The No. 13 Michigan State Spartans (21-5, 10-3) are on the road once again headed to West Lafayette, Ind. to take on the Purdue Boilermakers (15-10, 5-7).

In the Spartans’ last game they suffered a disappointing loss to unranked Nebraska at home, losing 60-51.

Sophomore Gary Harris was the top performer against the Cornhuskers recording 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Michigan State as a team shot 34 percent from the field, 20 percent from three-point range and 86 percent from the line.

Junior guard Travis Trice started in place of Keith Appling who is limited due to a hand injury. Appling played 19 minutes off the bench.

Harris still remains in the top-five offensive leaders in the Big Ten, scoring 17.4 points per game and is currently No. 4 overall in steals averaging two per game.

The Purdue Boilermakers enter this game coming off a big win over the Indiana Hoosiers, 82-64.

Sterling Carter was the top performer against the Hoosiers contributing 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Purdue as a team shot 48 percent in field goal attempts, 56 percent from behind the arc and 76 percent from the free throw line.

Shooting guard brothers Terone (12.2 PPG) and Ronnie Johnson (10.7 PPG) are two key players to watch for the Boilermakers as they are both averaging double digit points per game.

A third key player to keep an eye on is big man A.J. Hammons, who is the leading conference blocker (3.1 BPG) and third in defensive rebounds. He is also averaging 10.6 points per game.

Purdue will be looking to hand the Spartans their fourth loss in the Big Ten and to knock them out of their first place ranking in the conference.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Mackey Arena and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Hayleigh Geurink is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports.

Photo: Scott Wasserman/Impact Sports