#6 MSU Loses First Conference Game 73-63 At Purdue

Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN The #6 Michigan State Spartanshave finally lost in Big Ten play this season. The Spartans saw their record on the year fall

Mackey Arena

West Lafayette, IN

The #6 Michigan State Spartanshave finally lost in Big Ten play this season. The Spartans saw their record on the year fall to 18-3 (9-1) with a 73-63 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.

It could have been the first 10-0 start in Big Ten Conference play ever for the Spartans, but it was not to be. The loss also snapped the Spartans 21 straight Big Ten regular season conference win streak. The current school record.

Joshua Langford remained out for his 8th straight game missed. Spartan Nation broke the story last Tuesday that Langford was shooting and playing one-on-one in practice this week, but he remained in the boot for tonight’s game.

The Spartans were led by Cassius Winston who had 23 points and seven rebounds and eight assists. Matt McQuaid was the only other Spartan in double digits. He actually had a double-double with 12 points and six rebounds.

Tom Izzo said, “My freshmen needed diapers today. It was one of those days that I knew they were going to get indoctrinated. I thought early in the game and at halftime that we were just disappointed in our bigs. We didn’t think that they did their job. They were supposed to be stepping up on screens.”

15:48 of the second half the crowd here at Mackey arose in unity to chant at the Spartans, “Overrated.” That spurred the Spartans to a major rally that saw the Boilermakers lead fall to four, but on this day, the fans ended up correct.

The Boilermakers stars, for the most part, we kept in check. Where they won the game was points off the bench. The Boilers had an astronomical 26-9 advantage over the Spartans. Izzo referenced it.

He said, “The job that Cassius (Winston) and (Matt) McQuaid did, considering that we didn’t get a lot of help from our inside defensively, their stars didn’t beat us, their bench did, and that is a great tribute to Purdue.”

Purdue Coach Matt Painter was said after the game, “Any time you have a team that has been the staple of your league and has had the success that they have had, you are not going to beat them your way. You’ve got to beat them at their game. You’ve got to be tougher than them. The place that they separate themselves is how smart they are. That probably starts with (Cassius) Winston, he is just such a good player and has such a great pulse on the game.”

The Spartans shot 39% from the field including 35% from the three. The Spartans shot a lackluster 67% from the free throw line and had 12 assists on 22 baskets.

The Spartans lost the battle of the boards 42-33. Disappointingly, the Spartans had 12 turnovers.

Izzo played nine players including four of his five freshmen. Aaron Henry remained in the starting lineup and had a disappointing four points and four rebounds in thirty minutes.

Painter added, “You have to be able to rebound against them and I feel like we had some pretty good effort. Today I thought we did a better job in those areas. (Michigan State) They are the champs. They are the Big Ten champs until somebody proves otherwise and they have a chance to do it again.”

Kyle Ahrens went down when he reinjured his back in the last game. He did not play today.

The Spartans return to Big Ten action against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday at 6:00 PM at the Breslin Center. The game is on ESPN.

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