EAST LANSING— No. 14 Michigan State men’s basketball is hosting No. 13 Purdue on Tuesday night for one of the final three games at the Breslin Center this season.  

MSU is coming off a comeback win, 79-65, over Illinois at the State Farm Center on Saturday evening. Junior forward Jaxon Kohler led the Spartans with his sixth double-double of the season with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds.  

Illinois had MSU chasing it for the first half, leading 41-37 at halftime. The Spartans flipped a switch in the second half to outscore the Fighting Illini 42-24 in that half alone. They also outshot them 48.48% from the field compared to 22.58% from the field in the second half.  

MSU also had Illinois beat in total rebounds (41-36), bench points (33-21), points in the paint (40-30), points off turnovers (21-10) and second chance points (18-12). The Spartans, however, underperformed from the free throw line going 8-13 compared to the Illini’s 10-13.  

Senior guard Jaden Akins and freshman guard Jase Richardson both are averaging double figures for points per game this season. Akins averages 13.2 points per game and Richardson averages 10.3 points per game. Junior guard Tre Holloman, Kohler and sophomore forward Coen Carr are all averaging over eight points per game.  

Purdue leads the all-time series with MSU 76-57. The Boilermakers have won the last five meetings with the Spartans and have claimed nine of the last 10 matchups. MSU is 18-10 when playing Purdue at home. 

Scouting Purdue 

The Boilermakers are 19-7 on the season and 11-4 in Big Ten play. Purdue is currently on a two-game skid after falling to now-No. 12 Michigan on Feb. 11 and now-No. 11 Wisconsin on Saturday.  

The Badgers took down the Boilermakers 94-84. Junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn led Purdue with 30 points. Junior guard Fletcher Loyer and freshman guard C.J. Cox also were in double-digits for points with 15 and 13 respectively.  

The Boilermakers shot 51.8% from the field, 45.5% from behind the arc and 76.2% from the free throw line on Saturday. They also recorded 25 rebounds, 21 assists, four turnovers and two steals.  

Kaufman-Renn is averaging 19.4 points per game this season. Junior guard Braden Smith and Loyer are also averaging in double figures with 16 points per game and 13.9 points per game respectively.  

MSU and Purdue will go head-to-head on Tuesday night with the tip-off set for 7 p.m. Tune into the live game broadcast featuring Matt Merrifield and Allie Cohen at impact89fm.org/?radio_player=2.