It wasn't the prettiest half of basketball, but a late burst helped keep the deficit close entering halftime.
On senior night, Purdue leads the men's basketball team 30-27 at the half. Senior guard Travis Trice leads MSU with nine points, and junior guard Denzel Valentine has eight.
Senior forward Branden Dawson left the game at around the eight minute mark after hitting his head on the court.
The senior-to-senior connection was in effect early. Dawson forced a steal and dished a nice outlet pass to Trice, who dunked in transition to get Breslin Center loud and rocking early.
The duo made the same play a couple minutes later to give MSU a 6-5 lead.
A four point play gave Purdue an 11-8 advantage, but Trice followed with a layup at the buzzer to cut the lead to one.
Dawson left the game with a little more than eight minutes to play after falling and hitting his head.
Purdue sophomore guard Kendall Stephens drained a 3-pointer at the 6:47 mark to give the Boilermakers a 19-10 lead.
Purdue sophomore guard Bryson Scott tipped in a miss at the four minute mark to extend the lead back to nine, 25-16.
Junior center A.J. Hammons and MSU junior center Matt Costello got into a altercation at center court at the 3:46 mark, and Hammons struck Costello with an elbow and was called for a flagrant one and personal foul. Trice missed the flagrant free throw on a one and one, and Costello split his pair.
With the ensuring possession, Trice found Costello for a layup to cut Purdue's lead back down to six. But a three point play by Isaac Haas extended the lead back to nine.
MSU found life behind the arc in the final two minutes. Consecutive defensive stops and back-to-back 3-pointers from freshman forward Marvin Clark and Valentine trimmed Purdue's lead to three entering halftime.
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