Michigan State freshman Nick Ward improving at free-throw line

EAST LANSING – Quietly, Nick Ward has quieted many of the moving parts in his free-throw motion.

The results have been pretty loud – his extra work is paying off.

The freshman forward has gone 25-for-36 at the free-throw line over Michigan State’s last nine games, making 10 of 11 in the past three outings.

“I’ve been working on it a lot, day and night,” Ward said after practice Thursday. “It’s a little more confidence. It’s my technique, being consistent at the line.”

Ward has been focusing on keeping his left (shooting) arm from angling away from his body and is now at 60.3% from the line in Big Ten play after his 5-for-6 effort against Ohio State and a 4-for-4 performance versus Iowa, both MSU victories. He’ll try to replicate that Saturday on the road, when the Spartans travel to No. 16 Purdue (4 p.m./ESPN).

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In the two teams’ first meeting on Jan. 24, the 6-foot-8 Ward scored just nine points with one rebound in MSU’s 84-73 loss to the Boilermakers. He battled foul trouble and the big Purdue defensive tandem of Caleb Swanigan (6-foot-9) and Isaac Haas (7-2).

In that game, Ward went 1-for-2 from the line. Coach Tom Izzo said the Spartans need to be more aggressive in the paint this time around, and it starts with Ward.

“We’ve been looking at it and got him to slow down a little bit. Now, I think he’s to the point where he feels comfortable,” assistant coach Dwayne Stephens said of Ward’s free throws. “He’s got his elbow in a little more than it was. It’s a work in progress, but the big thing is he’s been putting in more time. … He now has more confidence, so when he gets up there, he’s not as nervous, and he can focus on the things he’s supposed to focus on when he’s shooting. He’s having a little bit of success, and hopefully he can keep it going.”

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.