The Michigan State Spartans (14-9, 9-3) continued to roll in Big Ten play, defeating a struggling Purdue (16-9, 6-6) squad 62-55 in East Lansing Tuesday.

With 21 points, Paul Davis led the Spartans in points. Davis reached double digits in scoring for the 18th time this season.

Davis added 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Kevin Torbert had 15 points for Michigan State, passing the 800-point mark in his collegiate career.

Chris Hill passed Pete Gent on the all-time scoring list at Michigan State with nine points against Purdue. Hill currently has 1,150 points and is in 24th place on the all-time list for MSU.

The Spartans played solid defense, holding the Boilermakers to 34 percent (17 for 50) from the field. The defensive effort was Michigan State’s best of the season. In the past two games, Spartan opponents have hit just three three-point shots. Purdue was 2-for-17 from beyond the arc on the night.

Purdue scored 23 points in the first half, marking the second-lowest first-half point total by a Spartan opponent this year. South Florida scored 19 points in the first stanza (Dec. 16), while Penn (Nov. 29) and Michigan (Jan. 17) also recorded 23 points in their first halves against MSU.

Michigan State is 11-1 at home in 2003-04. Since the start of the season, MSU has won 84 of its 88 regular-season games in Breslin, a winning percentage of .955, and is 44-2 (.957) at home since 1998-99.

With a 9-3 record in the Big Ten, Michigan State is off to its best 12-game start in the conference since 2001, when it also opened with a 9-3 mark. The Spartans finished 2001 with a 13-3 record and captured a fourth-straight Big Ten title, winning their last six conference games after a road loss at Illinois.

— compiled from staff reports