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m e n ��� s b a s k e t b a l l BY BRIAN NEUBERT AND STACY CLARDIE MICHIGAN STATE 78, PURDUE 65 Feb. 10 S Mackey Arena In its fifth-consecutive win over Purdue, Michigan State controlled the paint on offense and benefited from 14 costly Boilermaker turnovers in a game it controlled virtually from start to finish. It was Purdue���s third doubledigit home loss to a ranked team in as many tries this Big Ten season. ���They have a really good team,��� Coach Matt Painter said. ���But more than anything ... they don���t have people out there trying to do things they can���t do. (Tom Izzo���s) done a good job with this group in terms of those guys playing their roles.��� That was a compliment Painter paid the Spartans but also a modest dig at his own team, which again struggled to score while helping MSU score with its own mistakes. ���It deflates us when we miss layups, when we miss free throws, or we take a bad shot,��� Painter FLASH FORWARD Game: Illinois Location: Assembly Hall When: 9 p.m. ET Wednesday Notables: Purdue looks to complete a regular-season sweep of the Fighting Illini, who the Boilermakers beat 68-61 in the Big Ten opener in Mackey Arena. ��� Illinois is coming off a thrilling last-second win over top-ranked Indiana and a win at Minnesota, but remains a disappointing 4-7 in Big Ten play after a 12-0 start to the season. ��� D.J. Richardson enjoyed one of the best games of his career against IU, pacing a furious Illini comeback and finishing with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. ��� Brandon Paul is the league���s third-leading scorer, averaging 17.6 points. ��� Illinois is the worst defensive team in the league, allowing 67.2 points, slightly more than Penn State, and allowing opponents to shoot 42.9 percent. ��� The Boilermakers have won their last three games in Champaign. boilermakers fall in another big game at home said. ���The other part is, when somebody makes a good play (against us), you have to keep battling, keep with it. It���s self-inflicted at times, where we���ll turn it over and they���ll do down and get a three-point play. Or we���ll miss a pointblank layup ��� and we missed like three Steve Jamison point-blank layups in A.J. Hammons ��� foul shooting down the stretch delivered Purdue the first half ��� and its second road win in conference play. then they���re able to Key stretch convert a couple of those into The Boilermakers trailed by plays at the other end. That really just one around the 13-and-adeflates our team. half-minute mark of the first half. ���We just don���t have a mature But after Branden Dawson scored, pulse to our group. Little things re- Ronnie Johnson missed a threeally bother us, then it snow-balls.��� pointer, probably not the ideal Key player shot Purdue was looking for. Jacob MSU���s Derrick Nix and Adreian Lawson rebounded the miss but Payne gave Purdue fits on the interi- missed a routine putback. At the or, as the Boilers struggled mightily to other end, Gary Harris doubled the guard both in one-on-one post-ups. Spartan lead with a three-pointer. Purdue was reluctant to help out of Dawson then scored on a breakrespect to the Spartans���shooters. away layup off a Purdue turnover Nix scored 17 points, but it to cap a 7-0 run that put the Boilerseemed like more. makers in a hole they could never get out of. Key stat After winning at Penn State despite not making a single threepointer, Purdue was just 1-of-5 against Michigan State, as the Boilermakers have virtually no longrange shooting to their offense right now. Purdue 58, Penn State 49 Feb. 5 S Bryce Jordan Center Painter had been hoping to see his team react positively to adversity, and he finally got it against Penn State. A poor first half had Purdue down one at the break, but Ronnie Johnson led an offensive attack midway through the second half that provided a spark and the Boilermakers made enough of their free throws down the stretch to hold off the Nittany Lions. Purdue snapped its two-game lopsided losing streak. ���These past two games, we let them slip and we didn���t play with the intensity we should have,��� redshirt freshman Donnie Hale said. ���This was a huge win, huge road win, something we needed. We needed to come out here and play GoldanDBlack express ��� volume 23, express 21��� ������ 15