Coming off two wins against No. 6 Ohio State and No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 7 MSU now holds the longest winning streak in the Big Ten.
The Spartans (21-5 overall, 10-3 Big Ten) must now travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on a Purdue (17-9, 7-6) team bent on redemption following a lopsided loss at Breslin Center on Jan. 21.
MSU took care of the Boilermakers rather easily, 83-58, following road trip issues for Purdue.
“I think we’d agree the lopsided loss was partially caused by the poor travel, but they’ll be fired up,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.”
Purdue also must deal with the loss of two of their key contributors, guards Kelsey Barlow and D.J. Bryd. Both have started this year, but Barlow was dismissed from the team Friday and Bryd suspended for an altercation Friday morning.
Both players averaged eight points a game, including Byrd shooting 45 percent from 3-point range.
“It’s no secrets they’re both good players,” Izzo said. “It’s a tough situation, I’ve been there myself, so I unfortunately have a somber appreciation with what (Purdue head coach Matt Painter is) going through and a guy like Robbie Hummel.”
Senior forward Draymond Green said although the loss of Barlow will hurt the Boilermakers in the long run, he expects a tough game Sunday afternoon.
“There’s that one game when you rally everyone around together to try to pick things up,” Green said. “We just have to watch that, be conscious of that.”
Freshman guard Branden Dawson, who riled up Painter during the win in East Lansing knows he’s going to get some flack from the Purdue student section the “Paint Crew.”
Dawson was close to choosing Purdue over MSU during the recruiting process.
“I know I’m gonna get a little bit of everything, a lot of boos,” Dawson said of his first trip to West Lafayette. “But I’m going in there, playing hard.”
Dawson won’t be the only Spartan getting jeered, the student section is known for getting on other teams when they turn the ball over.
“It’s a tough atmosphere, one thing they pride themselves in is turnovers,” Green said. “They really get into the game on turnovers. Most student sections get off on the game, but they’re big on turnovers.”
Purdue is coming off a tough 67-62 win at Illinois on Wednesday and is playing quite a bit better than when they came to East Lansing.
Hummel is playing better too, shooting better than 50 percent in both of the team’s previous two games, including 19 and 27 points. He went 0-for-11 in the game at Breslin.
Izzo knows not to take the Boilermakers, or the loss of two players, lightly.
“That’s what happens, always that first game out you play with a little more adrenaline and rally the troops,” Izzo said. “On the other side I’m concerned how we handle it. It’s a distraction that makes kids look at things differently. They’re gonna play, hummel is a good player, (guard Lewis Jackson is a good player.”
Support student media!
Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Discussion
Share and discuss “Spartans prep for Boilermakers” on social media.