“Honestly, something's wrong with me,” Walker said, laughing. “I can't really hear the crowd most of the time. So I didn't really recognize it but after I made it I smiled. It felt good.”

When Walker hoisted up the final shot of the game against No. 4 Purdue, the raucous crowd at Breslin Center was silent for everyone, not just him. Angst filled the air as Michigan State took the floor with 16 seconds left with the score knotted at 65, but Walker had a smile on his face that cut through the silence. 

Members of the MSU team on the bench debated coming out of the timeout if MSU had drawn up the right play. Junior center Julius Marble II said that he wasn’t confident they could score while senior center Marcus Bingham Jr. and sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard were confident that Walker would get open and hit a shot. 

“I told him to take us home,” Hoggard said later.

Walker received the inbounds pass in the Purdue forecourt with 16 seconds left. He slowly dribbled the ball while staring at the clock with Purdue’s senior guard Eric Hunter Jr. inches away. When the clock hit eight seconds, junior forward Malik Hall came to set a screen then slipped immediately to the basket, forcing senior center Trevion Williams to switch onto Walker.

Walker moved off the screen to the left-wing and he squared up with Williams with under four seconds left. Walker feinted back towards the top of the key but kept his left foot planted and picked up the ball. Williams crashed on the fake, giving Walker enough room to step back and get a three off over the 6’10 center. 

The shot hung in the air for what felt like an eternity while every eye was glued to the rim. Finally, the ball hit the back rim softly and rolled around the rim before falling with the clock reading 1.4 seconds and the scoreboard 68-65 MSU. 

“That shot right there is how I've always done that move since I was a freshman in high school,” Walker said. “So I just knew once it left my hand, it was good.”

The fans waited with bated breath during the entire play. Along with Walker, the sold-out crowd at Breslin Center let out a cathartic cheer when it fell. The weight of the frustration that mounted over February and the three-game losing streak lifted off the shoulders of players and fans during that moment of ecstasy.

MSU had finally played a complete game from start to finish and the end result was a win over Big Ten-leading and No. 4 ranked Purdue. The losing streak ended and MSU beat a team with very legitimate national title aspirations. It was the type of performance that was expected of this team two months ago but the string of bad results left the question lingering if this team would be able to find any momentum again this season.

Michigan State answered that question Saturday with a convincing victory over Purdue, who MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo says is the best team in the conference. The intensity on defense, hustle for loose balls and shotmaking were on display for the Spartans all afternoon after missing from MSU’s play for almost all of February, putting them in a position to win down the stretch. 

In Izzo’s eyes, it was the best performance from the team over an entire game since the first 10 games of the season when MSU started 8-2. Since then, inconsistency in almost all aspects has plagued the team but Saturday was a step in the right direction to find a fix.

“The reality was we weren't playing hard enough,” Izzo said. “When you play harder, the other team turns it over, you get a breakaway, you get to the free throw line. Then if you're not shooting as well, those things come.”

The effort allowed MSU to be in a position to win the game on the final possession and Walker to become the latest hero for the Spartans.

Izzo turned to Walker to close out the game, a sign that his trust in Walker is growing by the game. Since being moved out of the starting lineup two weeks ago, Walker has found himself being the team’s go-to guy down the stretch in big matchups and had the final play drawn up for him despite only shooting 2-8 before the buzzer-beater. 

“We wanted the ball in his hands because we thought he could get a shot,” Izzo said. “But in all honesty, I thought they might switch out. And so we had Joey popping, we had Malik rolling up, it was three options on the play. And when he came off he was open enough and give him credit, he knocked it down.”

Walker’s offensive burst late in games over the past two weeks is a welcome sight for Izzo and MSU. The team has lacked a scorer that can create their own shot 100% of the time and can hit clutch shots but may have found an answer in the point guard they benched. The poise and shotmaking ability that Walker has shown against Illinois and Purdue, in particular, have all signs pointing to him as the team’s go-to guy heading into the postseason.

That weight might be too much for some, but not for Walker. He’s been preparing for these big moments his whole life.

“That's just something you dream about when I'm in my backyard at home just practicing my moves, counting down in my head,” Walker said with a grin. “And that's just how it felt. It was just routine.”