No. 13 Michigan State defeats No. 8 Purdue on the road, breaks losing streak at Mackey Arena

No. 13 Michigan State traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana on Thursday night for a top-15 ranked matchup against No. 8 Purdue. The Spartans earned a crucial conference win over the Boilermakers with a final score of 76-74.

With the win, Michigan State improves to 23-5 overall and 13-4 in conference play under head coach Tom Izzo on the 2025-2026 season. Meanwhile, Purdue falls to to 22-6 overall (12-5 in the Big Ten) under head coach Matt Painter.

It is the Spartans' first win at Mackey Arena since 2014, ending a seven-game losing streak to the Boilermakers in that building.

First half recap:

Michigan State scored first with a basket by center Carson Cooper, but Purdue proceeded to score nine-straight points. Guard C.J. Cox got the Boilermakers on the board wit ha 3-pointer, center Oscar Cluff made two layups and point guard Braden Smith added a bucket as well to make the score 9-2 in Purdue's favor with 17:32 left to play in the first half.

The Spartans finally broke Purdue's run with a fast-break score from forward Coen Carr, but Cluff immediately responded with a basket of his own. Cooper made a hook-shot and Cluff once again answered, this time with an alley-oop dunk (assisted by Smith). At that point, the Boilermakers led 13-6 with 16:02 left to play in the open half.

MSU quickly put together a 10-0 run, however, to take a 16-13 lead with 12:28 left to play before halftime. A four-point play by point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., including a 3-pointer and a free throw, started the flurry by the Spartans. Four points from freshman forward Cam Ward, including a second-chance tip-in dunk, and two points guard Kur Teng also contributed to the run.

Purdue finally broke the streak on a layup by forward Trey Kaufman-Renn and Michigan State led 16-15 at the under-12-minute media timeout.

The two teams continued to battle throughout the first half. By the under-eight-minute-media timeout, the Spartans led 24-23 following a 3-pointer by Teng. After the timeout, Purdue answered with a 3-pointer of its own, courtesy of guard Fletcher Loyer. Kaufman-Renn added a layup to give the Boilermakers a slight edge at 28-24 with 6:43 to play before halftime.

A layup by Carr, a single free throw on the other end by Kaufman-Renn and a thunderous dunk over by Carr over Purdue's 7-foot-4 center, Daniel Jacobsen, allowed the Boilermakers to cling to a one-point advantage at 29-28. However, Jacobsen responded with an alley-oop dunk (assisted by Loyer) to extend Purdue's lead to 31-28 with 5:13 left in the first half.

A three-point play by Cooper on a dunk and a free throw tied the game up at 31-31 with 4:42 left on the clock before halftime. Cox then drilled a triple for the Boilermakers, but it was immediately answered on the other end by MSU forward Jaxon Kohler with a 3-pointer of his own to tie things up at 34 all.

Next, Cluff made a second-chance layup and guard Gicarri Harris added a 3-pointer for the Boilermakers to give Purdue a 39-34 lead with less than a minute a play before the break.

A pair of free throws by freshman wing Jordan Scott cut the Spartans' deficit to three points at 39-36 and that score would hold at halftime.

Second half recap:

Just as he did in the first half, Cooper got the scoring going for Michigan State in the second half, this time with a turnaround jumper. Smith answered with a 3-pointer on the other end, and then Cooper followed with another bucket in the paint.

Next, Fears made a pull-up jumper to tie the game up at 42 apiece, but Kaufman-Renn immediately gave the Boilermakers the lead back on a second-chance hook-shot. Scott drilled a 3-pointer for the Spartans to put them up 45-44 with 16:03 to play and Fears followed with a driving layup to extend MSU's lead to 47-44 with 15:35 left to play.

Loyer got Purdue back on the board with a layup, and Carr answered on the other end for Michigan State with a dunk. However, Loyer tied things up at 49-49 on the next possession with a triple. Purdue would get the next basket as well on an alley-oop dunk by Jacobsen off of the assist from Kaufman-Renn. The Boilermakers led 51-49 with 14 minutes remaining on the clock.

Two free throws and a 3-pointer by Teng gave the Spartans a 54-51 advantage. Jacobsen made a layup to end Teng's 5-0 run, and then Kohler split a pair of free throws on the other end. Purdue's Jack Benter then hit a 3-pointer to give the Boilermakers a one-point edge at 56-55 with 11:28 left on the clock.

In a turning point of the game, Michigan State reeled off seven-straight points, including free throws from Cooper, a 3-pointer by Teng and a fast-break dunk by Carr (off of a steal and assist from Teng) quickly gave the Spartans a 62-56 lead with 10 minutes left to play.

Purdue guard Omer Mayer broke Michigan State's run with a 3-pointer, but Cooper scored again for the Spartans on the other end with a hook-shot. A dunk by Kaufman-Renn cut MSU's lead to 64-61 at the under-eight-minute media timeout of the second half.

Fears responded with a jumper for the Spartans, and the Boilermakers then scored three-straight points on free throws from Kaufman-Renn and Smith. MSU would score the next six points, as Ward made a dunk, Scott added a pair of free throws and Fears made a driving layup in a critical sequence. At that point, MSU led Purdue 72-64 with 4:11 left to play.

The Boilermakers wouldn't go away, though. Benter made another triple, which was followed by a jumper by Scott at the other end. However, Smith drilled another shot from behind the arc for Purdue and cut the Spartans' lead to 74-70 with 2:50 on the clock. Smith proceeded to score the next basket as well on a layup.

With 2:16 to play, Michigan State led Purdue 74-72. A crucial shot by Kohler on a turnaround jumper went through the basket with 1:55 on the clock to give the Spartans a 76-72 advantage. Benter then made the score 76-74 with 1:35 to go.

Michigan State did not score again and Purdue would have three different chances to tie the game or take the lead before time expired. Benter missed a 3-pointer, and MSU grabbed the rebound. After an empty possession for the Spartans, the Boilermakers got another shot off with eight seconds on the clock, but Kaufman-Renn missed it and Ward grabbed the rebound. Ward missed the free throw, however, and Purdue rebounded.

Painter took a timeout with three seconds on the clock. Once play resumed, Smith shot a long 3-pointer and missed. The Spartans defeated the Boilermakers by the aforementioned final score of 76-74.

Cooper led the Spartans in scoring with 15 points, while Teng scored 13 points, Fears chipped in 12 points and Carr scored 11 points.

Smith led Purdue with 12 points, while Cluff and Kaufman-Renn each scored 10 points.

Michigan State shot 29-for-55 overall from the field (53%) and 6-for-19 from 3-point range (32%). Purdue shot 28-for-57 from the floor (49%) and 12-for-25 from behind the arc (48%).

Next up for MSU is a game at Indiana on Sunday at 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time (CBS). Purdue will look to bounce back at Ohio State on Sunday (1:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS).