EAST LANSING, Mich. — Undone by turnovers, fourth-ranked Purdue incurred a blow to its Big Ten title hopes at Michigan State Saturday afternoon, beaten 68-65 on Tyson Walker's game-winning three with a second to play.

Our breakdown.

PDF: Purdue-Michigan State statistics

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Purdue had a whole week off to ponder its vulnerabilities and, ideally, strengthen them after a few days of badly needed rest.

Instead, the Boilermakers' most acute worry — turnovers – went completely sideways on them, the singular reason Purdue just gave ground in the conference title race at this late a juncture.

Purdue committed 16 turnovers, frittering away roughly a quarter of their possessions and setting up 16 Spartan points.

Windows of opportunity to roar past the Spartans came and went and led to the Boilermakers trailing by as many as 11 In the second half before tying the game in the final minute.

It was fitting that Purdue's last chance for a prayer to be answered — an in-bound with four-tenths of a second to play — ended in a turnover.

"It's on us, completely on us, on me, because I had a couple I wish I could take back," said Jaden Ivey, who committed five of them. "From the get-go, we just had a lot of turnovers and they were able to get in rhythm and when teams get in rhythm collectively, they're going to have that energy."

It was Tyson Walker's step-back three over Trevion Williams — Purdue switched five ways after Williams had tied the game with 30 seconds to play — that'll make the highlight shows tonight.

What won't make the highlight shows: The common denominator among so many of Purdue's losses this season.

Those giveaways.

Same as Rutgers, same as Wisconsin, and same as Indiana, turnovers all throughout the game left Purdue in a compromising position when the game was there to be decided at the end.

"At halftime I thought we were in a good position, because (Michigan State) played pretty well (and still only led by two)," Painter said. "We had seven turnovers at the half and wanted a total of 10 for the game. We really challenged them, and then we had four turnovers before the first media timeout."

That was the golden opportunity that came and went.

After Purdue closed the first half well, it generated a series a defensive stops to open the second.

After tying the game to open the half, Purdue then turned the ball over on four of the next five possessions and five of six.

"We all had them," guard Eric Hunter said. "Just bone-headed plays, us trying to make the game too difficult."

It played right into Michigan State's traditional blueprint. The Spartans got out in transition (19 fast-break points) off both turnovers and stops at the basket, made threes and more than anything, just kind of got out of the way and let the Boilermakers' Achilles heel show itself.

"We'll go three or four games and be fine," Painter said, "and then our inability to stay consistent and not turn the basketball over has really hurt us, especially on the road.

"But out-rebounding them by 10, shooting 53 percent from the field, if we just give ourselves more chances, then I like our odds in this game, but we didn't."

Michigan State did exactly what Michigan State historically has done against Purdue.

They went one-on-one in the post, essentially conceding big numbers to the Boilermaker big men, and targeted taking away the three.

Purdue was an unthinkable 1-of-9 from three-point range, while the Spartans made nine on 20 tries.

Sasha Stefanovic, a long-time focal point of Spartan scouting reports, was 1-of-6 from the floor, his only basket coming on a layup.

Jaden Ivey made a three toward his 16 points, snapping an 0-for-10 slump the two games prior. Otherwise, Purdue was 0-for-8. The few good looks the Boilermakers did get, they missed, including a couple at important moments in the second half. Purdue did not check the "timely shooting" box at the Breslin Center.

The big men did get theirs.

Zach Edey went for 25 and Trevion Williams 11, six of them in the final three minutes to give Purdue a chance.

But they also combined for seven turnovers at the center of Purdue's most one-dimensional offensive showing of the season.

"We just didn't give ourselves enough chances," Hunter said. "We probably could have gotten more threes up if we hadn't turned it over so much."

It means that Purdue hasn't solved its deepest-rooted problems, and that's troubling given the gravity of these games and the fact it's this deep in the season.

Make no mistake here: Purdue lost this game every bit as much as Michigan State won it. The Spartans played pretty close to their ceiling and essentially sat back and let Purdue beat itself for the first 30 minutes or so. That's been the secret sauce against the Boilermakers.

If three of those four prior losses and a week to ponder itself didn't change things, what will?

A lot of things can still happen, but Purdue might have literally just given away a Big Ten championship.

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