Purdue's A.J. Hammons dunks against Michigan State's Gary Harris, left, and Branden Dawson, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 84-61.(AP Photo/Al Goldis) (The Associated Press)
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Purdue's plan was falling into place: The Boilermakers were rebounding well and forcing No. 18 Michigan State into a streak of missed shots. The Spartans led by only two points early in the second half.
Then Anthony Johnson drove to the basket, and there was contact between him and Michigan State's Travis Trice. A foul was called on Trice, but Johnson was hit with a dead ball technical — the start of a 28-7 run by the Spartans that put their 84-61 victory out of reach.
"You're going to have some things go against you, and a lot of things right in a row went against us," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We fouled — and missed our free throws — and then we missed a couple layups and had a couple breakdowns. ... We had some things in that stretch that we could control, and we just didn't handle our business."
Freshman Gary Harris scored a season-high 22 points, for the Spartans, who missed their first 10 shots from the field after halftime. It didn't much matter in what quickly became a free throw contest. Michigan State finished 18 of 22 from the line, and the Boilermakers were 9 of 20 — including 6 of 16 in the second half.
Branden Dawson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans (12-3, 1-1 Big Ten), who bounced back from a loss at Minnesota in their conference opener.
A.J. Hammons scored 20 points for Purdue (7-7, 1-1), which was coming off a win over No. 11 Illinois.
The Boilermakers were trying for their fourth straight 2-0 start in the Big Ten. Terone Johnson, who scored 25 points against Illinois, had 11 against Michigan State on 5-of-19 shooting. D.J. Byrd scored 14 points for Purdue.
"We played hard and battled hard," Byrd said. "In the second half, it was just too much. We dug ourselves a hole."
Harris, whose mother Joy was a standout at Purdue before playing for the WNBA's Detroit Shock, went 6 of 8 from 3-point range.
"I'm sure my mom was nervous with that being her alma mater, but I know she's happy with the outcome of the game," Harris said.
His previous scoring high was 20 points against Loyola last month.
Purdue shot 39 percent from the field, and Michigan State wasn't much better at 45 percent. That gave two of the Big Ten's most aggressive rebounding teams plenty of chances to fight over missed shots. The Spartans finished with 13 offensive rebounds to Purdue's 11.
"I'm not real pleased with this performance today," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "But we made some progress, and we challenged ourselves, and I think we again took another step. In this league, you've just got to keep taking steps."
The Boilermakers trailed 43-41 early in the second half when Johnson was called for the technical foul. Trice made the only two free throws to come out of that exchange, and the decisive run was under way.
Derrick Nix added two more free throws, and Dawson's layup — Michigan State's first field goal of the half — made it 49-41. When the Boilermakers did get to the free throw line, they didn't convert enough.
A 3-pointer by Harris — the Spartans' second field goal of the half — pushed the lead to 57-43.
It was 66-46 after another 3-pointer by Harris, and Michigan State led by as many as 23 points.
Purdue went on an 8-0 run to cut into the lead, but Harris halted that with a 3-pointer.
Michigan State led 36-30 at halftime thanks to Harris and Trice, who had combined for 19 points and 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
The teams combined to shoot 36 free throws in the second half after only six in the first.
In its previous visit to East Lansing, Purdue lost by almost the same score, falling 83-58 last January.
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