#8 Purdue narrowly leads #13 Michigan State at halftime, 39-36

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — The Purdue Boilermakers have control going into halftime in the top-15 matchup against Michigan State — but it’s not by much.

No. 8 Purdue leads the 13th-ranked Spartans 39-36 at half.

The Boilers started the game strong, running out to a 13-6 lead at the first media time out. Purdue senior center Oscar Cluff scored 8 of those 13 points. Then the Spartans started to get settled in. Tom Izzo’s crew rattled off a 10-0 run to take the lead with 12:28 left in the first half.

The two teams traded blows the rest of the half until Purdue sophomore guard Gicarri Harris drained a three-pointer to put the Boilers up 5 with 57 seconds on the clock.

After a couple of Spartan free throws, the Boilers held on a 3-point lead at the break.

Cluff leads the Purdue scorers with 10 points and four rebounds. Purdue senior point guard Braden Smith has already collected seven assists — pushing him over the 1,000 mark for his career. Smith becomes the first Boiler to reach that milestone in school history.

Watch News 8 at 11 with Phil Sanchez for live postgame coverage following the game.