Purdue vs. Michigan State: Game Preview, TV Schedule, Prediction

The Purdue Boilermakers snapped their 19-game winning streak on Wednesday, lost their first place standing and are now playing Michigan State for second place in the Big Ten.

TV Schedule: Saturday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN

Arena: Breslin Events Center, East Lansing, Michigan

Purdue lost for the first time at home to the Ohio State Buckeyes earlier this week. With that loss, both teams are tied for first in the Big Ten, but Ohio State holds a lead based on the head-to-head. They now go on the road after a loss for the first time this season.

The Michigan State Spartans on the other hand are on a nice seven-game winning streak. It hasn’t been the best though. Their biggest win has been to Maryland and they haven’t had a double-digit victory since Jan. 26 against Wisconsin. With the Big Ten down this season, a win is a win for Michigan State.

Purdue and Michigan State have both fallen victim to Ohio State. The Buckeyes certainly deserve their first-place holding in the Big Ten. The difference though is that the Boilermakers game against the Buckeyes was an instant classic. The Spartans game was a 16-point blowout.

Michigan State went into a slump after the Ohio State game. They barely escaped Rutgers with an overtime victory and then fell to their instate rival, Michigan in a 10-point loss.

After those string of three games, the Spartans started this winning streak.

Miles Bridges has to be the man. He’s a player of the year candidate in both the Big Ten and the country. He’s averaging 17 points per game during the winning streak. Bridges needs the confidence that he can knock down the big shot and lead Michigan State to big time victories.

Nick Ward is another key component to this offense. He has to know that he doesn’t have to be the only guys producing in the front court. Jaren Jackson Jr. has been in double-figures six out of the seven games. Jackson is the shot blocker and three-point hitter while Ward is a rebounding machine.

The point guard Cassius Winston has been the true leader of this Michigan State team. He’s quietly putting together an All-Big Ten season with seven assists per game. In fact, he’s averaging 7.4 during the winning streak and can really knock down the three-pointer.

The thing about Purdue is that they don’t have one single guy who is in running to be Big Ten Player of the Year. If you were to morph Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards into one person however, that would be your player of the year.

Carsen leads the team in scoring at 17 points per game. He’s got 61 made three-pointers for the season and contributes a little bit of everything. Vincent can also knock down the outside shot. He plays bigger as he averages 7.8 boards per game and has 16 blocks for the season.

There will be a nice battle of the point guards on Saturday afternoon as well. Dakota Mathias has played outstanding for the Boilermakers as they were on a quest to find a point this season. He has 4.4 assists per game, hits 2.7 three-pointers per game and has come up with 35 steals this season.

The unknown star of this team is going to make a big time play sometime this season for Purdue. P.J. Thompson gets lost in the mix of the four guys in double-figures, but he’s got some game. The senior guard has hit 47 three-pointers this season and leads the team with 36 steals.

Michigan State will hope to have advantage in the front court. Ward and Jackson Jr. both play really big. The only guy that plays really big for Purdue in the starting lineup is Isaac Haas. Ward and Haas will more than likely be matched up on each other because they both play around the basket.

Jackson on the other hand will be with Vincent Edwards and I foresee a miss match happening. As both forwards play similar games, Jackson has four inches and 20 more pounds on Vincent. He’s going to have to use that to his advantage.

The benches of both teams have to be mentioned. The Spartans bench is just as deep as any in the country. A lot of them have been starters at one point. Most of them would be starters for just about any other team in college basketball.

Four guys on the Michigan State bench have played in every game. Purdue has had three of their bench players appear in at least one contest this season.

Matt Haarms is the big body for Purdue that is a force every time he plays. Ryan Cline is their wing man off the bench who has knocked down 32 three-pointers this season.

Michigan State has a senior forward Gavin Schilling and junior forward Kenny Goins who average over three boards per game off the bench. Then there’s back-up point guard Lourawls Nairn who averages 3.5 assists per game. Not many teams have as good of a reverse point guard like Nairn let alone a reliable one.

Next: Big Ten Basketball: Bracketology review for contending teams

I have a personal opinion that these two teams are equipped to make final four runs. At the beginning of the season I was sold on the Spartans. I still kind of am, but Purdue is giving me every reason to believe that two Big Ten teams are capable of making it to San Antonio.

These two teams are going to match up well and it’s going to be a really good game. They have a nice balance of upper and underclassmen. They’re both great defensively, have star players, serviceable point guards and can knock down the outside shot. It’s going to be something if Purdue loses two in a row, but Michigan State is heating up and they’re poised to make a deep run into March.

Prediction: Michigan State 67 Purdue 62

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