West Lafayette, Indiana — Michigan State came to Mackey Arena on Saturday night to take down Goliath.
In the end, the Big Ten giant just laughed.
Gold confetti rained from the rafters Saturday night after No. 2 Purdue, powered by a 32-point effort from Zach Edey, beat the Spartans 80-74 and clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
Tom Izzo liked the fight his team exhibited for most of the game.
Michigan State was down by only three at halftime but found itself in a 15-point hole after Purdue opened the second half on a 16-4 run. For a moment, though, in the second half it looked like the Spartans were folding under the pressure of the mighty Boilermakers.
Near the 11:15 mark, Michigan State started to mount a counterattack. A.J. Hoggard led the team on a 7-0 run that pulled it within three points of Purdue with 9:16 left.
“We just stuck together,” said Jaden Akins, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half after getting into foul trouble early. “We had good timeouts, we followed the game plan and we started making some shots…”
“We were just telling each other, ‘Don’t let the game get away.’ Because the crowd was starting to get into it, it’s a loud environment and just weather the storm … and that’s what we pretty much did today.”
Michigan State would get within five points on five occasions in the final 8:09 but no closer.
“We did the things that you had to do,” Izzo said, “but we made some key mistakes and we’re not good enough to do that against what I consider the best team in the country.”
What makes Purdue such a tough match-up for so many teams is the inside-outside combo of Edey and point guard Braden Smith. In a game full of whistles — some of which drew ire from Izzo — both gave the Spartans troubles.
Edey scored a game-high 32 points and went 14 of 20 from the free-throw line. Smith added 23 points and went 4-for-4 from deep for Purdue en route to serving the Spartans’ their third straight loss.
BOX SCORE: Purdue 80, Michigan State 74
Saturday night was an opportunity for Michigan State to prove that its veteran-led squad has what it takes to battle the best. The Spartans showed promise with a strong start, leading by as many as eight points over the halfway point of the first half.
The game started to unravel for the Spartans in the second half. While they didn’t give up, they never could fully play their way back into the game.
“Said getting off to a good start would be important, we did,” Izzo said. “Thought most of the first half, we had one of those stretches again where we just can’t get everybody playing well together. Jaden in foul trouble the whole first half hurt us. And then AJ just couldn’t buy a shot. He played hard, he played well. We played hard enough against a team who plays hard.”
Tyson Walker finished with 14 points on 5 of 15 shooting and had seven rebounds and four assists. Jaden Akins had 13 points and Malik Hall had 12. Xavier Booker tied a career-high with 11 points.
Michigan State had the edge early. After starting freshman Xavier Booker at center against Ohio State on Sunday, Tom Izzo went back to senior Mady Sissoko on Saturday to help the Spartans get an early handle on Edey.
The goal wasn’t to stop Edey. He was going to get his points. But Michigan State needed to make his life as difficult as possible. Jaxon Kohler and Sissoko did a good job early, with Kohler making a point to try to keep Edey out of the paint.
When the Toronto giant got the ball inside, the Spartans would often double team him or try to bat the ball away from his hands.
Sometimes, it worked. On one attempt, Hoggard poked the ball free but missed the layup in transition. He saved the possession by throwing the ball off Edey before it went out of bounds.
Michigan State’s offense was clicking early, too. Walker, Hall and Akins each knocked down shots to give the Spartans an early 7-2 lead. Every time Purdue started to climb out of the hole, the Spartans responded with a scoring run. Tre Holloman knocked down a 3-pointer to put Michigan State ahead 24-16 at the 9:19 mark.
But the Spartans had yet another lengthy scoring drought — an issue that’s plagued them this season.
“It was costly,” Walker said. “We did a good job, I thought, still playing defense and not letting the game get out of hand, but we can’t go a stretch like that … we just got to make shots.”
Fletcher Loyer helped shoot Purdue’s way back in. After going 2-for-12 from 3 over the last six games, Loyer went 3-for-5 from deep in the first half. He drained a pair of 3-pointers during a key run for Purdue.
Edey helped the Boilermakers regain the lead, which they maintained for the remainder of the game. Walker made a buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the first half to trim Purdue’s lead to 38-35.
Hoggard played much better in the second half. He helped get the Spartans back into the game on numerous occasions. His basket made it a five-point game with 1:30 left.
But on the next possession, Mason Gillis was left open at the top of the key and he drained the dagger 3-pointer.
“After a game like this, it’s tough to be OK with losing, but we played hard, and that’s something that we’ve kind of just been stressing,” Malik Hall said. “[Coach] wants everyone to play with more passion and he wants people to play with more energy, and we saw that out there today.”
Purdue (26-3, 14-3 Big Ten) has won eight of the last nine games against Michigan State (17-12, 9-9).
The Spartans will head back to East Lansing still searching for answers on whether and how they can salvage this season. They’ll host Northwestern Wednesday for their home finale.
mkenney@detroitnews.com
@madkenney