While Indiana and Purdue is the rivalry in the state of Indiana, there might not be a better rivalry in the Big Ten in the last two decades than Purdue and Michigan State.
Matt Painter and Tom Izzo are living legends and will have claims for best coaches in conference history when their careers are over.
Purdue has dominated the series of late, winning 9 of the last 11 matchups. The two teams will only meet once in the regular season with Michigan State traveling to Mackey Arena where Purdue has already lost three times this season.
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Alongside an all-time coaching matchup, two of the premier point guards in the conference and the country will square off with Braden Smith taking on the Spartan’s Jeremy Fears.
Smith is chasing the all-time assist record in the NCAA. Fears has overcome Smith’s assist per game mark on the season with 9.2 assists a game to Smith’s 8.8. The two are the nation’s best playmakers and will square off in one of the best Big Ten matchups of the season.
Let’s take a deeper look.
#13 Michigan State 22-5 (12-4) at #8 Purdue 22-5 (12-4)
Big Ten Tournament Double Bye
Michigan State, Purdue, Nebraska, and Illinois are all not going to catch one-loss Michigan for the Big Ten Title.
But all four teams sit with four losses and that means that the three left over double-byes are still very much up for grab in the Big Ten Tournament. With all four teams vying for three spots, and limited games between them, whoever wins on Thursday will set themselves up not only by staying in the top four for losses, but gaining the tiebreaker over the other team in case it’s just those two teams tied.
Both the Spartans and the Boilers had aspirations for winning the conference this season. Michigan State gets one more game against Michigan to finish the season, but even a win there will unlikely pull the Wolverines down to more than two or three losses. Instead, Michigan State will have to try and win at Ann Arbor to finish the season, meaning that another loss before then might be a death sentence for the extra day off in the Big Ten Tournament.
For Purdue, if it can take down the Spartans at home, the schedule has a couple challenges, traveling to Northwestern and Ohio State – both places its lost at recently – and hosting Wisconsin, but overall its a schedule that should see Purdue go out with no more losses on the schedule. That means, a win against Michigan State on Thursday and it should be in control of its own destiny about getting the extra day off.
Michigan State is a great defensive team and a pretty good offensive team.
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Purdue is a great offensive team and a pretty good defensive team.
With two elite play makers at the point, and scoring big men, there are intriguing matchups across the court from each other.
Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper are two of the most experienced bigs in the country. They’re both scoring in double-digits and have played a lot of minutes together. Both are more solid, well-rounded bigs than exceptional at anything except where Michigan State throttles teams.
The Spartans are more than just brilliant on the glass.
“They are a very consistent rebounding team,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said previewing the game. He’d go on to say most teams ebb and flow when it comes to rebounding numbers, but not this Michigan State. The Spartans bring it on the glass every night.
Spartans are the fifth best offensive rebounding rate team in the country. It’s the best defensive rebounding team in the country.
That starts with the Spartans bigs but doesn’t end there. Cohen Carr is one of the nation’s best athletes and he can just go get the ball on either side of the ball. Everyone that comes off the bench for the Spartans seems to have the same mindset to hit the glass hard.
In Purdue’s three losses in Mackey Arena, getting beat on the glass has been a common theme.
For Purdue, its bigs have helped Purdue be the 33rd best offensive rebounding team and a top-20 team on defense. Trey Kaufman-Renn in particular has led the charge for Purdue, transforming into one of the nation’s most elite glass cleaners.
TKR is averaging 13.3 points a game, down from last year, but has raised his rebounding to 9 a game. Pairing that with Oscar Cluff’s 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds a game, and this isn’t just a great point guard matchup. Purdue and Michigan State also boast two of the most filled out front courts in the conference.
While the Spartans hold the edge on the glass, Purdue has been the much better offensive team, including from three where its making 38% of its threes compared to Michigan State’s 35.2%.
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TKR and Loyer’s slumps broken?
Fletcher Loyer had a perfect 18 points on five shots against Indiana. It was an absurd splash of efficiency for a proven shooter who just went through one of his most extended shooting slumps.
Trey Kaufman-Renn is coming off back to back 20+ point performances against Michigan and Indiana.
The two seniors have both struggled at times this season offensively, but quietly, are both hitting their strides as the Big Ten schedule reaches towards March.
Purdue isn’t just a different team when Kaufman-Renn and Loyer are scoring efficiently. Purdue is damn near unbeatable. Are the two seniors, used to the grind of a full season, catching their strides just as teams are starting to feel the weight of the nearly full season behind them?
Both will be tested against a Michigan State defense that will have to choose between stopping Braden Smith’s play making, TKR’s scoring in the post, and Fletcher Loyer’s shooting.
There’s not a defense good enough to stop all three, but against the best of the best this season, Purdue hasn’t had all three shining enough at home.
Can this be the game all three are going at the same time? Purdue will need at least two of the three to score well to crack into a really good Spartans defense.
Cohen Carr X-factor
Carr is one of the nation’s most mystifying players. His athleticism, motor, and IQ make him a terrifying player for opposing teams. His size and speed could be a nightmare for Purdue who lacks elite size and athleticism on the wing. But Carr’s lack of shooting can make him disappear at times on offense and clog up the space on the court. Purdue leverages those kinds of players to help in the middle and try to keep the ball out of the paint.
But lose contact with Carr and he’s liable to be a menace on the offensive glass or get lost for a roof blowing lob dunk.
Can Purdue use Carr’s lack of shot making to tighten windows for Fears and help inside without letting Carr get going doing the dirty work and capturing highlight plays?
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On paper, Carr is just one of a handful of enticing matchups on paper. Purdue and Michigan State are strong in similar places, and have weaknesses that could be harnessed by the other team.
Fears and Smith alone will be worth the price of admission, but the battle inside the paint will keep you glued to your seats.
Enjoy another great top-15 matchup in Mackey.
