Spartans Move On With Fifth Straight Win Over Purdue

March 14, 2003

By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO - Alan Anderson and Erazem Lorbek scored 10 points each Friday and Michigan State's defense did the rest as the Spartans beat Purdue 54-42 in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

The Spartans (19-11), with five straight wins, face Ohio State in Saturday's semifinals after the Buckeyes beat top-seeded Wisconsin 58-50 in Friday's first game.

Michigan State held Purdue to its lowest scoring output of the season, including just 12 points in the first half - the Boilermakers' worst scoring half since 1982.

Willie Deane led Purdue (18-10), which still figures to get an NCAA tournament bid, with 16 points. But like the rest of his teammates, Deane shot poorly, hitting just 5-of-17.

Michigan State, which played one of the country's most challenging schedules, hopes it enhanced its NCAA seeding with the victory.

The Boilermakers' first half was mostly a nightmare.

Purdue made just 4-of-20 first-half field goal attempts, went more than seven minutes midway through the first half without a point and then managed just one free throw over the final 6:27.

Michigan State, which also shot poorly (32 percent), scored the final 10 points for a 24-12 halftime lead, a stretch that saw Purdue coach Gene Keady boil over and get a technical foul.

Keady might have been complaining about the officiating, but his team's offense was the worst thing on the floor at the United Center. The Boilermakers had 16 first-half turnovers.

Purdue's 12 first-half points were its fewest in one half since scoring 13 against Minnesota on Feb. 4, 1982. The Boilermakers' lowest scoring output ever came in 1909 when they managed six points in an entire game while losing to Wisconsin.

Their previous low for a game this season was 44 against Ohio State.

Purdue tried to regroup at the half and scored more points in the first five minutes and 20 seconds of the second half (15) than it did in the first 20 minutes.

Chris Booker's basket trimmed Michigan State's lead to three, but when Maurice Ager hit a deep, high-arching 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired, the Spartans took off.

Chris Hill followed with a 3-pointer and a jumper, Anderson drove for a basket and Lorbek sank a pair of jumpers in a 14-2 run that gave the Spartans a 48-33 lead with just over six minutes to play.

Purdue finished the game 13-of-50 from the field.