1. MSU earned that win at Purdue, a consequential victory
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Michigan State has a new best win of the season. And renewed hope it has the goods to do something difficult this season.
MSU’s hard-earned 76-74 win over Purdue was the Spartans' best performance in some time and first really quality true road performance of the season, winning at a place they haven’t since Branden Dawson was terrorizing Mackey Arena. Coen Carr had a couple dunks Thursday that probably brought back those bad memories for Purdue fans.
It’s not like they caught the Boilermakers on an off night. Purdue hit 12 of 25 3s and out-rebounded MSU. But the Spartans played the sort of game that’ll make them a tough out in March. They turned the ball over only six times, they got enough shooting and strong showings and moments from all sorts of players — from Kur Teng, who made 3 of 6 on 3-pointers, to Carson Cooper, who was the best post scorer on the floor, to their two freshman, Jordan Scott and Cam Ward, and so on. Jeremy Fears ran the show in the most difficult environment to do so, with 12 points, six assists and one turnover in 36 minutes. Jaxon Kohler, who had two of the more difficult matchups of his season, hung in there with a fancy-footwork bucket late for MSU’s final points. The Spartans hung on for the final two minutes from there, with Braden Smith’s 25-foot 3 pointer before the buzzer off the mark.
MSU answered some questions Thursday. Not all of them. Purdue is a notch below the best teams in the sport this season. But not that far. And the venue, worth 8 to 10 points, made it all the more impressive.
MSU (23-5 overall, 13-4 in the Big Ten) now has a decent chance at a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament. This was a consequential win and a promising showing.
2. MSU leans on Carson Cooper, who shows his repertoire
Thursday night was one of the best examples of Carson Cooper’s development offensively. That MSU could lean on him otherwise exploit a matchup in the paint gave the Spartans a chance to in this thing.
Cooper finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. That’s nothing new. It was how he got the points — not on screen-and-rolls or rim-running, by taking his man to task in the post, be it with a hook shot, a turnaround jumper or, on one possession, leading one way and spinning the other for a dunk while being fouled, often at the expense of Purdue’s Oscar Cluff. MSU clearly liked that matchup, went to it and Cooper showed his repertoire.
MSU repeatedly went to Cooper on the low block, from the first play of the game to his hook to give the Spartans a 64-59 lead.
3. Freshman thoughts — the Mackey Arena edition
Cam Ward was so good in the first half Thursday night that, for the first time, him being in foul trouble hurt MSU. Ward remains one of two or three reasons to think the Spartans can still find another gear this season. We saw why Thursday. We saw the difference he can make with his strength, skill and aggressive play.
Ward was strong with the ball and composed with it, rebounding against a team that gave the Spartans issues on the glass, and scoring around the rim when the ball came his way. He also had a driving layup high off the glass, the sort of offensive creation we haven’t seen much from him this season. He forced a turnover and nearly another defensively. And that was all by halftime — when he had six points, two rebounds and a steal in nine notable minutes, finishing the half with a team-best plus-minus of plus-five, before picking up his second foul with 5:13 remaining before the break.
He had a quieter second half, with one loud sequence — a rebound, a two-had dunk on a dish from Jeremy Fears, and then a steal when he stopped Braden Smith in his tracks. Ward reminded everybody of the difference-maker he can be, even this season. Free throws, as we saw, are his only bugaboo. But he can’t let that keep him from being aggressive.
Ward’s freshman compatriot Jordan Scott had another difference-making day, too, though not as much shooting the ball — though his driving floater to answer a Purdue 3-pointer, giving MSU a 74-67 lead, was a bucket the Spartans absolutely needed then.
There were also several occasion where a Purdue shooter thought twice about letting it fly from deep as Scott closed out. On one particular Purdue possession, Fletcher Loyer drove instead into the teeth of MSU’s defense and missed the layup. Those are hidden points by Scott. He had three assists and couple other passes that became assists. He sees the game incredibly well. Other than Fears and Ward, he had the highest plus-minus on the team.
Scott and Ward, as a freshman tandem, will be a big part of whatever’s going to happen the rest of this season.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball wins at Purdue: 3 quick takes