Spartans overwhelm Boilermakers with second-half defense

The final standings might show that Michigan State won the Big Ten title by four games over Purdue and Illinois. Yet, given the way the Spartans slugged it out against the Boilermakers on Sunday in East Lansing, one can appreciate how difficult it was for Tom Izzo's team to once again become the king of their conference.
 
At the end, MSU wasn't sweating a 62-51 victory over Matt Painter's pupils from West Lafayette. But in order to grab a double-digit victory on Senior Day at the Breslin Center, the league champions had to work incredibly hard. Such was the story of the Spartans' season: They might have outdistanced the Big Ten by a large number of games, but the effort needed to get to that point was considerable.
 
In this rematch against Purdue--whose offense thrived in a 72-54 win over the Spartans at Mackey Arena earlier in the year--Michigan State rededicated itself to defense. The home team shot only 35 percent from the field, yet coasted to the finish line because every MSU defender harassed his black-shirted Boilermaker into rushed and challenged shots.

While Izzo's club hardly lit up the scoreboard (State tallied just 18 points in the first 15 minutes of the second half), Purdue plummeted after the halftime break. The Boilermakers hit just 6 field goal attempts in the second half, on their way to 28-percent shooting for the game. Moreover, two of those makes came when the Spartans--up 60-46--had salted away the win in the final minute of regulation. Purdue made one brief push, a 6-0 mini-run to slice a 12-point Spartan lead to 49-43 with 3:57 left in regulation. In a reflection of their refusal to allow any easy baskets to the Boilers, the studs from State locked down the visitors for three more minutes, and by that time, it was all over but the shouting.
 
Just how did MSU wrap up a number of talented offensive performers from Purdue? For one thing, the guys in white shirts were flawless with their switches. Izzo had his team ready to switch on most of Purdue's screens and cuts, and that strategy paid off. Spartan forwards and centers stepped out on Robbie Hummel and the Boilermakers' other 3-point shooters, and when these matchups emerged, Purdue couldn't get the ball to center JaJuan Johnson, who has devastated other Big Ten opponents in 2009. Against Michigan State, Purdue couldn't do anything in the face of Sparty's superior defensive rotations.

The second key to MSU's clinical defensive conquest was the rebounding of Goran Suton. As the best team in the Big Ten widened its second-half lead, it was Suton--the senior from Bosnia--who was snapping up defensive boards left and right. Suton's game-high 10 rebounds enabled the Spartans to manhandle Purdue on the glass by a 42-26 margin. In the BCS conference (among the six in the nation) where rebounds and possessions are particularly precious, given the slowdown style of play, MSU's plus-16 bulge in the realm of rebounding turned the Boilermakers into a one-and-done team... emphasis on the "done" part.
 
It was Michigan State's year in the Big Ten, by a surprisingly large margin of four games in the standings. Just don't let that big differential--or the 11-point spread in today's game against Purdue--give you the impression that the Spartans easily acquired their title. Hard work and untiring concentration have enabled Tom Izzo's young men to make difficult tasks look relatively easy.
 
With three more games of blue-collar boldness in Indianapolis, these Spartans will not only take the Big Ten Tournament; they'll make a convincing case for the fourth No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tourney.

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