It was bust or be busted for two NCAA Tournament bubble teams Tuesday night at Breslin Center. And the men’s basketball team kept its tournament hopes alive by downing Minnesota 74-55.
Spartan head coach Tom Izzo said the win puts MSU (16-10 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) in the right direction, but doesn’t clinch a tournament spot.
“This was a step in the right direction,” Izzo said. “We’ve put ourselves in a position where we have to win more than a couple, and that’s what we’re going to try to do. At least it’s in our own hands.”
The Spartans got a game- and career-high 20 points from junior forward Adam Ballinger against the Golden Gophers (14-10, 7-6). Freshman guard Chris Hill added 15 points and five assists, while sophomore guard Marcus Taylor chipped in with 11 points and six assists.
With the Gophers playing a variety of zone defenses that focused on Hill and Taylor, Ballinger found one open look after another.
“Against a zone there are gaps, and that’s how you kind of beat a zone - by moving the ball in and out quickly,” Ballinger said. “They were kind of keying on Marcus and Chris, and that opened things up for some other guys, me especially, and I got some open shots.”
The Spartans took advantage of the gaps, hitting 24-of-50 field goals against Minnesota’s zone.
With the win, MSU moves into a three-way tie for fifth place in the Big Ten. Minnesota and Northwestern also have a 7-6 conference record.
Besides hitting jumpers, MSU was able to outmuscle the Gophers on the glass and on defense.
The Spartans also scored on second and third chances created by offensive rebounding, something Minnesota coach Dan Monson said opened up the game.
“As the game wore on their strength wore us down,” Monson said. “It just seemed like every time there was a rebound, they’d come up with it.”
Minnesota managed to grab 25 rebounds on the night, nine less than the Spartans’ 34 boards.
The Gophers jumped out to an early lead behind forwards Dusty Rychart and Rick Rickert. But after the two combined for nine of Minnesota’s first 11 points, the pair managed to combine for just nine more points on the night.
The two Gopher forwards and center Jerry Holman combined for 40 points in Minnesota’s 70-67 win over MSU on Jan. 5 - a game the Spartans were without Ballinger and Taylor.
But Thursday night, the Gopher frontcourt struggled to get it going against a physical MSU defense, Monson said.
“We just couldn’t get the ball inside to our guys, and when we did (MSU) did a good job of bumping them out,” he said.
Izzo said a pregame speech from an ex-Spartan might have helped his team rally.
Former MSU standout Mateen Cleaves spoke to the team before the game, and related how he felt playing in front of the Spartan basketball alumni.
“I used to love seeing the older guys in the crowd,” the Sacramento King point guard said. “We grew up watching those guys, for them to come back you had to put on a show.
“So, I told them I expected a show.”
The Spartans return Saturday to the Breslin Center floor for a noon tip with the Big-Ten-leading Indiana Hoosiers.The No. 23 Hoosiers (18-8, 10-3) trounced MSU in the pair’s previous meeting, winning 83-65 Jan. 8 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
Dan Woike can be reached at woikedan@msu.edu.
