Big Ten Basketball: Purdue overcomes career night from Miles Bridges

The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 84-73 on Tuesday night in East Lansing for their third Big Ten basketball win.

Caleb Swanigan produced his nation-leading 17th double-double of the season as the 20th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers overcame Myles Bridges and the Michigan State Spartans, 84-73, in East Lansing on Tuesday night. Swanigan scored 25  points, on 8-of-13 shooting, and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead six Boilermakers in double-figures.

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Swanigan scored 25 points, on 8-of-13 shooting, and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead six Boilermakers in double-figures.

Purdue (17-4, 6-2 Big Ten) won its third straight game to remain a half game behind conference leaders Maryland and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers are off to their best start in conference play since 2011-12.

Bridges did his best to keep Michigan State (12-9, 4-4) in the game by pouring in 33 points, breaking the school’s freshman single-game scoring record previously held by Scott Skiles.

But the inside duo of Swanigan and Isaac Haas proved to be too much for the undersized Spartans. Haas tallied 11 points, on just four shots, as he was 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Swanigan, Haas and fellow frontcourt mate Vincent Edwards combined to go 17-of-18 from the charity stripe as Michigan State was called for 22 fouls.

Eron Harris got the Spartans, who led for most of the first 20 minutes of the game, off to a quick start with a three-pointer on the opening possession. Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half, tied the game at 15-15 on a fastbreak layup with a tad less than 12:30 remaining.

Following a three-pointer by the Boilermakers’ Ryan Cline to tie the game for a third time, Michigan State went on a 12-4 spurt to take a 37-29 lead. Purdue answered right back with a 10-0 run, grabbing their first lead of the game. However, Bridges converted a coast-to-coast layup right before the halftime buzzer to knot things up at 39.

The game went back-and-forth in the early going of the second half. Bridges, who scored 22 of his team’s first 49 points, knocked down a three-pointer to give the Spartans a 49-48 lead with 15:21 to go. That’s when Swanigan took over.

That’s when Swanigan took over.

Swanigan tallied eight of his 15 second-half points over a three-minute stretch that helped the Boilermakers take control of the game.

Then Dakota Mathias and P.J.Thompson sank back-to-back triples to give Purdue its first double-digit lead (75-65). Mathias, Thompson and Vince Edwards had 10 points apiece.

Purdue appears to have a team that will remain in contention for a Big Ten championship throughout the year. The Boilermakers share the ball, 21 assists on 26 field goals, and rebound the ball exceptionally well. Swanigan and Haas are among the best inside duos in the conference. Plus, they are one of the top three-point shooting teams in the Big Ten.

Purdue travels to Nebraska (9-10, 3-4) on Sunday. The Boilermakers then host Northwestern (Jan. 2) before embarking on a two-game road trip — Maryland and  Indiana.

Michigan State has lost three straight and four of five. The Spartans need to turn things around quickly to have a chance at a 20th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. It won’t be easy as they face in-state rival Michigan twice in their next three games.

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Michigan State travels to Nebraska in-between the games with the Wolverines. The Spartans desperately need someone to step up as their fourth scorer. Bridges, Harris and Nick Ward are quality scorers.