Zach Edey, Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer lift Purdue basketball to Big Ten title

WEST LAFAYETTE — Confetti was netted near Mackey Arena’s rooftop, but Michigan State threatened to put a damper on Purdue basketball’s Big Ten championship celebration.

Zach Edey, Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and the rest of the Boilermakers made sure that didn’t happen.

Third-ranked Purdue fell behind by eight points midway through the first half before storming back and beating the Spartans 80-74.

Confetti dropped and a championship trophy was presented as the Boilermakers (26-3, 15-3) clinched at least a share of the regular season title, repeating as league champions.

Purdue can clinch the outright title with a win at Illinois on Tuesday or at home against Wisconsin on March 10. Illinois needs to win out and have Purdue lose to Wisconsin to earn a share of the league title.

It was over when

When the Spartans built their largest lead at 24-16, Purdue responded with a 22-6 run. Michigan State scored the final five points of the first half, but Purdue was able to come out of halftime with a lead.

The Boilermakers opened the second half on a 16-4 run, making for a 38-10 run overall and a 54-39 lead.

Tyson Walker, who had 12 points in the first half, was held in check while Purdue built its double-digit lead. Walker scored just two points in the second half.

Despite Walker being shut down, the Spartans made it a game. A.J. Hoggard’s 3 cut the deficit to 58-55 and Michigan State managed to stay in that five-to-eight point window.

Mason Gillis essentially sealed the victory with a 3 with 56.3 seconds left. Lance Jones then snagged a steal on Michigan State’s ensuing possession.

Zach Edey watch

Tom Izzo chose to guard Edey with one defender last season in East Lansing. Edey scored 32 and had the game-winning basket in the final seconds.

Michigan State again opted to play Edey straight up for a lot of Saturday’s game, though help was there at times.

Edey again was able to dominate the Spartans, finishing with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

3 stars

Braden Smith, Purdue: The sophomore point guard continues to solidify his legend status. Smith entered the game needing four assists to tie Bruce Parkinson’s single-season Purdue record of 207. Smith fell one assist shy, but made up for it with 23 points and 9 rebounds.

Fletcher Loyer, Purdue: The sophomore guard snapped out of a shooting funk. It probably began in the second half at Michigan on Sunday, but Loyer drained 3 of 5 3s in the first half and finished with 15 points, his most since scoring 19 at Indiana on Jan. 16.

Mason Gillis, Purdue: The senior forward wasn’t big in the scoring column, but his 3-pointer with 6:55 to go came when the Boilermakers had to have a bucket. Then, he delivered the dagger. Gillis’ ability to hit 3s also brought defenders to the 3-point line, opening the inside and Gillis was able to deposit post feeds. Gillis had 4 assists.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.