Michigan State Falls on the Road to Purdue

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team fell behind early and was able to pull within 11 points in the second half, but could get no closer in a 71-42 loss to Purdue on Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena.

Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 10 points and had five assists to lead the Spartans, while freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) added 10 points. Junior forward Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Records
Michigan State had an eight-game win streak come to an end and falls to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten, while Purdue improves to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the league.

Summary

Trailing by 17 points at the break (37-20), MSU pulled to within 11 points, 47-36, after a jumper from Watts with 9:59 to play, but Purdue responded with nine-straight points to push the lead to 56-36 with 7:20 left.
The Spartans got no closer than 18 points the rest of the way.
MSU went into the half trailing 37-20 after shooting just 34.6 percent from the floor and missing all nine attempts from 3-point land.
Purdue jumped out on top from the start and forced MSU to call a timeout after a 3-pointer from Evan Boudreaux gave the Boilermakers a 19-4 lead at the 12:33 mark.

Key Stats

Michigan State shot just 35.3 percent from the floor (18-of-51) and 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from 3-point land.
The Spartans turned the ball over a season-high 18 times, with Purdue scoring 21 points off turnovers.
Michigan State scored just four points on the fast break.
Purdue had a 35-32 advantage on the boards, including 13 offensive rebounds.

Notes

MSU scored less than 50 points for the first time since scoring 48 against Kentucky on Nov. 16, 2016.
The team's 42 points were the fewest since a Jan. 31, 2012 loss at Illinois (42-41).
The 29-point loss was the widest margin of defeat since losing by 29 to Michigan (86-57) on Feb. 7, 2017.
The Spartans shot a season-low from the floor (35.3 percent) and a season-low from 3-point land (12.5 percent).
MSU was out-rebounded for just the third time this season.
MSU's four points off the fast break were tied for a season-low (Duke).
Senior guard Cassius Winston scored 10 points, his 14th game in double figures this year and the 84th of his career, giving him 1,712 for his career.
He needs seven points to pass Mike Robinson (1,717 points, 1971-74) and Paul Davis (1,718 points, 2002-06) for 10th and ninth place all-time, respectively, at MSU.
Winston also handed out five assists, giving him 813 for his career. He needs four to pass Mateen Cleaves (1996-2000) for the all-time lead at Michigan State.
Freshman guard Rocket Watts scored 10 points, his third game this season in double figures.

Up Next
Michigan State is off until Friday, Jan. 17, when the Spartans return home to host Wisconsin at the Breslin Center. Tipoff on FS1 is slated for 7 p.m.

Next Event

Team Stats

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Aaron Henry

Players Mentioned

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

Players Mentioned

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston