No. 13 Michigan State holds on to edge No. 8 Purdue, 76-74

By Canadian Press on February 26, 2026.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Carson Cooper scored 15 points, Kur Teng had 13 and No. 13 Michigan State survived Braden Smith’s missed 3-point attempt with a second to play for a 76-74 victory over No. 8 Purdue on Thursday night.

Jeremy Fears Jr. added 12 and Coen Carr had 11 for the Spartans (23-5, 13-4 Big Ten), who snapped a seven-game losing streak at Purdue.

Smith, who became the fifth player in Division I history to reach 1,000 career assists, finished with 12 points and 10 assists for Purdue (22-6, 12-5). Jack Benter had 11 points for the Boilermakers.

After Smith’s two free throws closed the deficit to 66-64 with 5:48 left, the Spartans responded with a 6-0 run. Trailing 74-67, Smith hit a 3-pointer and a driving layup to trim the lead to 74-72 with 2:16 left.

Trailing 76-74, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn missed a chance to tie it with a jumper in the lane with 8 seconds left. Michigan State’s Cam Ward missed the front end of one-and-one. The Boilermakers got the rebound and called timeout with 3.4 seconds left to set up the final shot.

Michigan State shot 53% while Purdue hit 49%. Purdue had nine turnovers, three more than Michigan State.

The Boilermakers took a 39-36 lead at halftime. Michigan State hit 48% in a first half with seven lead changes.

Oscar Cluff, who had all 10 of his points in the first half, scored to put Purdue ahead 36-34 with 2:55 left in the first half.

Purdue sank 6 of 11 3-pointers in the first half while Michigan State was 3 of 9 on 3-pointers.

Purdue’s largest lead in the first half was at 13-6. The Spartans used a 10-0 run to take a 16-13 lead with 12:28 left in the first half.

Up next

Michigan State: At Indiana on Sunday.

Purdue: At Ohio State on Sunday.

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Mark Ambrogi, The Associated Press

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