Sports

In many ways, Purdue’s performance Sunday against Michigan State was a microcosm of the team’s past week.

The Boilermakers started off strong, only to fall late.

The eighth-ranked Spartans beat Purdue for the third straight time 76-62.

“The game is all about emotions and it’s about runs too.  For a while we had Michigan State struggling to hit shots and then (Austin) Thorton and those guys got it going from the outside in the second half and we kind of cooled down,” said senior guard Lewis Jackson. 

“You got to credit Michigan State.  We just missed some shots here and there.  (If) we get one or two of those shots to go down, the crowd maybe gets more into it, our spirits stay a little bit higher. It’s just the way basketball goes sometimes.”

Purdue men’s basketball team will be without two of their key players Sunday against Michigan State.

The Boilers suspended D.J Byrd for the game and have dismissed Kelsey Barlow from the program.

The two were involved in an incident at a West Lafayette bar early Friday morning which ended in Byrd’s arrest. 

Byrd has scored in double-figures in each of Purdue’s last five games and is fifth on the team in scoring for the season.

Barlow was one of the team’s best defenders and ranked fourth on team in scoring.

The Boilermakers host the eighth-ranked Spartans, Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

They lost to Michigan State by 25-points a month ago in East Lansing.

Sam Klemet and student reporter Rob McMahon break down the Purdue men's basketball team's up and down week, their NCAA tournament hopes, and lineup changes.  Also discussed this week is the women's basketball team's Big Ten championship chances, and the football team's offseason.

The coffin doors aren’t closed on Purdue’s NCAA tournament hopes, yet.  The Boilermakers ended a two game losing streak with an 87-77 win over Northwestern to sweep the season series against the Wildcats.

“Losing those close games has been tough, especially because for the part four or five years we’ve defended our home court so well, so it’s definitely good to get a win back home again,” said Robbie Hummel.  “I think it’s important for us to set the tone for the rest of the year that it’s going to hard to come into Mackey Arena and win.”

Hummel had a team-high 27-points and nine rebounds. 

On this week's Purdue Sports Podcast, Sam Klemet and student reporter Rob McMahon recap the end of the Boilermakers' men's basketball team's dominance of Indiana, the up and down week for the women's basketball team, football recruiting and coaching changes, and some weekly awards in football and track and field.

Bragging rights in the birth state of basketball transformed shades from black and gold to crimson and cream. Indiana beat Purdue 78-61 at Mackey Arena to end a five game losing streak that extended over almost three years.

“To me, it looked like it meant more to them,” said Purdue head coach Matt Painter. “I thought they were more engaged…They deserved to win the game. They were tougher than us. They were quicker to the basketball and definitely deserved to win it.”

The Hoosiers came into the game needing to prove not only that they can beat the Boilers, but that they can win on the road. Indiana had lost four straight away from Bloomington.

A Purdue basketball player is receiving accolades for her performance in the classroom.

The College Sports Information Directors of America named Brittany Rayburn to its District Five First Team All-Academic list.

It’s the second year in a row she’s earned first team honors and third straight year she has been acknowledged.  In 2010, Rayburn was placed on the second team.

She has a 3.71 GPA in Animal Science.

The senior leads Purdue with more than 14-points per game this season.

The 15th-ranked Boilermakers take on number 16 Nebraska Thursday at Mackey Arena at seven.