Big Ten Foes Meet in West Lafayette: Michigan St at Purdue

Michigan St Spartans at Purdue Boilermakers, Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, IN
Saturday, January 22, 2011, 9:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Purdue -6
Current Line: Purdue -6
Opening Total: 131
Current Total: 131
Money Line: Purdue -255 / Michigan St +215

JuJuan Johnson and Purdue take on Michigan St in a crucial Big Ten tilt. The Boilermakers are 6 1/2 point favorites at home.

Michigan St was #2 in the pre-season poll, but they haven’t quite lived up to expectations with a 12-6 record overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. They are currently ranked number 18 in the coaches’ poll, mainly due to the fact that Michigan St has played arguably the most difficult schedule in the nation. The Spartans have face 7 top 25 teams this season, and this game against the #13 Purdue Boilermakers will make it 8. Purdue is 16-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten. Michigan St has losses to Connecticut, Duke, Syracuse, Texas, Penn St and Illinois on the season. The first four are all in the top ten rankings right now. Michigan St has wins over South Carolina, Washington, Minnesota, Northwestern twice, and Wisconsin. In the Spartans last game Tuesday, they lost at Illinois 71-62, who is ranked #22. Purdue has losses to Richmond, Minnesota, and West Virginia on the season. The Boilermakers have wins over Virginia Tech, Alabama, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn St twice, and Iowa. Purdue escaped with a 1 point victory 63-62 at home Wednesday night against a suddenly lively Penn St team. Purdue beat them at Penn St by 15 just 3 weeks a ago. Purdue is the only team in the top 25 that has not played a top 25 team this season. That will change with a brutal stretch that starts tonight with Michigan St, at Ohio St, home against Minnesota, and at Wisconsin. Purdue leads the overall series against Michigan St 63-45, including 39-15 in West Lafayette. Michigan St has won 16 of the last 24 meetings, but Purdue has won 4 in a row at home. The two teams split the series last year with each team winning on their home court. Three of the last four meetings have gone under the total. Michigan St is 12-25 ATS when playing teams with winning records the last 2 seasons.

Michigan St has no significant injuries right now. Michigan St is led by senior guard Kalin Lucas who averages 14.7 points to lead the team, 2.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals a game. Senior guard Durrell Lucas is averaging 14.1 points, and 4.5 rebounds a game. Junior forward Draymond Green is averaging 12.8 points, 8.7 rebounds to lead the team, 3.9 assists, 1.8 steals to lead the team, and 1.3 blocks a game to lead the team. Korie Luscious leads the team in assists with 4 a game. Michigan St is outscoring opponents 72-66 this season. The Spartans are shooting 44.3% from the field and 37.2% from 3-point range. Spartan opponents are shooting 40.2% from the field. Michigan St is shooting 67.5% from the free throw line. The Spartans average 39.1 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +4.4. MSU averages 16.2 assists and 14.6 turnovers a game. Michigan St forces 3.9 turnovers a game on defense. The Spartans average 7.4 steals and 5.1 blocks a game.

Purdue has been playing without All-American guard Robbie Hummell all season, but has no other injuries. Purdue is led by the dynamic duo of forward/center JuJuan Johnson and guard E’Twaun Moore. Johnson averages 20.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 2.3 blocks a game. He leads the team in scoring, rebounds, and blocks. Moore is averaging 17.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.5 steals a game to lead the team. Lewis Jackson leads the team in assists with 4 a game. Purdue is outscoring opponents 74-59 on the season. Purdue is shooting 45.4% from the field and 37.9% from3-point range. The Boilermakers are holding opponents to 40.4% shooting from the field. The Boilermakers are shooting 69.9% from the free throw line. Purdue averages 36.8 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +4.1. Purdue averages 17.5 assists and 11 turnovers a game. Purdue forces 16.2 turnovers a game on defense. They average 6.5 steals and 4.1 blocks a game.

Though the schedule has been brutal for Michigan St, they should be better than they are. They returned the nucleus from a team that gone to Final Four two years in a row. They have underachieved this season, but the Spartans are still a dangerous team that can play with any team in the country on nay given night. Mackey Arena will be rocking tonight. ESPN brought their pre-game show to Purdue for this game and Mackey Arena was packed for that and you could barely hear the announcers speaking. that was 10 hours before the game, so one can only imagine what it will be like once the game starts.