Michigan State falls short at No. 2 Purdue, 80-74.

The Michigan State Spartans were able to hang tough with the No. 2-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Indiana on Saturday night, but Purdue hung on late to earn the win, 80-74, and thus secured at least a share of back-to-back Big Ten regular season titles.

Michigan State dropped its third conference game in a row and the Spartans are now just 9-9 in Big Ten play and 17-12 overall on the 2023-2024 season.

Tyson Walker led the Spartans in both scoring and rebounds with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jaden Akins scored 13 points, while Malik Hall poured in 12 points. Both players did most of their scoring in the second half.

Xavier Booker played a significant role, tying his career-high with 11 points in just 13 minutes. A.J. Hoggard scored eight points on just 3-for-13 shooting.

The Spartans lost the overall rebounding battle, 36-to-33, but held their own on the glass with 11 offensive rebounds compared to just eight for Purdue. This led to a 17-12 advantage in second-chance points for MSU.

Michigan State also won the turnover battle, nine for the Boilermakers to seven for the Spartans, and took 15 more shots from the field. The Spartans were ultimately undone by poor shooting (39%), while Purdue shot 51% from the field, including 10-for-20 from deep.

Purdue's Zach Edey scored a game-high 32 points, including 14-for-20 from the free-throw line. Also for the Boilermakers, Braden Smith (23 points) and Fletcher Loyer (15 points) combined for 8-for-10 shooting from 3-point range.

Despite the overall poor shooting, the Spartans hit four of their first seven shots, including 3-pointers from Hall and Tre Holoman to open the game. The Spartans led by as many as seven points after a trio of free throws from Walker a little over five minutes into the game.

The Spartans would then go cold over the next four minutes, allowing the Boilermakers cut the lead to just a single point with 10:52 remaining in the first half.

But Booker provided a quick spark off the bench with two-straight 3-pointers. Not to be outdone, Holloman also canned a triple to push the lead back to seven points at the under eight-minute timeout in the first half.

But the Spartans went cold again, missing 11 of the next 12 shots, which allowed Purdue to go on a 19-4 run.

Purdue led by as many as eight points in the first half, but Walker went on a personal 5-0 run, including the deep ball at the buzzer to cut the halftime deficit to just three points, 38-35.

Walker led the Spartans with 12 points at the break. Tre Holloman had eight points and Booker had six points. Hall only had five points at the break on just two shots from the field.

Hoggard and Akins combined for just two points on 1-for-10 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Akins played only seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

The Spartans got off to a poor start after halftime on defense, giving an easy layup and an open 3-pointer less than 40 seconds into the half. Michigan State also continued to miss shots, going just 2-for-9 to open the second stanza. Purdue led by as many as 15 points with 14:26 left to play.

But Akins gave the Spartans a jolt of energy after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt and then getting a three-point play in transition on the next possession to keep Michigan State within shouting distance.

The middle of the second half was also marred by fouls on both sides. Purdue was in the double bonus with 11:42 minutes left to play. But Edey picked up a third foul with 11:15 to play.

The Spartans were able to take advantage with a quick 7-0 run to cut the lead to just three points with just over nine minutes to play. But a 3-pointer from Purdue’s Smith pushed the lead back to six points.

The Spartans trailed by five points with less than 90 seconds to play, but another 3-pointer from Mason Gillis of Purdue at the end of the shot clock was the dagger the Boilermakers needed to secure the win and the Big Ten title.

The Spartans return the Breslin Center on Wednesday night for the final home game of the season against the Northwestern Wildcats before closing out the regular season next weekend at Indiana.

Michigan State likely needs to win at least two more games in the regular season and in the Big Ten Tournament combined to extend the current NCAA Tournament streak. The Spartans are likely to be favored in the next three games.

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