West Lafayette, Ind. – Branden Dawson is ready to move on. But even though a year has passed since Dawson signed with the MSU men’s basketball program, the Purdue faithful still hasn’t forgotten.
After receiving raucous jeers during player introductions on Saturday at Mackey Arena, Dawson responded with a team-high eight points to lead the No. 12 Spartans (19-4 overall, 8-2 Big Ten) to a 31-23 halftime advantage over Purdue (12-11, 5-5).
Less than a minute into the game, Dawson answered his Purdue critics with a quick layup in the lane to kick off the day’s scoring. Fellow Indiana native Gary Harris drained a 3-pointer from the corner to allow the Spartans to open the game with a 5-0 run.
But Purdue guards Ronnie Johnson and Terone Johnson combined for the first three of their team’s buckets to keep the game close at 7-7 early on.
Senior center Derrick Nix found some space in the paint and drained back-to-back shots to regain MSU’s lead. Asserting himself as a force in the lane, Nix finished the first half with six points and four rebounds.
Nearing the midway point, Dawson mishandled a breakaway attempt but still corralled the ball and finished with an easy layup to extend the Spartan lead to 18-10.
Down the stretch, the Spartans continued to control the pace of the game and held the game’s biggest lead at 13 points with less than three minutes to play.
However, a pair of fouls on Dawson ignited a 5-0 run to shrink the deficit to 31-23, where the game stands at the halfway point.
Terone Johnson finished the half with a game-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (50 percent) to lead the Boilermakers.
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