Big 10 Tournament

Purdue 67 Michigan State 62

Purdue survives major injury scare to advance to semifinal

Purdue survived it’s largest injury scare of the season midway through the secone half when Braden Smith’s knee buckled while driving to the basket. Smith hopped off the floor on one leg and couldn’t put any weight on his right leg as he went to the lockerroom. Miraculously Smith not only was able to return to action later in the game.

Michigan State came back from a 12-point deficit to cut the score to 56-54 with under 2 minutes, but Purdue went on to score 11 points down the stretch to put the game away.

Zach Edey continued his domination versus Michigan State and put the Boilermakers on his back throughout the entire game.

Key Stats

Michigan state fast break points 18, Purdue zero.

Spartans 14 points off turnovers, Purdue 5

Michigan State 33% fg shooting

Key Individual Performances

Zach Edey 29 points and 12 rebounds

Tyson Walker 15 points

Cam Heide and Myles Colvin combined for 22 minutes off the bench and were key contributors with their added athleticism.

What it means

Purdue remains the #1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament regardless of the rest of the Big Ten tournament. Should be in Midwest Region (Indianapolis/Detroit).

Michigan State should be a lock as either a 10 or 11-seed. Hope to avoid a game in Dayton.

Other Notables

What was feared to be a major knee injury ended up being a calf injury for Braden Smith, according to Matt Painter. At times, Smith played somewhat gingerly after the injury but was able to play through. After the game, Smith indicated that his knee buckled on the drive, but his upper calf is still tight. He vowed to play in tomorrow’s game versus Northwestern or Wisconsin.