Michigan State-Purdue: Spartans Are the Underdog at Home

With a huge battle tonight in East Lansing, the Michigan State Spartans and the Purdue Boilermakers are each going in different directions.

After starting a program-best 9-0 in conference play, the Spartans were whip-lashed in Wisconsin and couldn’t defeat Illinois on the road without their star, Kalin Lucas.

Purdue, on the other hand, is playing its best ball at the right time. The Boilermakers lost some early conference games—three to be exact—but have regained their composure and have played flawless hoops ever since.

And now, as Lucas’ status remains uncertain after spraining his ankle in the waning moments at Wisconsin, Purdue has a great opportunity to take advantage of the injury-ridden Spartans and take over as the top team in the Big Ten.

As already alluded, how and if Lucas can even play will be the biggest question as we await a tip-off around 9 PM EST tonight. Head coach Tom Izzo has said he isn’t sure whether Lucas will suit up, a welcome sign for the Boilermakers as Lucas averages 17.8 points against Purdue—his best average against any Big Ten opponent.

Whether or not Lucas plays is one question. Another revolves around how Michigan State will handle the pressure.

After playing many close conference games and pulling them out by a small margin, the Spartans have not played “Izzo ball” in the current two-game slide.

In the latest loss at Illinois, the Fighting Illini forced 18 Spartan turnovers. Starting sophomore Korie Luscious at point guard created more opportunities for Illinois to force turnovers, but he wasn’t the only suspect of poor ball control. Guard Chris Allen turned the ball over way too many times for being an experienced player.

But, all told, the Spartans had many opportunities to come back and win that game.

Turnovers have been an issue with Izzo’s crop of players, but another deficiency on the court relates to scoring. Different players seem to step up in different games, but all of the players never step up and score simultaneously.

One game Lucas and Draymond Green score the bulk of the team’s points while Raymar Morgan and Durrell Summers seem to have forgotten a game is actually being played, while the exact opposite will occur the next time around.

And when you combine turnovers and a scarcity in scoring efficiency, it all comes down to inconsistency. The Spartans have only won a couple games by a large margin, but they were against Valparaiso and Northwestern—two home games for Michigan State.

Whether or not Lucas plays is one big issue in itself, but keeping turnovers under wraps is another. If the Spartans have trouble putting the ball in the basket and don’t make something of the majority of their possessions, Purdue may come in and put the hurt on.

Not only are conference bragging rights up for grabs, but so is the conference itself.