Michigan State basketball: 3 keys to victory at No. 2 Purdue

Michigan State basketball will head to Purdue on Saturday night. What do the Spartans need to do to pull off the upset?

Michigan State basketball is back in action on Saturday as they travel to Purdue to take on the No. 2 Boilermakers. This might just be the most difficult game of the season for MSU, but that doesn’t mean they can’t win it.

Here are my three keys for Michigan State to help them pull off the big upset on the road.

1. Don’t focus on Edey too much

Yes, you read that correctly, I don’t think Michigan State should focus on Edey too much. No matter what MSU tries to do defensively, I just don’t think there’s a realistic way to slow him down. I think they are better suited focusing on stopping Purdue’s other players than trying to stop Edey.

That’s exactly what the Spartans did in 2018 when it beat Purdue at home when they had another dominant big man in Issac Haas. They let Haas go one-on-one all game and shut down every other player for Purdue. That strategy worked to perfection then and I think they should do it again in Saturday’s game.

It’s not the end of the world if Edey scores a lot as long as no other Boilermaker does well. So that’s why MSU should let Edey play one-on-one and focus on stopping Purdue’s guards.

2. Get Tyson Walker going again

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Tyson Walker of old. He hasn’t been playing poorly, but he hasn’t been up to the standard he was at earlier this season.

Walker has only scored 20 points once in his last 10 games. At one point this season he was averaging over 20 points per game, but that no longer is the case. Maybe his recent struggles have to do with his ongoing groin injury, but MSU will need him at his best if they’re going to pull off the upset.

That’s why Michigan State needs to go to Walker early and often, in hopes he will start hot and play with a lot of confidence the entire game.

3. Use Xavier Booker to counter Zach Edey

My biggest fear in this game is that Xavier Booker won’t get enough playing time. He likely will struggle with the physical presence of Zach Edey, but I don’t think that means he shouldn’t play.

Just like Booker will probably struggle guarding Edey, I think Edey will struggle guarding Booker. Edey is a great defender, but he turns into an average defender if he has to guard the perimeter. That’s one of the reasons why Purdue lost to a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament last year.

Booker is the only MSU post player who can force Edey to defend the perimeter. So that’s why he should still play a lot this game even though he’ll likely struggle to defend Edey.