Michigan State basketball nearly pulls off incredible comeback vs. Purdue
Falling behind by 23 in the second half, Michigan State basketball nearly pulled off an incredible comeback, but fell just short at Purdue.
No one likes playing at Purdue. That was never more evident than on Sunday afternoon when the Boilermakers built a 23-point lead over Michigan State in the second half.
Michigan State was down 18 at halftime and that extended to a 55-32 deficit with about 13 minutes to go, but the Spartans clawed their way back and cut the Boilermakers’ lead to just four before ultimately losing 73-63.
Tired legs seemed to haunt the Spartans in their fourth game in nine games and third in the past six. Michigan State hadn’t lost a Big Ten contest until this outing and Purdue just had the Spartans’ number from start to finish. Those tired legs led to a 22 percent shooting output in the first half. They finished the game shooting just under 40 percent thanks to a strong second half.
You can’t truly be angry with this team after losing by 10 to the Boilermakers seeing as they started the year 18-2 and 9-0 in conference play and were coming off two straight games against ranked conference foes, one coming on the road against Iowa — they came back from eight down to beat the Hawkeyes by 15 in Iowa City.
Purdue looked like the better and more hungry team for about 30 minutes but Cassius Winston showed up in the second half to put together yet another big game. He had 23 points and eight assists and was one of the main reasons for the Spartans’ second-half comeback.
In the end, Ryan Cline’s hot shooting from just about everywhere on the floor, coupled with Matt Haarms spark off the bench and Nojel Eastern’s late free throw shooting were the difference.
Michigan State showed grit and toughness yet again and even though Tom Izzo will say that this loss is on him as well as the tired legs and unhealthy team, it had a lot to do with missed opportunities.
Next. MSU football: 5 reasons to be optimistic about 2019 season. dark
Indiana is next up, and you can bet a well-rested MSU team won’t go easy on the Hoosiers in East Lansing.