No. 8 MSU lost to No. 18 Purdue Tuesday night 82-81 in overtime to fall to 7-5 in the Big Ten. MSU was led by 27 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists from senior guard Denzel Valentine and 11 points from senior forward Matt Costello.
Purdue entered the game tied at No. 162 in the country in 3-point shooting at 34.9 percent on the season. That didn't matter as Purdue opened up the game on fire making 6-of-8 3-pointers in the first half behind the hot shooting of senior guard Rapheal Davis, who scored 19 points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting including 5-of-6 from the 3-point line.
On the other side, MSU, which had been shooting the ball a blistering 47-of-80 from the 3-point line in the past three game, finally cooled off, shooting just 11-of-35 from the floor and 4-of-13 from the three in the first half, causing MSU to fall behind 46-30 at halftime.
MSU came out hot in the second half, despite freshman forward Deyonta Davis picking up his third foul just seconds into the second half. Valentine made three consecutive 3-pointers as part of a 14-4 MSU run to cut Purdue's lead to 50-44.
After MSU head coach Tom Izzo momentarily benched Valentine because of a poor decision to shoot a long three early in the shot clock, it was junior guard Alvin Ellis III who came in and provided a huge lift for MSU off the bench.
Ellis hit a 3-pointer and made three free throws on the next possession for MSU after being fouled on a 3-pointer in transition. Ellis also had a big block in transition and found Deyonta Davis just moments later in transition for a dunk to give the game its first 59-59.
MSU took its first lead of the game with just under eight minutes to play on a layup by Costello, who was strong in the second half once again, scoring nine of his 11 points in the second half.
After trading baskets and leads, freshman guard Matt McQuaid hit another big 3-pointer and after a Valentine layup in traffic MSU led 70-66 with just over four minutes to play.
Purdue and MSU both missed shots in the final 30 seconds of play as Purdue freshman Caleb Swanigan missed a long three and Valentine missed a step-back three and the two teams went to overtime.
Valentine hit a layup with about 11 seconds to play to tie the game at 81-81, but Valentine fouled Rapheal Davis with 4.6 seconds to play. Davis made 1-of-2 from the line and Hammons grabbed the rebound to end the game.
Purdue made four free throws to open up overtime and Deyonta Davis and Gavin Schilling both fouled out two minutes into the extra period after going for offensive rebounds.
MSU continued its unselfish play as the team assisted on 24 of the teams 29 field goals and three different players scored in double-figures. Purdue out rebounded MSU 42-39 and Purdue blocked 11 shots, including eight blocks by senior forward A.J. Hammons. MSU had five blocks.
MSU finished the game shooting 29-of-76 from the floor and 11-of-28 from the 3-point line. Purdue finished the game 26-of-60 from the floor and 8-of-16 from the 3-point line.
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