way it was a step in the right direction for him.”