Michigan State 74, Purdue 56

INDIANAPOLIS (WWJ/AP) - The Spartans stun the Boilermakers as Michigan State came out strong and never looked back, beating No. 9 Purdue 74- 56 Friday. 

Lucas tied a career-high 30 points with four 3-pointers for the Spartans (19- 13), who greatly improved their chances of receiving an NCAA tournament bid.

Michigan State had a 14-11 record on Feb. 15 and was in danger of being left out of the field after reaching the Final Four the past two years. But now the Spartans have won five of their past seven games.

MSU was able to hold off a 9-0 run by Purdue in the second half.

"When we were up nine, Delvon (Roe) made two stops ... key to the game... he (Delvon) stopped the bleeding," says Green says about the run Purdue started in the second half to cut the MSU lead from 20 points to nine points.

MSU coach Tom Izzo gave a nod to the Purdue team: "We beat a really good team tonight...they just got off to a bad start...Kalin (Lucas) was unbelievable," Izzo said.

Purdue (25-7) had defeated the Spartans twice this season, including a 67-47 win at Michigan State on Feb. 27. The Spartans said on Thursday that they wanted payback.

JaJuan Johnson, the Big Ten player of the year, had 21 points and nine rebounds for Purdue. E'Twaun Moore added 17 points for the Boilermakers, who have lost two straight and fallen from consideration for a No. 1 seed.

MSU will play Saturday against the winner of the Wisconsin-Penn State game.

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