EAST LANSING, Mich. — It’s a play nearly anyone who’s watched Michigan State men’s basketball has seen: Coen Carr dunking like he's in the All-Star Game. But every time he does it, he still brings the crowd to its feet. And every time he does it, it brings his team to life.

A typically atypical Coen Carr jam proved the inflection point against No. 14 Purdue. In Tuesday night’s matchup of Big Ten title hopefuls, No. 13 Michigan State (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) notched a 75-66 win, never trailing after Carr’s highlight finish brought Breslin Center to life.

Carr's 10 points wasn’t the only consistent threat for Michigan State. Guard Jase Richardson led Michigan State with 12 points, while forward Frankie Fidler also reached double digits. Three Spartans scored nine each. Purdue’s Trey Kaufmann-Renn led the game with 24 points, aided by 17 more from guard Braden Smith.

Right out of the gate, both teams traded punches fitting for a matchup of Big Ten contenders. Michigan State found the opening bucket off a backdoor cut from Szymon Zapala. Purdue (19-8, 11-5) leaned on its guards early as Kaufmann-Renn started slow. Part of his early hang-ups were induced by strong post defense from Kohler, who leveraged his own size to wall him up.

Kaufmann-Renn scored eight points in the first half on seven shots. He didn’t record a rebound until three minutes into the second half.

Michigan State made frequent substitutions to keep fresh, while Purdue kept its best players on the court as much as possible. Smith ran the offense the entire time. Purdue leaned on Smith so heavily that he took his water breaks during free throws, squeezing a Gatorade bottle on the court for a refresh en route to six points of Purdue’s 18-12 lead by the first half’s midpoint.

Michigan State’s offense, meanwhile, staggered forward, with five turnovers in the first 10 minutes. The bulk were induced by the pace of play, with the Spartans’ break getting up the court faster than its recent lull, but also making mistakes in the process.

With 8:18 left in the first half, Kaufmann-Renn committed his second foul, expressing his dismay at the call by tucking his head under his jersey and throwing his hands up as he headed to Purdue’s bench. Without its star, the Boilermakers’ offense didn’t score for the next two minutes.

Michigan State didn’t fare much better to take advantage of his absence, just a pair of Frankie Fidler free throws. Hesitant offense caused a rush at the shot clock, and the Spartans went 5:29 without a field goal.

The play that broke the slump also broke the game wide open. On a busted play that sent Smith sprawling for the ball, Jase Richardson came up with it and threw up an underhanded lob to Coen Carr, who slammed it down to tie the game and bring Breslin Center to its feet. Another lob to Zapala and a fastbreak layup to Kohler gave Michigan State a 10-0 run and a four-point lead. At halftime, the Spartans led 33-31, with 10 points coming from Richardson.

Michigan State stretched the lead early with an instant 8-0 run. Strong defense keyed it, exemplified by Zapala. A smart switching kept Purdue’s Caleb Furst from cashing in an easy post touch, leading to a stop that fed a Zapala and-one on the other end.

Rivaling Carr's own heroics, Fidler exploded in the second half himself. After a corner three, the maligned shooter wiped his face in relief. Then he notched a steal he took down the court for a one-handed jam. One more steal for good measure fed Carr for a reverse layup to give Michigan State a 52-39 lead.

Purdue whittled back, keyed by back-to-back threes. Once again, Michigan State’s defense keyed the takeover. A swipe by Jeremy Fears Jr. as Smith mishandled the ball led to a transition bucket for Fidler. Smith went to the bench after the next stoppage, Purdue coach Matt Painter looking to reset the tip of his spear.

With 7:55 to play, Zapala received a foul as two Purdue players tripped over each other, a call made to loud protests from the crowd. Later, he set a screen that knocked Purdue’s Myles Colvin to the ground writhing in pain. The officials stopped play, but didn’t call a foul on Zapala.

As Purdue looked to pull even, it drew closer off the hand of Kaufmann-Renn, who scored six points in the final four minutes. But every time, Michigan State found ballast. As Michigan State led big in the final minute, Richardson fed Carr one more highlight dunk to close the win.

Michigan State’s toughest stretch of the schedule continues at 8 p.m. ET Friday with a visit to No. 12 Michigan (Fox). The Wolverines sit atop the Big Ten, while Michigan State sits half a game back in second place.

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