Purdue looks to clash with the Spartans in a Big 10 Battle for Survival
As the regular season winds down, the Boilermakers are running out of time to try and gain ground on Big 10 conference leader Ohio State, while Tom Izzo’s Spartans are on the bubble and just trying to hold onto their chance at a Tourney invite.
It will be up to the fourth place Spartans to stage an upset this Sunday when Purdue visits the Breslin Center, a place where MSU has a record of 11-2.
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#8 Purdue (23-5, 12-3 Big Ten) at Michigan State (16-11, 8-7 Big Ten)
Date/Time: Sunday, February 27, 2011, 1:00 PM EST
Venue: Jack Breslin Student Events Center
Broadcast: ESPN
Spread: Purdue -2
Over/Under: OFF
Purdue is 6-5 on the road and comes into Sunday’s matinee having won their last five games. The Boilermakers have already seen Michigan State this season, and beat them 86-76 on January 22 on their home court. The Boilermakers went 1-1 against the Spartans last year, and over four years, Purdue has gone 5-3 against Michigan State, but just 1-2 at Breslin Center.
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The Boilermakers pulled off an upset win against Ohio State last Sunday, and then followed up by notching a 72-61 road win over instate rival Indiana their last time out.
Purdue outshot the Hoosiers and also defended them well, with 50 percent to their 38 percent. Leading score JaJuan Johnson put up the most points against the Hoosiers with 20 while E’Twaun Moore chipped in with 17 for his sixth straight double-digit point game.
Meanwhile, the Spartans have been able to thread together two successive wins including sneaking past the Golden Gophers, 53-48. MSU was effective from three-point range, with 18 points of their overall total coming from beyond the arc. Kalin Lucas was the leading scorer for the Spartans, shooting 43 percent for 18 points while big Draymond Green topped both teams with 10 rebounds.
Now Moore and Lucas will face off in this grudge match.
Moore has been averaging 22.3 points in his last six games while Lucas, who is finally recovering from his Achilles injury, is back to his old self playing well late in the season, averaging 21.3 points in his last eight games. Many have said that Lucas’ contributions have sparked MSU’s recent improved play.
Both of these star guards get plenty of help from their wingmen. Moore from Johnson who has been averaging 20.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and Lucas from Green.
The odds makers have the Purdue Boilermakers as a -2 point favorite in this Big Ten matchup.
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Matt’s Free Pick: Michigan State Spartans- MSU will try to feed off the energy of the home crowd on Sunday, as their record is more successful at the Bres. Lucas and fellow senior, Durrell Summers, have only two home games left in their collegiate careers, which will add some extra spark for the Spartans. This should be a barnburner with MSU edging out a slim win to keep things interesting down the stretch.
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