Purdue upsets Michigan St. in overtime

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 18 Purdue turned Tuesday night's game into an impromptu Senior Night celebration.

Rapheal Davis, the Boilermakers' defensive stopper, played the offensive game of his life. A.J. Hammons, a 7-foot center, nearly posted a triple-double. And together they refused to let No. 8 Michigan State beat them again.

Davis made one of two free throws with 4.6 seconds left in overtime and Hammons wrestled the ensuing rebound on a miss from several defenders to preserve an 82-81 victory.

"I've been telling these guys since the summer I just want to beat Michigan State," Davis said. "I've never beat Michigan State."

Leading up to the game, the banter had focused almost exclusively on the Boilermakers' seven-game losing streak in this series.

So when Purdue's 18-point second-half lead vanished and Michigan State took a 72-68 lead with 1:59 left in regulation, it looked like the Boilermakers were doomed again.

Davis and Hammons wouldn't allow it to happen.

"I saw them fighting over it, so I just reached in and made sure I got it," Hammons said.

Davis needed just one half to produce a season-high 19 points and set a career high by making five three-pointers. When the shooting guard cooled off in the second half, Hammons jumped in and finished the job. He scored 19 points, had a season-high 13 rebounds and eight blocks to equal a career high.

Hammons wasn't the only player flirting with a triple-double. Denzel Valentine finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Spartans (20-5, 7-5).

His three three-pointers in a 49-second flurry early in the second half got the Spartans back into the game and his layup with 11.5 seconds left in overtime tied the score at 81.