Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from win over No. 3 Purdue

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 10: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket late in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Breslin Center on February 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

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EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 10: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball while defended by P.J. Thompson #11 of the Purdue Boilermakers at Breslin Center on February 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

2. With limited turnovers, MSU is nearly unbeatable

In the first half, Michigan State had five turnovers and Purdue didn’t have any which was essentially the difference in the game at that point — the Spartans allowed seven points off turnovers.

Down by five at the half, Michigan State knew it had to play a clean second half, especially since Purdue wasn’t going to beat itself. The Spartans finished with just one turnover in the final 20 minutes as opposed to the Boilermakers’ three.

In that second half, the Spartans out-scored the Boilermakers 37-29 en route to a 3-point win and they also shot 48 percent from the floor in each half. The ball movement was more evident in the second half, but so was the high-IQ play. Cassius Winston really took control of the offense and played smart.

Tum Tum Nairn only played four minutes and Winston played 36, so the sophomore point guard deserves a ton of credit for the second-half turnaround. He finished with 10 assists and the turnovers were not an issue in the second half and that’s when the Spartans fought back and took the lead for good.

Without 15-20 turnovers per game, Michigan State is nearly unbeatable.

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