Purdue University’s men’s basketball team secured a piece of the 2023-24 Big Ten Conference championship by defeating Michigan State 80-74 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday night. With this victory, the Boilermakers improved to a 15-3 record in conference play, putting them two games ahead of Illinois with only two games remaining.
This achievement marks Purdue’s second consecutive Big Ten title and its 26th overall, surpassing Indiana by four titles for the most in conference history. This back-to-back triumph is the first for the program since claiming three consecutive championships in 1994, 1995, and 1996.
Despite trailing 26-19 with 8:44 remaining in the first half, Purdue rallied with a 19-4 run, establishing an eight-point lead by halftime with a score of 38-35. The Boilermakers extended their lead to 54-39 early in the second half after a Zach Edey three-point play. Although Michigan State mounted an 8-0 run to narrow the gap to three points, Purdue responded with a 7-2 run, maintaining a seven-point lead. From there, the visitors failed to close the deficit to less than five points for the remainder of the game.
Next, Purdue will travel to Champaign to take on Illinois on Tuesday at 7 pm on Peacock. The Boilermakers will conclude their regular season with a home game against Wisconsin on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., airing on FOX. Meanwhile, Illinois will face Iowa in their regular-season finale at 7 p.m. on FS1.
The 2024 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is scheduled to take place from March 13-17 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. All 14 Big Ten programs will participate in the tournament, with the champion earning the conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
+ There are no comments
Add yours