Everyone knew it was bound to happen. The first loss of the Big Ten regular season was going to come sooner or later, but no one expected Purdue to handle Michigan State for 30-plus minutes the way it did on Sunday afternoon.
Michigan State played lazy through the first half and settled for shots that it normally wouldn’t all while failing to get the ball into the post and defend the 3-point line.
The Spartans nearly pulled off an incredible comeback, going from down 23 to just trailing by four with a few minutes left. In the end, Purdue earned the win while the Spartans were handed their first loss since November and first Big Ten regular season defeat since the middle of last year.