One thing that you should never forget during March Madness is to expect the unexpected. Upsets are part of what makes college basketball so great, especially during conference tournaments when bubble teams are playing for a spot in the Big Dance.
Take what happened tonight in Indianapolis with Michigan State as proof of that. After losing twice to Purdue during the regular season, including a loss at home by 20 points, nobody expected MSU to win and advance to the semifinals. Naturally, what ends up happening? Michigan State ran Purdue out of the building and won by a score of 74-56, completely dominating the Boilermakers in the process.
Perhaps just as surprising as the upset is how Kalin Lucas played. A day after hurting his ankle, Lucas came out and scored a career-high 30 points. He shot the ball extremely well, going 8-15 from the field, 4-6 from three-point land and 10-11 from the free throw line. Keith Appling was the only other MSU player to score in double figures (he had 10 points), which shows just how well Lucas played.
For Purdue, JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore were the only two players that did much of anything. Johnson had 21 points and Moore had 17. The rest of the team had a combined 18 points. That alone shows you how much of a struggle it was for Purdue on this day.
With the win, Michigan State moves on to the semifinals. The Spartans will play the winner of the Wisconsin/Penn State game for the chance to play in the Big Ten tournament championship game. Here is a look at the updated Big Ten tournament bracket:
No. 1 Ohio State (beat Northwestern, 67-61 in OT, in quarterfinals) vs. No. 4 Michigan (beat Illinois, 60-55, in quarterfinals)
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No. 7 Michigan State (beat Purdue, 74-56, in quarterfinals) vs. Wisconsin or Penn State
For more on the 2011 Big Ten tournament, check out SB Nation Detroit's StoryStream.