Even Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo preached Matt Painter's ability to get his team ready to play with all of the distractions in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers hung tough in the first half only to get outscored by 17 points in the 2nd to fall 76-62.
Painter had 2 practices to prepare for a Sunday's game with 2 bodies down. D.J. Byrd suspened one game for violating team rules, while junior guard Kesley Barlow was dismissed from the program.
"It's disappointing because when you put in time with guys and give guys a second chance. That's what it is all about everybody in this room you think about the chances you get in life. You think about somebody sticking by you and I know I had people stick by me when they shouldn't have done it. I stood by somebody and it didn't pay off and I feel like I let our team down by doing that because I made a decision that was best for an individual and in the long run it wasn't best for our team," said Painter.
"I think we're going to come together as a team better. Honestly I think it's addition by subtraction," said Ryne Smith who finished with 10 points in the loss.
The Boilermakers started off without a hitch, Robbie Hummel led the way with 18 of his 24 points in the first half giving them a 2 point advantage at the break. But, the life was sucked out of Matt Painter's offense in the 2nd. It took Purdue six minutes to score any points and by the seven minute mark the Spartans were on a 27-8 run.
"Obviously we really wanted to win this one really bad. As far as we're concerned that's all we're worried about at this point. We need to keep getting wins and keeping building our resume for the NCAA tournament," said Hummel.
The Boilermakers will have D.J. Byrd back in the lineup on Wednesday night when they host Nebraska at 6:30 p.m.
