Chestnut Hill, Mass. — The Spartans had two glaring deficiencies in the first half of Wednesday night's matchup with Boston College: They couldn't rebound, and they couldn't shoot.
And you don't need to be John Wooden or Bobby Knight to know that formula spelled disaster for MSU.
Led by 30 points and 10 rebounds from forward Jared Dudley — a glass-cleaning, garbage-point-grabbing extraordinaire — the Eagles held off a late MSU comeback to notch a 65-58 victory at Conte Forum in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
"Dudley might end up my favorite player of the year," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "He just does everything that you ask a guy to do. He rebounds, he plays hard, takes all good shots.
Behind Dudley, Boston College (3-2) grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the game's first 20 minutes, leading to 13 second-chance points.
When the Spartans (6-2) did manage a defensive rebound, they rarely put the ball through the net. MSU shot 34 percent from the floor in the first half.
The Spartans also struggled with the Eagles' trapping and full-court press. They had 11 first-half turnovers and finished the game with 16.
With Dudley's 13 points and six boards setting the tone, Boston College led at the half, 26-18.
The Eagles continued to work the glass in the second half, extending their lead to as much as 17 points. MSU made a late run to come within six points, but it was too late.
As good as Dudley was in the first half, he was nearly flawless in the second. With one stellar sequence, he put the Spartans to bed for good.
First, he received a pass in transition and popped a jumper from the elbow. Then, he buried a 3-pointer in the face of MSU's best defender, sophomore guard Travis Walton. Finally, he lulled junior center Drew Naymick to sleep on an inbound play, then slipped underneath the basket for an easy lay-in, bringing the Eagles' lead to 15 with less than 10 minutes left on the clock.
Freshman forward Raymar Morgan, the Spartans' best response to Dudley, was stalled by foul trouble throughout the night.
He played nine minutes in the first half and finished the evening with 11 points, five rebounds and five turnovers.
"We said we couldn't get in foul trouble, and Raymar gets two (first-half) charging fouls — which were both good calls," Izzo said.
Junior guard Drew Neitzel, the Spartans' No. 1 scoring option, was held scoreless in the first half. He finished with 12 points on 3-for-11 shooting, including 1-for-7 from behind the arc.
"We tried to run a bunch of sets for me to get good shots off the ball, and they just switched out, or when I switched off the ball, they came into a zone," Neitzel said.
Dudley finished the game shooting 10-of-13 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point distance. He also dished out three assists and turned the ball over once.
"I told him after that, he's one of my favorite guys — and that I hated his guts," Izzo said.
The Spartans take on Bradley at noon Sunday at Breslin Center.
