WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Cassius Winston rose up, hit a 3-pointer and got fouled.
That four-point play appeared innocuous, a footnote in what looked like a blowout first Big Ten loss for No. 6 Michigan State basketball.
But that basket by Winston, who got caught flat-footed on defense in the first half, shook the Spartans out of a funk.
All of a sudden, MSU looked more like the team that rallied at Iowa than the one that appeared lackadaisical and entirely out of sorts in Sunday’s first half. A 23-point Purdue lead all but evaporated to 4.