Michigan State Spartans (18-2, 7-2 Big Ten) at Purdue Boilermakers (11-9, 3-6 Big Ten)
West Lafayette, Indiana; Thursday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 13 Michigan State faces Purdue after Kennedy Blair scored 21 points in Michigan State’s 74-68 victory over the USC Trojans.
The Boilermakers are 10-2 on their home court. Purdue has a 0-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Spartans are 7-2 in conference games. Michigan State is seventh in the Big Ten giving up 60.2 points while holding opponents to 39.9% shooting.
Purdue makes 44.4% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.5 percentage points higher than Michigan State has allowed to its opponents (39.9%). Michigan State scores 17.0 more points per game (86.0) than Purdue gives up to opponents (69.0).
The Boilermakers and Spartans square off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tara Daye is scoring 12.5 points per game with 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the Boilermakers. Madison Layden is averaging 11.5 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals over the past 10 games.
Blair is averaging 13.3 points, seven rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals for the Spartans. Grace Vanslooten is averaging 15.7 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Boilermakers: 5-5, averaging 70.2 points, 29.7 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.6 points per game.
Spartans: 9-1, averaging 79.4 points, 33.5 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 10.3 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.6 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.