MSU has 6 points by Walker in the corner due to no safety when Braden drives the ball…especially since he missed. MSU pushing it while Braden is low and nobody got WalkerGood afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today, it's the Michigan State Spartans (19-13; 1-0) and the #3-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (28-3; 0-0) in the first quarterfinal match-up of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament from the Target Center in Minneapolis. Tip is scheduled for approximately noon (Eastern time) with television coverage on the Big Ten Network. The winner advances to the semi-finals to take on the winner of Wisconsin (#5)/Northwestern (#4) game, which follows this one.
Projected Starting Line-ups:
Michigan State - Carson Cooper, Malik Hall, Jaden Akins, A.J. Hoggard, and Tyson Walker
Purdue - Zach Edey, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith
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Michigan State is coming off a 77-67 win over Minnesota yesterday in the #8/9 game, and this will be Purdue's first game since beating Wisconsin to end the regular season last Sunday. These two teams are fairly familiar with each other and just played two weeks ago at Purdue, where the Boilers won 80-74 in a hard fought competitive contest.
With the win yesterday, Michigan State is in fairly good shape right now for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, although a win today would leave absolutely no doubt. Regardless, Tom Izzo-coached teams have a habit of playing at a higher level in the post-season, and you can expect the Spartans will come at the Boilers with everything they have. These two teams have played several very spirited games in recent years....Purdue has had the upper hand most recently, but Michigan State is certainly talented enough and quite capable of taking down Purdue today.
Despite a less than stellar regular season record and results, Michigan State is a top-20 team in the KenPom ratings, at 18th overall with a 51st in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and an 11th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. Tyson Walker leads the Spartans with 18.4 points on 44.8% shooting (37.2% from three-point range) with 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Foward Malik Hall adds 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds on average while shooting 52.7% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. Not surprisingly, Michigan State has been solid defensively this season, allowing 65.9 points per game on 41% shooting and 32.6% from long range. The Spartans average 73.4 points per game and shoot 46% from the field and 36% from long range. They have not been as good in past years on the glass, but you can expect a big effort today. Purdue had just a 36-33 overall rebound edge in the recent regular season meeting, and Michigan State had 11 offensive rebounds as well. To Purdue's credit - those disappeared in the second half of that game.
Purdue should be able to score some if it keeps the turnovers to a manageable number, as Michigan State has had issues dealing with Zach Edey - like just about every opponent. Edey had 32 last game, including 14/20 from the FT line. Purdue will need a good, solid defensive effort though - even though they've been connecting from long-range, you can't always count on that to be the sole difference. In the last game, Michigan State jumped on them early and had some success from outside and also had numerous second chance opportunities, converting most of them in the first half of the previous game.
I expect the Boilers will try to corral the Michigan State trio of Tyson Walker, A.J. Hoggard, and Jaden Akins. A.J. Hoggard scored 17 points and dished out six assists, while Tyson Walker added 15 points and four assists yesterday. It will be a lot of the same keys for Purdue - limit the turnovers, maintain an edge on the glass, and convert enough of the opportunities. It will be interesting to see how they start - it has sometimes been a little slow out of the gate, especially after a little bit of rest.
Can the Boilers keep things rolling as the post-season starts? We shall see, starting in about 90 minutes or so.
Boiler Up, my friends...
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