V-Cast: Michigan State falls short against Purdue without Hall, where do they go from here?
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State lost its second straight winnable game in Big Ten play, dropping a 64-63 matinee game against Purdue. This loss comes home just days after the Spartans lost a winnable road game at Illinois.
Michigan State started slowly in this game, before rallying from a double-digit first-half deficit to pull within two points of Purdue at halftime. Michigan State pulled ahead of Purdue in the second half and battled back-and-forth until the end.
Massive Purdue center Zach Edey buried a jump hook with two seconds left to win it. The Boilermakers improved to 17-1 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten play. Michigan State fell to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten play.
Despite the loss, this was one of the grittiest performances of the year for the Spartans. Several players stepped up and made plays on both ends of the floor. Michigan State guard Tyson Walker nearly delivered a victory over Purdue with 30 points. Walker hit several high-pressure shots, several late in the shot clock, and most of them contested.
As well as Michigan State’s guards played, the Spartans needed more from sophomore wing Pierre Brooks. Brooks struggled in this game. Michigan State needs Brooks to help offset the loss of Malik Hall.
After the game, SpartanMag.com staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk checked in from the Breslin Center floor for a post-game V-Cast.
During his post-game press conference, head coach Tom Izzo praised his team for their effort. He also challenged his Spartans to play a complete game.
Izzo praised for Purdue for its gameplan against the Spartans and its execution of that plan. He also praised the second-half performance of freshman Fletcher Loyer, who scored 15 points in the second half against his older brother Foster’s former team.
After two tough losses in back-to-back games in which Michigan State played well enough to win, the Spartans must now regroup to face a Rutgers team that is as physical as any team in the Big Ten. Rutgers is the only team to have beaten Purdue this season. Rutgers may also be the only team that is more physical than the Boilermakers in the Big Ten.
