Kalin Lucas scored 18 of his career-high 30 points in the first half while playing on a severely sprained ankle, leading Michigan State to a 74-56 victory over No. 9 Purdue in the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday night at Indianapolis.

Draymond Green added eight points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three blocks for the enigmatic Spartans (19-13), who resembled the squad that was preseason No. 2 in the rankings rather than the one that was terribly inconsistent all season.

Michigan State almost assuredly locked up an NCAA tournament bid with the victory and will play Penn State on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals.

JaJuan Johnson had 21 points and nine rebounds and E’Twaun Moore added 17 for the second-seeded Boilermakers (25-7), but the rest of the crew added just 18 points on 5-of-21 shooting.

Lucas, who injured his right ankle in the first-round win Thursday against Indiana, received a cortisone shot prior to the game to help manage the pain. But it was Lucas, who played like the player who was the Big Ten Player of the Year two years ago as a sophomore, who dished out the punishment.

He shot 7 of 10 in the opening 20 minutes, including 4 of 4 from the arc, and handed out three assists as the seventh-seeded Spartans committed just two turnovers and held the Boilermakers to 9-of-26 shooting to forge a 37-23 edge at the break.

Michigan State quickly increased the bulge to 20 after intermission and weathered an 8-0 run from Purdue midway through the half that cut the deficit to nine before putting away the game with its own 8-0 run.