Tom Izzo’s team is playing some really good basketball this season. After going 30-7 a season ago, winning the Big Ten by an astounding three games, and making the Elite Eight, Michigan State basketball is off to a 17-2 start, piecing together a 7-1 record in conference play thus far.
There are only 12 conference games to go, and the league champion will likely have three or fewer losses, considering what the top of the Big Ten currently looks like.
Michigan State is going to need some help, especially since there are still two undefeated teams.
Well, there were still two undefeated teams in Big Ten play before Tuesday night as Nebraska and Purdue were leading the conference standings. One of those two teams were in action on Tuesday, and Nebraska will face Washington on Wednesday, likely set to improve to 8-0 in the Big Ten.
Purdue, on the other hand, fell short on Tuesday night, suffering its first conference loss of the season, and it was at the hands of a former Spartan.
Xavier Booker helped lead UCLA past Purdue
Xavier Booker was one of the heroes in UCLA’s upset win over No. 4 Purdue in Los Angeles, putting up nine points, four rebounds, and three blocks in 35 minutes. He did everything that was asked of him, and really held his own against the Purdue bigs.
Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff combined for just 16 points and 11 rebounds when they usually average around 25 points and 17 boards per game, combined.
Booker played well against Purdue as a freshman when he was at Michigan State, but he struggled most of the rest of his time in East Lansing before transferring to UCLA. He decided to have another career game against the Boilermakers, and it ended up helping the Spartans move up the standings.
This is unironically the best game of Xavier Booker’s career
— Greg Waddell (@gwizzy12) January 21, 2026
Michigan State is now in a three-way tie for second place with Illinois a win away from making it a four-way tie. The Spartans will have a chance to move up again on Jan. 30 against Michigan in East Lansing. They won’t face Purdue until Feb. 26 in West Lafayette (a true house of horrors for Michigan State) and they’ll welcome Booker back to East Lansing on Feb. 17. He could help Michigan State move up again before then as his Bruins will face Michigan three days prior.
This may have been the best thing Booker has done for Michigan State.