WEST LAFAYETTE, IN − It had everything that a marquee matchup in primetime should.
Big shots. Thunderous dunks. Smothering defense. A whole lot of physicality. And the high-energy intensity that has defined the high-stakes rivalry between Purdue and Michigan State basketball.
In the end, the eighth-ranked Boilermakers got the ball to their star. Just like they should have.
In the end, reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith fired a 3-pointer as Coen Carr leaped and waved both arms in his face.
In the end, the ball banged off the backboard and rim, and Carr elevated to secure the rebound and a thrilling 76-74 victory for the 13th-ranked Spartans on Thursday, Feb. 26.
The win is Michigan State's first at Mackey Arena since Feb. 20, 2014, ending a streak of seven straight losses for the Spartans in West Lafayette.
Carson Cooper scored 15 points with six rebounds as seven MSU players each scored eight or more points. Kur Teng score eight of his 13 points in the second half and drilled three 3-pointers, while Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with 12 points and six assists.
Carr finished with 11 points, five rebounds and the defensive stop in a game filled with them. Smith scored 12 points with 10 assists but was just 4-for-10 shooting.
Oscar Cluff scored 10 first-half points but was scoreless in the second half. Jack Benter had 11 points off the bench as Purdue went 12-for-25 from 3-point range.
The Spartans, after struggling early in the game down low, outscored the Boilers in the paint, 40-32. Jaxon Kohler had eight points but on just 3-for-10 shooting, but MSU shot 52.7% from the field.
Big Ten postseason picture
The Spartans (23-5, 13-4 Big Ten) broke a tie with the Boilermakers in the race for the final triple-bye spot in the Big Ten. The win actually moved MSU into a three-way tie with Nebraska and Illinois for second place in the Big Ten, with the Illini facing Michigan on Friday night and the Cornhuskers taking on USC in LA on Saturday.
Impactful start
It looked early like another repeat slow start for MSU, particularly as Cluff dominated Jaxon Kohler inside during a 9-0 Purdue run after Cooper’s hook shot opened the game. Cluff had eight of the Boilermakers’ first 13 points in less than five minutes of game time.
Slowly, though, the Spartans steadied their scoring and stabilized their defense. It was sparked by a four-point play by Fears, who drilled a deep 3-pointer at the top of the key while getting run over by Purdue sophomore Gicarri Harris. That sparked an 8-0 MSU answer, in which Cooper and Ward asserted themselves on the block. Ward’s putback dunk off a blocked Kur Teng shot made it 16-13 and set the tone for the rim-rocking to come.
As the two teams traded big deep shots, Carr delivered an emphatic two-handed dunk through Purdue’s Daniel Jacobsen off a drive-and-dish from Fears. Jacobsen answered at the other end by finishing a flush through a foul. Then back the other way, Cooper posted up Jacobsen and spun around him for a tomahawk jam through a foul and finished the three-point play.
With Ward joining Cooper and Kohler in holding Cluff to just one more field goal over the final 16 minutes and 10 points for the half. Purdue went into the break leading 39-36, with both teams shooting the lights out. Seven of the eight MSU players who saw first-half action scored, with Cooper and Carr each scoring seven and Ward six as the Spartans shot 48.3% after the slow start. However, Purdue was 6-of-11 from 3-point range and shot a blistering 53.6%.
Back-and-forth
The second half provided some more surprising heros.
MSU opened the second half with a 10-4 scoring edge in the paint and a 6-0 fastbreak advantage in the first 5:23 of the second half. Cooper continued to make his presence felt at both ends of the floor, confounding Cluff and hitting short jumpers over the Purdue post player.
Purdue took advantage of a Teng-Denham Wojcik combo out of a media timeout and scored five straight points to reclaim the lead. But MSU countered with an 11-4 burst that stunned the boisterous Mackey backers.
Fears checked back in on a pair of free throws from Teng, who then drained a 3-pointer off an extra swing pass from Kohler. After a pair of Cooper free throws, the senior captain kicked a pass out to Teng for another 3. Then at the other end, Teng plucked a steal and flipped it to Carr for a windmill breakaway dunk. The lead was 64-59 with 8:25 remaining.
The Boilermakers wouldn’t go away, though they went more than four minutes without a field goal and got within two on a pair of Smith free throws. But MSU took advantage of that shooting drought, with Fears driving and dishing to Ward for a dunk, Scott hitting a pair of free throws, then Fears knifing through the paint and finishing with a layup. Purdue coach Matt Painter called timeout with 4:05 remaining and MSU’s lead swelled to eight, 72-64.
It worked. The Boilers answered with an 8-2 burst, with five straight points from Smith on a 3-pointer and a driving layup. Izzo called timeout with 2:09 to play, lighting into his team’s defensive lapses.
Kohler hit a one-handed post-up out of the timeout. Then after a driving bucket by Benter, Kohler missed two 3-point attempts on the same possession. Benter clanged one at the other end, and Teng elevated for a critical defensive rebound and MSU called another timeout with 46.9 to go.
A shot clock violation ensued after offensive discombobulation and Carr’s desperation attempt in traffic smacking off the backboard. Painter called timeout with 25.1 seconds to play.
The ball found its way in to Kaufman-Renn. Cooper elevated with him and forced the miss. Ward rebounded and was fouled, then missed the front end of the one-and-one with 8.2 seconds left. Purdue pushed it and called timeout again just over midcourt, with 3.4 seconds left, setting up the final shot by Smith.
MSU committed just six turnovers. Though the Spartans forced the Boilers into just nine turnovers, they turned those into 19 points.
Next up for MSU basketball
MSU planned to return to East Lansing after the game but will turn right back around for Indiana in Bloomington on Sunday (3:45 p.m.,CBS). It is the first repeat play of the season for the Spartans, who defeated the Hoosiers, 81-60, on Jan. 13 at Breslin Center. MSU already has played all three of its final scheduled opponents, hosting Rutgers on Tuesday and wrapping up the regular season at U-M on March 8.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball gets it done in paint in upset of Purdue