Michigan State Basketball: Grading The Spartans Victory Over Purdue

The Michigan State basketball team probably locked up their invitation to the NCAA Tournament with a hard-fought victory over Purdue.

Offense, B-

Early on it looked as if though Michigan State would be lucky to get to 40 points. They had 10 points through almost the first 10 minutes of play. They were missing open shots, stagnant in the half court struggling to get looks, and could not get out in transition (save the first six points of the game, TRICE DUNK SIGHTINGS!!).

Denzel Valentine was a ghost for most of the first half with MSU going down by nine points at various spots. Then, at the end of the half he brought them to life. Hitting two threes and finally inserting himself into the game he gave the Spartans life that they so desperately needed, closing the gap and bringing them to within 3 going into the half.

Coming out of the half Valentine hit his first two shots giving MSU the lead and they never looked back. From there Trice took over, hitting big three’s, driving the lane to create and closing the game out (sort of, we will get to this later).

Per the narrative of the season the Spartans offense took off when they were able to get out and run and score early in the shot clock, as well as when the three’s started to fall, opening up space for everyone to maneuver. Again, it did not start out pretty but they never gave up and put up 72 hard fought points.

Defense, A

This A is a credit to the big men. They were put in an already difficult spot having to go against two quality 7-foot big men, and then Branden Dawson got hurt and it seemed like everyone over 6’6 was in foul trouble.

Matt Costello had is best game of the year last night, a quick side note of him bringing the house down with a reverse dunk and foul was an added bonus. Costello came up huge on the defensive end, and gave Purdue’s big men problems all night, blocking shots and not giving up any ground.

Mar 4, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Matt Costello (10) is defended by Purdue Boilermakers center

Isaac Haas

(44) during the 1st half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Some timely three point shooting kept Purdue in this game but overall Michigan State kept the Boilermakers in check, especially in the 2^nd half. They were able to break the game open by getting critical tough stops in the half court allowing their offense to break out and run. This is how they are going to have to win, playing tough defense which allows the offense to get out and go.

Bench, A+

I don’t think enough can be said about how well the bench played against Purdue. I will be the first to admit that when Dawson went down and it appeared he was not going to come back I felt MSU had no shot. I was not sure how the Spartans would make up for his rebounding, athleticism, and usual destruction he puts on Purdue.

It was a collective effort, Colby Wollenman provided enormous quality minutes (it is so fantastic to root for him), Marvin Clark came in and knocked down clutch three’s and although there were some defensive lapses overall he played well.

And of course as we spoke before Costello had his best game of the year. He was able to hit a mid-range jumper, knock down foul shots, provide an earth shattering dunk, and it cannot be stated enough how great his defense was last night. Trice and Valentine will be the headlines for this win but it goes every bit as much to the bench and how they were able to fight the entire night.

Foul Shots, F

I am not sure this needs to really be given much detail. It is what it is with this team at this point in the season, however it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to watch.

The game at the end should have never been as close as what it was, but continuous times of going 1 for 2 or missing the front end of one and ones and leaving points in the board allowed Purdue to hang around (MSU went 17-29 from the stripe). I hope when the season finally ends it isn’t because of poor foul shooting but it will always be a worry in the back of every Spartan fan’s mind.

Coaching, A

I don’t know how he did it, I am still in awe. Purdue is a tournament team, and MSU lost their best player, their 2^nd best player for several minutes, and had massive foul issues with their big men. But Coach Izzo made the substitutions at the right time, put a fire under his guys and never gave in. It’s that time of the year and as I said in a previous article I should never be surprised.

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