Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's more Big Ten Tournament basketball today as the Michigan State Spartans (7-seed) take on the #9-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (3-seed) in the second of the two semi-final games today. Tip is expected for around 3:30 pm (Eastern) with television coverage on CBS. The winner advances to the Big Ten Tournament Championship tomorrow afternoon to take on the winner of the Indiana/Iowa game. Michigan State is coming off a hard fought win over the 2-seed Wisconsin while Purdue came back after a slow start to defeat the 11-seed Penn State.
These two schools met just once during the season, but it was only two weeks ago in East Lansing with Michigan State winning on a last-second 3-pt FG, 68-65. Purdue trailed most of that game but made a late surge and had an opportunity in the last minute but couldn't prevail. Michigan State played fairly straight up in the post and really clamped down on Purdue's shooters to eliminate the log-range shots. It was very effective as Purdue went 1/9 from beyond the arc. The real killer for the Boilers was the 17 turnovers, with many leading directly to Michigan State scores. Purdue will have to shore that up today. The Boilers did do a nice job on the glass (not easy against the Spartans) and were fairly solid from the FT line. Zach Edey had 25 in that game to pace Purdue; he and Trevion Williams will likely get opportunities today to score and will need to convert efficiently. Jaden Ivey also needs to be a key aspect of the Boilers' attack. He made some really good decisions late in yesterday's contest.
Michigan State was effective from long-range in the last game - hitting 9/20. Gabe Brown made an early one, and he was able to sustain that through most of the game. Purdue can't afford to let Michigan State get early confidence because although the Spartans can be inconsistent at times, they're quite capable of knocking down tough shots. Eric Hunter, Jr. and Jaden Ivey will need to try and contain AJ Hoggard and Max Christie, and Mason Gillis and Edey/Williams combo will need to keep control of the glass. Expect Michigan State to mix it up a little more today, but they will be physical and push for transition opportunities.
I expect this game to again come down to the last few minutes......can the Boilers have the poise to execute down the stretch? How much of a factor can Brandon Newman be? He did not play in the last game, but he played a huge role in Purdue's win yesterday. This should be another good one? Can the Boilers avenge the late season loss and get a shot in the BTT title game?
We shall see later this afternoon.
Boiler up, my friends.
These two schools met just once during the season, but it was only two weeks ago in East Lansing with Michigan State winning on a last-second 3-pt FG, 68-65. Purdue trailed most of that game but made a late surge and had an opportunity in the last minute but couldn't prevail. Michigan State played fairly straight up in the post and really clamped down on Purdue's shooters to eliminate the log-range shots. It was very effective as Purdue went 1/9 from beyond the arc. The real killer for the Boilers was the 17 turnovers, with many leading directly to Michigan State scores. Purdue will have to shore that up today. The Boilers did do a nice job on the glass (not easy against the Spartans) and were fairly solid from the FT line. Zach Edey had 25 in that game to pace Purdue; he and Trevion Williams will likely get opportunities today to score and will need to convert efficiently. Jaden Ivey also needs to be a key aspect of the Boilers' attack. He made some really good decisions late in yesterday's contest.
Michigan State was effective from long-range in the last game - hitting 9/20. Gabe Brown made an early one, and he was able to sustain that through most of the game. Purdue can't afford to let Michigan State get early confidence because although the Spartans can be inconsistent at times, they're quite capable of knocking down tough shots. Eric Hunter, Jr. and Jaden Ivey will need to try and contain AJ Hoggard and Max Christie, and Mason Gillis and Edey/Williams combo will need to keep control of the glass. Expect Michigan State to mix it up a little more today, but they will be physical and push for transition opportunities.
I expect this game to again come down to the last few minutes......can the Boilers have the poise to execute down the stretch? How much of a factor can Brandon Newman be? He did not play in the last game, but he played a huge role in Purdue's win yesterday. This should be another good one? Can the Boilers avenge the late season loss and get a shot in the BTT title game?
We shall see later this afternoon.
Boiler up, my friends.
