- Purdue improved to 29-3 overall with a 67-62 win in the Big Ten Quarterfinals over Michigan State. The win moved Purdue into the Big Ten semifinals for the third straight season.
- Purdue has defeated Michigan State in five straight games for the first time since March 1993 to Feb. 1997 (7 games). Matt Painter is now 18-16 all-time against Michigan State, having won nine of the last 10 games, and 11 of the last 14 games, against Michigan State.
- After losing its first four games all-time against Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue has won the last two against the Spartans (2022 Semifinals; 2024 Quarterfinals).
- Purdue and Houston are the only schools in the country to have at least 29 victories in each of the last three seasons. The Boilermakers are now one win shy of a school-record 30 wins set during the 2017-18 season.
- Purdue's 67 points were a season low.
- Purdue has reached the semifinals in three straight seasons, now owning a 6-1 record in the last three Big Ten Tournaments. In every year since 2016, when Purdue has won its quarterfinals game, it has advanced to the finals, winning its last four semifinal contests.
- Purdue owns a 58-9 record since the start of last season, now tied for the most wins in a two-year span in school history.
- The win was Purdue's 20th in quad-1 or quad-2, the most in the country.
- Purdue now owns 21 wins over the KenPom top-100 and 12 over the KenPom top 50.
- Purdue has won 38 straight games when forcing 10 or more turnovers, after forcing 13 against Michigan State.
- Purdue has won 49 straight games when shooting a better field goal percentage than its opponents (41.5 to 39.3 percent).
- In his last three games in the Big Ten Tournament, Zach Edey is averaging 30.3 points and 13.0 rebounds, after having 29 and 12 in the win today.
- In his last four games against Michigan State, Zach Edey averaged 32.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
- Edey become the third player in Big Ten Tournament history (Purdue's Trevion Williams; Ohio State's Evan Turner) with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in a tournament game.
- Edey now needs 12 points to tie the school record for career scoring, now having 2,311 points (Rick Mount – 2,323).
- Edey's 778 points are the sixth most in a season in Purdue history, needing 22 points to join Glenn Robinson (1,030 – 1994), Rick Mount (932 – 1969) and Carsen Edwards (832 – 2019) in the 800-point club for a season. He needs 22 points to become the ninth player in Big Ten history with 800 points in a season.
- Edey moved into seventh place on the Big Ten's career scoring list (2,311), passing Iowa's Luka Garza (2,306).
- With his 12 rebounds, Edey moved into third place on the Big Ten's career rebounds list (1,223).
- Edey has made 251 free throws, now the second most in Big Ten history in a season (Terry Dischinger – 292). His 351 free throw attempts are the most in Big Ten history.
- Edey recorded his 23rd double-double of the season, good for the eighth most in a season in Big Ten history.
- Edey recorded his 38th career 20-10 game, tied for the second-most nationally in the last 15 years (Mike Daum – 46).
- Edey joins La Salle's Lionel Simmons (La Salle, 1988) as the only players in NCAA history with 775 points, 375 rebounds, 60 assists and 60 blocks in a season. Should Edey reach 800 points (needs 22), he'd become the only player with 800 points.
- Braden Smith overcame foul trouble and a minor leg injury to score five points with eight assists and four rebounds. He now has 230 assists on the season, the sixth most by a freshman or sophomore in Big Ten history (Magic Johnson, Trey Burke, Cassius Winston, Mike Conley, Darius Morris).
- Fletcher Loyer made his only 3-point attempt of the game to give Purdue a 59-56 lead with just over a minute left. He is now 9-of-12 from deep in his last four games.
MINNEAPOLIS — Zach Edey had 29 points and 12 rebounds for third-ranked Purdue, and the Boilermakers recovered from a blown 12-point lead to beat Michigan State 67-62 in a hard-nosed quarterfinal game in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.
Lance Jones had 10 points and three steals with just one turnover for the Boilermakers (29-3), who advanced to play Wisconsin in the semifinals on Saturday despite matching their season-low score and being outrebounded (37-36) for only the second time all season.
"As long as we keep guarding and taking care of the basketball, we're going to give ourselves a chance," head coach Matt Painter said.
Tyson Walker had 15 points, Malik Hall pitched in 12 points and Tre Holloman scored 10 points for the Spartans (19-14), who had an 18-0 edge in fast-break points and tied the game late before falling short in head coach Tom Izzo's 1,000th game on the bench.
"Guarding Edey is a load. We tried it a number of different ways. We tried doubling. We tried digging. We tried regular head up," Izzo said. "Matt does such a great job of getting them the ball in different spots."
Walker, the fifth-year guard, stepped up down the stretch to lead the surge. He knocked down a mid-range jumper for the tie with 1:41 left, the closest the Spartans came since a 3-2 lead, but Fletcher Loyer answered with a 3-pointer on the other end for Purdue.
Xavier Booker had a clear look at the top of the key from 3 with 1:05 remaining to tie it back up, but the ball rolled around the inside of the rim and bounced out.
The Boilermakers had a scare midway through the second half when first team All-Big Ten point guard Braden Smith hobbled off the court with an injury to his right calf muscle. But Smith was able to re-enter about four minutes later with Purdue leading by five, and Jones deftly handled the ball in his absence.
The Boilermakers are two wins away from matching Michigan State (1999, 2000) as the only Big Ten program to win both the outright regular season title and the conference tournament in consecutive years. The Spartans used that feat 24 years ago as a launching pad for the national championship, which still stands as the last time a Big Ten team won it all.
One step at a time for Purdue, of course, with that crushing loss to 16th-seeded Farleigh Dickinson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament still unanswered until the Big Dance begins anew. The Spartans, despite five losses in their last seven games, should be on the safe side of the bubble.
This matchup of the Big Ten's two most successful programs over the last three decades predictably resembled a football game at times, with the Spartans sending Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler and Mady Sissoko into the post to try to somehow disrupt the rhythm of the reigning AP Player of the Year, and though they were successful at times the 7-foot-4 Edey got plenty of soft hooks to fall.
He stared down and pressed his forearm on Holloman at one point, after the Minneapolis native fouled Loyer and was too close to Edey's liking. Both players picked up a technical foul for that exchange.
Cooper got whacked in the nose by the downswing of Cam Heide's arm on his drive to the hoop late in the first half, forcing the 6-foot-11 Cooper to play with gauze in his nose.
"Every game we've ever played Michigan State, it's been a physical, tough game," sixth man Mason Gillis said. "You've got to just be there for it."
There were 46 fouls called in the game — 29 on the Spartans. Sissoko fouled out in 10 minutes, with seven rebounds.
"The bigs played as well as they could play, battled down there," Walker said.