Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from tough loss at Purdue

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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 27: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans and Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers battle for the loose ball at Mackey Arena on January 27, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

1. There’s no quit in this team

Down by 23 with about 15 minutes left in the game, the Spartans looked like they were just going to fold and head home with their tails between their legs. Nothing was falling and Nick Ward was essentially a non-factor. Cassius Winston was playing well, but not having his best game on the road.

On the other end, Purdue was hitting just about every three it was given. The barrage of deep makes gave the Spartans all they could handle and that was a reason for the hefty deficit and inevitable road loss in West Lafayette.

Then something happened.

Who knows what clicked with this team, but an “overrated” chant for Winston (silly, I know) seemed to spark the junior point guard and the team fed off his energy. Michigan State cut the 23-point deficit to just four with a few minutes to play before Matt McQuaid was whistled for an iffy foul on Carsen Edwards as he was shooting a three. That was where the comeback ended.

Michigan State tried the hack-an-Eastern strategy on Nojel Eastern, but the 50 percent free throw shooting made six straight down the stretch to put the game away.

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Still, this team could have just packed up and went home with a blowout loss, but that’s not how these Spartans roll. There is no quit in this team and even though it was playing its fourth game in nine days, Michigan State fought back and got a second wind, nearly completing an epic comeback on the road.

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