Michigan St. @ Purdue preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 8, 2019 ) Purdue 59, Michigan St 77

Michigan State will try for its 14th straight victory when it travels to face Purdue in a Big Ten Conference matchup Sunday afternoon. The No. 5 Spartans staged a second-half rally on the road to defeat No. 21 Iowa on Thursday, while the Boilermakers have won four straight, including a 79-67 victory at Ohio State on Wednesday.

Point guard Cassius Winston is the key for coach Tom Izzo's offense as he leads the Spartans in scoring (18.3 points) and assists (conference-high 7.3), seeming to come up with big shots whenever needed. Junior forward Nick Ward bounced back from his first scoreless game with 21 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa, and ranks second on the team in scoring (16 points) and 17th in the nation in field-goal percentage (63.2 percent). Purdue junior guard Carsen Edwards is coach Matt Painter's main offensive weapon, scoring 24.7 points per contest (fourth nationally through Friday's games), but had a season-low 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting - including 2-of-13 from 3-point range - in the Boilermakers' loss to Michigan State earlier this month. Players such as senior guard Ryan Cline (12.4 points, 59 3-pointers) and 7-3 sophomore center Matt Haarms (7.7 points, 61.5 percent shooting) must come up with big efforts to take some of the Spartans' defensive attention off stopping Edwards.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (18-2, 9-0 Big Ten): The lingering question over Michigan State's current successful run is the status of junior guard Joshua Langford, who will miss his eighth straight contest with an ankle injury. Langford has been another coach for Izzo during his time on the sideline, though, helping mentor the team's freshman wing players, Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown, and senior Matt McQuaid has taken up the mantle of the team's best one-on-one defender on the perimeter in Langford's absence. McQuaid was the main defender when the Spartans held Edwards in check in their first meeting this season, and will try to stick to Edwards throughout Sunday's contest, a role Langford would be playing if he was available.

ABOUT PURDUE (13-6, 6-2): Turnovers - or a lack of them - has been a key to the Boilermakers' current run of seven wins in their last eight outings, with the team taking better care of the basketball. Purdue is averaging 11.1 turnovers, which would rank as the sixth-lowest average in school history, but that number has dropped to 9.4 over the last 10 games, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.61. The Boilermakers have also been forcing turnovers, with a plus-5.00 turnover margin over those 10 contests, and Painter is hoping his team can get the Spartans to turn the ball over like they did in the first meeting, when Purdue caused 14 miscues.

TIP-INS

1. Senior F Kenny Goins leads Michigan State and was ranked 31st nationally with 9.6 rebounds per contest.

2. Edwards is four rebounds away from 300 in his career, which would make him the sixth player in school history with at least 1,500 points, 300 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals.

3. Michigan State (60-21) and Purdue (59-21) own the Big Ten's best records over the last five seasons.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 79, Purdue 68