Spartans look to rally tonight against Purdue

Izzo

A game circled back in November on the MSU and Purdue men’s basketball teams’ schedules has been reinforced with another layer of ink.

After the Boilermakers dropped three straight games early in their conference slate, the Spartans’ program-best 9-0 start gave MSU a three-game cushion in the conference standings against a team chosen to finish second behind the Spartans at Big Ten Media Day.

But MSU has suffered a two-game skid of its own, mostly without junior point guard Kalin Lucas, and MSU’s lead in the standings has dwindled to one game.

The No. 6 Boilermakers (19-3 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) come to town one and a half games behind the No. 10 Spartans (19-5, 9-2), having won three games in a row. MSU (19-5, 9-2) has been heading in the opposite direction.

“It’s pretty tough,” MSU sophomore forward Draymond Green said. “We’re not really used to losing. It’s something that you never want to get used to. But we’re ready to respond. We had a good practice (Sunday). Guys were intense and we’re just ready to bounce back.”

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Last season, the Spartans brought home the Big Ten regular season title while the Boilermakers won the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. They split the season series.

For tonight’s game (9 p.m., ESPN), MSU again could be without Lucas, whose status Izzo called on Monday “completely up in the air.”

“He feels more like he’s going to play some,” Izzo said at his weekly press conference. “He went through layups yesterday and walked through a little bit of (Purdue’s) stuff. … It’s improving, but we’re not looking for it to be 100 percent. He said he’ll play no matter what it is.”

As usual, the Spartans lead the conference in rebounding margin with a plus-9.7 margin over their opponents (Penn State is second with a margin of plus-4.3), an aspect of MSU’s game Purdue coach Matt Painter said will be key in a home environment.

“Against Michigan State, you have to be ready to compete with them on the glass,” Painter said in a teleconference.

“If you can’t compete with them on the glass, especially in East Lansing, it’s probably the ball game. Offensively, we have to make them defend us. We have to put them on defense and be a little more patient.”

For the Spartans, it will be crucial to limit turnovers. Without Lucas in the lineup Saturday in Champaign, Ill., the Spartans turned the ball over 18 times. MSU is averaging 17.4 turnovers in its five losses this year, while handing it over just 13.7 times in its 19 wins.

“When we lose, we’re turning it over too much,” Izzo said. “When we win, we’re usually not. The inconsistent play we had as the turnovers was really the difference in the game (Saturday). There were five turnovers I think they dunked the ball on, and that is just not going to get it done on the road in tough places against tough teams.

“There is no excuse why we turned the ball over in some of the places we did. That was not Illinois. That was Michigan State.”

Tuesday’s game should be a refreshing return home for the Spartans, who Izzo said are just one of six teams in Big Ten history to play six of eight conference games on the road. MSU is 13-0 at home this year and 183-15 (.924) at Breslin Center in the past 13 years.

“Everybody can talk about somebody’s environment, how difficult it is to play there. Michigan State has one of the best environments in college basketball,” Painter said. “The reason it’s such a great environment is they’ve got something to cheer about. They have a Hall of Fame coach, a guy that’s won the league a handful of times, been to a handful of Final Fours, just a great program. That’s our concern more than anything.”