No. 3 Purdue hangs on to beat Michigan State 67-62 in Big Ten quarterfinals
AP
Mar 15, 2024
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Zach Edey had 29 points and 12 rebounds for third-ranked Purdue Boilermakers, and the Boilermakers recovered from a blown 12-point lead to beat Michigan State 67-62 in a hard-nosed quarterfinal game in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.
Lance Jones had 10 points and three steals with just one turnover for the Boilermakers (29-3), who advanced to play Wisconsin in the semifinals on Saturday despite matching their season-low score and being outrebounded (37-36) for only the second time all season.
“As long as we keep guarding and taking care of the basketball, we’re going to give ourselves a chance,” head coach Matt Painter said.
Tyson Walker had 15 points, Malik Hall pitched in 12 points and Tre Holloman scored 10 points for the Spartans (19-14), who had an 18-0 edge in fast-break points and tied the game late before falling short in head coach Tom Izzo's 1,000th game on the bench.
“Guarding Edey is a load. We tried it a number of different ways. We tried doubling. We tried digging. We tried regular head up,” Izzo said. “Matt does such a great job of getting them the ball in different spots.”
Walker, the fifth-year guard, stepped up down the stretch to lead the surge. He knocked down a mid-range jumper for the tie with 1:41 left, the closest the Spartans came since a 3-2 lead, but Fletcher Loyer answered with a 3-pointer on the other end for Purdue.
Xavier Booker had a clear look at the top of the key from 3 with 1:05 remaining to tie it back up, but the ball rolled around the inside of the rim and bounced out.
The Boilermakers had a scare midway through the second half when first team All-Big Ten point guard Braden Smith hobbled off the court with an injury to his right calf muscle. But Smith was able to re-enter about four minutes later with Purdue leading by five, and Jones deftly handled the ball in his absence.
The Boilermakers are two wins away from matching Michigan State (1999, 2000) as the only Big Ten program to win both the outright regular season title and the conference tournament in consecutive years. The Spartans used that feat 24 years ago as a launching pad for the national championship, which still stands as the last time a Big Ten team won it all.
One step at a time for Purdue, of course, with that crushing loss to 16th-seeded Farleigh Dickinson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament still unanswered until the Big Dance begins anew. The Spartans, despite five losses in their last seven games, should be on the safe side of the bubble.
This matchup of the Big Ten's two most successful programs over the last three decades predictably resembled a football game at times, with the Spartans sending Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler and Mady Sissoko into the post to try to somehow disrupt the rhythm of the reigning AP Player of the Year, and though they were successful at times the 7-foot-4 Edey got plenty of soft hooks to fall.
He stared down and pressed his forearm on Holloman at one point, after the Minneapolis native fouled Loyer and was too close to Edey's liking. Both players picked up a technical foul for that exchange.
Cooper got whacked in the nose by the downswing of Cam Heide's arm on his drive to the hoop late in the first half, forcing the 6-foot-11 Cooper to play with gauze in his nose.
“Every game we’ve ever played Michigan State, it’s been a physical, tough game,” sixth man Mason Gillis said. “You’ve got to just be there for it.”
There were 46 fouls called in the game - 29 on the Spartans. Sissoko fouled out in 10 minutes, with seven rebounds.
“The bigs played as well as they could play, battled down there,” Walker said.
---
Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here.
---
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2025 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
1st Half
MIST
Spartans
27
PUR
Boilermakers
34
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Carson Cooper vs. Zach Edey (Braden Smith gains possession)
19:39
Braden Smith misses two point layup
19:37
Zach Edey offensive rebound
19:34
+2
Zach Edey makes two point putback dunk
0-2
19:29
+3
Tyson Walker makes three point jump shot (A.J. Hoggard assists)
3-2
19:02
+2
Fletcher Loyer makes two point pullup jump shot (Braden Smith assists)
3-4
18:29
Tyson Walker misses two point jump shot
18:27
Zach Edey defensive rebound
18:18
A.J. Hoggard shooting foul (Lance Jones draws the foul)
18:18
+1
Lance Jones makes regular free throw 1 of 2
3-5
18:18
+1
Lance Jones makes regular free throw 2 of 2
3-6
17:59
Jaden Akins misses two point jump shot
17:57
Trey Kaufman-Renn defensive rebound
17:41
+2
Zach Edey makes two point hook shot (Braden Smith assists)
3-8
17:24
Zach Edey blocks Jaden Akins's two point layup
17:22
Zach Edey defensive rebound
17:18
Fletcher Loyer turnover (lost ball)
16:59
+2
Malik Hall makes two point driving reverse layup (A.J. Hoggard assists)
5-8
16:38
Malik Hall shooting foul (Zach Edey draws the foul)
16:38
+1
Zach Edey makes regular free throw 1 of 2
5-9
16:38
+1
Zach Edey makes regular free throw 2 of 2
5-10
16:13
A.J. Hoggard misses three point jump shot
16:11
Braden Smith defensive rebound
15:58
Trey Kaufman-Renn misses two point turnaround jump shot
15:56
Jaden Akins defensive rebound
15:51
Jaden Akins misses three point jump shot
15:49
Braden Smith defensive rebound
15:42
Braden Smith offensive foul (Tyson Walker draws the foul)
15:42
Braden Smith turnover (offensive foul)
15:42
TV timeout
15:22
+2
Tyson Walker makes two point pullup jump shot
7-10
15:08
Jaxon Kohler personal foul (Zach Edey draws the foul)
14:59
+2
Zach Edey makes two point hook shot (Braden Smith assists)
7-12
14:59
Tyson Walker shooting foul (Zach Edey draws the foul)
14:59
+1
Zach Edey makes regular free throw 1 of 1
7-13
14:29
Tyson Walker misses two point jump shot
14:27
Zach Edey defensive rebound
14:12
Zach Edey misses two point hook shot
14:10
Jaxon Kohler defensive rebound
13:53
Jaden Akins misses two point jump shot
13:51
Camden Heide defensive rebound
13:40
Camden Heide misses three point jump shot
13:38
Tyson Walker defensive rebound
13:26
Braden Smith personal foul (Tyson Walker draws the foul)
13:21
Tyson Walker misses two point jump shot
13:19
Jaxon Kohler offensive rebound
13:11
+2
Jaxon Kohler makes two point layup
9-13
12:57
Jaxon Kohler blocks Fletcher Loyer's two point layup
12:55
Lance Jones offensive rebound
12:52
Jaxon Kohler personal foul (Zach Edey draws the foul)