Michigan State University
Purdue
No. 5 Spartans Cruise Past Purdue, 72-55
2/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2001
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Purdue played Michigan State tough before the No. 5 Spartans went on one of their trademark runs.
Trailing 15-14, the defending national champions scored the next 22 points and went on to beat the Boilermakers 72-55 Sunday, extending the nation's longest home winning streak to 41 games.
Five players scored the first five baskets during the run, in which Purdue (13-7, 5-4 Big Ten) missed 10 consecutive shots. Andre Hutson scored 14 points, Zach Randolph had 12 and Marcus Taylor added 10 for the Spartans (18-2, 7-2).
"We've been a team that feeds off of spurts," Hutson said. "Luckily, we got a big one and that won us the game. We look forward to getting big runs and getting leads that we can sit or build on."
The Boilermakers held the lead a few times over the first 12 minutes and led by as much as five before the Spartans' run, which ended with about two minutes left in the half.
"Their defense and our poor shot selection in the first half caused problems," Purdue coach Gene Keady said.
Purdue's Willie Deane scored 20 points.
Michigan State led 38-17 at halftime. Purdue outscored the Spartans by four in the second half, but the first-half spurt was too much to overcome.
"This was pretty embarrassing," Purdue's John Allison said.
The Spartans outrebounded the Boilermakers 51-26, converted 20 offensive rebounds into 23 points, and held them to 28 percent shooting.
"I hope our kids watch the tape of the game and see how it is done," Keady said.
Michigan State may move up in the national rankings after losses by No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Kansas. The Blue Devils lost to No. 4 North Carolina, which was defeated by 13 points at Michigan State this season.
Michigan State Tom Izzo doesn't think his team should be No. 1 because he believes Stanford and Duke are still "head and shoulders" better than the rest of the country, despite the recent losses.
"I don't say that because I'm afraid to be No. 1," Izzo said. "I just don't think we're playing good enough to be the No. 1 team."
