EAST LANSING, MI — Trevion Williams made a jumper with 4 seconds left and Purdue stunned No. 23 Michigan State 55-54 in a Big Ten Conference game on Friday night.
“A good road win for us,” coach Matt Painter said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well. We didn’t play well in the first half. But anytime you can figure out a way to win, no matter how ugly it is, you’re just hoping it can build confidence with your team.”
Michigan State led 54-50 with 19 second remaining, but a pair of free throws by Eric Hunter Jr. another by Trevion Williams cut the deficit to one point point with 9 second left in the game.
Williams then sealed the win for Purdue when he fired awkwardly over his defender off an inbound pass from Hunter.
“Everybody knew the ball was going to me,” the forward said. “I just wanted to take my time with it.
“We all know we’re capable of competing against anybody in the country.”
Henry missed a potential game-winner on the next possession.
Williams finished the game with 26 points and nine rebounds, while shooting 9 of 14 from the field and made 8 of 12 from the stripe to lead the way for the Boilermakers (8-5, 3-3 Big Ten).
Hunter Jr. had seven points, sever rebounds and four assists for Purdue, which shot 33.9% on 19 of 56 and missed 21 of its 24 attempts from 3-pointers.
Henry scored 13 points with seven rebounds and two blocks for the Spartans (8-4, 2-4 Big Ten), who had won two straight entering this game.
Joshua Langford added 10 points in the win.
“There’s no need to hang our heads, it’s too early in the season,” Langford said. “The loss does hurt, especially losing like that when we had the lead.”
Michigan State shot 39.0% on 16 of 41 shooting from the field and made 3 of its 13 attempts from deep.
“One of the more disappointing losses,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. “Give Purdue credit.”
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Izzo added. “They deserved to win. They made winning plays.”
The victory gave Purdue its first win against a ranked opponent this season and snapped a two-game losing streak.
