EAST LANSING, Mich. _ It was a moment for Miles Bridges to shine.
He caught the ball at the top of the key, dribbled to his right and lofted a 3-pointer right in front of the Michigan State bench.
Breslin Center went quiet for a brief second. And then ...
Splash.
Roar.
Bridges' swish with 2.7 seconds left completed the fourth-ranked Spartans' rally from a 10-point first-half deficit that knocked off No. 3 Purdue, 68-65, on Saturday afternoon in a matchup with Big Ten and national implications.
Tum Tum Nairn fouled the Boilermakers' Vincent Edwards on the ensuing inbound pass, but Edwards missed the free throw and the Spartans rebounded and ran out the clock after one more inbound pass.
MSU did not take a lead until there was 9:03 to play in the second half, with Bridges swishing a jumper from the top of the key. The sophomore finished with 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting.
Cassius Winston had 10 points and 10 assists, and Matt McQuaid scored nine on three 3-pointers for the Spartans, who got just eight combined points from Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward. Gavin Schilling added seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Isaac Haas had 25 points and Carsen Edwards 14 to lead Purdue.
The Spartans (23-3, 12-2) now get an edge over the Boilermakers (23-4, 12-2) in the Big Ten standings since it is their only meeting of the season. They both sit a game behind No. 16 Ohio State, which beat Purdue on Wednesday.
The Buckeyes beat MSU in their lone meeting of the regular season on Jan. 7.
None of those top three teams will play again during the regular season, and Ohio State (21-5, 12-1) currently holds any tiebreakers. The other 11 teams in the conference each have four or more league losses already, with the Big Ten Tournament moved up a week and set to begin Feb. 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Purdue led by as many as 10 points early with Haas backing down Ward and MSU's other post players into the paint and because of some hot outside shooting.
But when Haas got his second foul with 7:06 left in the first half, it allowed the Spartans to get back in it. Bridges drove for a two-handed dunk and Gavin Schilling got four straight points as part of an 8-0 run to get MSU back within 25-24.
Purdue scored seven points off five MSU turnovers. Edwards scored five straight points, and Haas' backup, Matt Haarms, added four points for some breathing room.
It stayed close throughout the first portion of the second half, with Purdue going up eight thanks to Haas' interior presence and MSU cutting it back to a single possession, 46-43, on a tip by Langford and a Winston 3-pointer.
The Boilermakers pulled back ahead by seven before the Spartans again recovered with a pair of Langford free throws and a McQuaid 3-pointer.
Down four, MSU ripped off six straight points, getting a pair of jumpers from Bridges and a Kenny Goins layup to take its first lead of the game with 9:03 to play. Breslin erupted when Bridges swished a jumper over Purdue's Ryan Cline to put the Spartans ahead.
Haas kept the Boilermakers close by continuing to dominate in the paint, scoring four points to briefly pull them back into a tie before Winston hit a long jumper to make it 61-59 with 5:07 to play.
