Spartans Come To Indianapolis and Conquer the Big Ten with a 66-62 Win Over Purdue!

Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN MSU continues their mantra of win nine this off season and with three down and six to go they collected win three

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Indianapolis, IN

MSU continues their mantra of win nine this off season and with three down and six to go they collected win three here in Indianapolis with a 66-62 battle royal over Purdue, garnering the Big Ten Tournament crown. MSU improved to 29-5 on the season and found out afterward that they were the #2 seed in the Midwest.

This game was a battle of two heavyweights. Early the MSU speed helped them push the ball to a 10 point lead at the half, but the Spartans simply ran out of gas in the second. Playing their third game in three days the Spartans slowed while Purdue surged, but the Spartans held them at bay. The Spartans shot 89% from the charity stripe.

Denzel Valentine had 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. No other Spartan even made it into the double digit scoring column. Bryn Forbes had nine points and fellow senior Matt Costello added eight.

MSU had 15 assists on 25 baskets and won the battle of the board 41-31. The Spartans also had 10 turnovers while Purdue eliminated their mental mistakes and only had five. Izzo played 12 players and that depth helped them against a tired Purdue team that simply didn’t have the number of players to ward of fatigue to the level that the Spartans did in the waning minutes.

Purdue head coach Matt Painter said of the contest, “So they're a really good team. They're tough. They rebound the basketball. They have good leadership. They have good guards. And we would like to be able to face them again. You get in those possession games, we won the first one, they won the second one”

An almost relieved Tom Izzo stepped to the post game platform and said, “Well, you know what? For us, this was the battle cry of the seniors and since last April, really, since we lost to ?? in this great city. And I think they worked for it. They deserved it. They earned it. They got it the old?fashioned way, and that's what I love about them. So we still had some times when we struggled a little bit, making a few plays. But we got better than we did the night before and we're going to get better from here on out. I think we'll take some steps forward when we get home and get a little time to relook at those last ten minutes of games. We'll get better. But they all came through. We utilized a lot of guys. It was the ultimate team win.”

With his four blocked shots vs. Purdue, Matt Costello became the all-time leader of Spartan basketball with 145 career rejections. But that wasn’t the only record. With eight made three point baskets today, this team has set a school single-season record for made three pointers with 310.

The Spartans now find themselves headed to St. Louis for their first round tilt with Middle Tennessee. If the Spartans move past them you can look for a matchup with Dayton or Syracuse. That draw is very good for the Spartan who would then head to the regional in Chicago. MSU would have to face almost certainly a #1 seed in Virginia if they get past probably a matchup with Purdue. No matter who MSU plays they should get a deadly Utah team the first day in Chicago if they make it that far.

The head shaker was MSU not getting a number one seed. MSU beat Kansas head to head on a neutral court earlier this season, and Virginia who didn’t win their conference regulars season crown or their tournament both got ones ahead of MSU. That makes no sense. Izzo simply said, “It doesn’t matter.”

Matt Costello echoed his coach’s sentiments, “But as far as a one seed, man, it is what it is. That was out of our control. We took care of what we could take care of, and we know we got some goals ahead of us. So let's enjoy this win for a little bit, but we got some work to do.”

Forbes wasn’t worked up either simply saying, “I think we're just going to take it a step at a time. I think we're going to celebrate this one. And after that, it's one step at a time, one game at a time. I don't think we're really overly worried about that.”

Valentine perhaps really showed the mindset of this team. He knows that they want a national title and that means you have to beat everyone anyways. He just doesn’t care that they were disrespected. “We can control what we can control. We've got a tournament championship. And it's up to the committee on who they seed so we have no control over that. We're just going to come out and play Michigan State basketball in the tournament.”

The Spartans will return to action next Friday in the NCAA Tournament from St. Louis, MO. They will be facing Middle Tennessee. That game tips off at 2:45 PM and you can see it on CBS.