Do you remember what your life was like in February 2014? It probably looked a lot different than it does now (I personally went from college sophomore to husband and father of two), and that was the last time MSU won at Mackey Stadium. Until Thursday night…
Michigan State showed resilience and impressively defeated top-10 Purdue by a final score of 76-74 on Thursday night. The Spartans nearly lost the lead in the final seconds, but came up short on Purdue All-American Brayden Smith’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
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The first half of the game between the two ranked teams was filled with excitement and back-and-forth. The Spartans found themselves in trouble early, trailing by seven points in the first four minutes. But Michigan State went on a 10-0 run to get back into the game. Neither team led by more than five points after that, with Purdue leading 39-36 into halftime.
The second half was similar to the first, with some back-and-forth between two talented teams, but MSU built an eight-point lead late in the game. Purdue rallied, though, and luckily, their final shot fell short as the final buzzer sounded.
Several Michigan State players performed well, including Carson Cooper who scored 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Kurt Teng (13 points off the bench), Jeremy Fiers Jr. (12 points) and Keon Carr (11 points) were the other three Spartans to score in double figures in the win.
The win over Purdue at Mackey Arena was the Spartans’ first win since February 2014, ending a seven-game losing streak to the Boilermakers. With the win, MSU improves to 23-5 overall and 13-4 in Big Ten play. The win also leaves Michigan State with a slim chance of winning the Big Ten title.
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The Spartans travel to Indiana this weekend for another monster road game. Departure from Bloomington, Indiana is expected on Sunday at 3:45 PM ET.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State basketball beats Purdue, snaps McGee’s 12-year losing streak
