By MATT CHARBONEAU
The Detroit News
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- For the second straight game, Michigan State had a hard time putting the ball in the basket on Saturday.
For the second straight game the Spartans were also busy trying to figure out how to take something positive from a game in which they played fairly well but ended up losing.
This time it came at the hands of No. 14 Purdue, which rode the hot shooting of E'Twaun Moore and the spark of 5-foot-9 guard Lewis Jackson to an 86-76 victory at Mackey Arena.
It was the second straight loss for the 17th-ranked Spartans, who now find themselves in a deep hole at 4-3 in the Big Ten
Moore was outstanding in the first half, scoring 19 points before finishing with a game-high 26.
"We didn't guard him in the first half," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "Give E'Twaun credit, he hit the shots but there was a ghost guarding him. It was someone running around with a number on his back but it didn't guard him. Once he gets going and makes a couple threes
