Sophomore forward Sidney Cooks drives to the basket during the game against Maryland at the Breslin Center on Jan. 17, 2019. The Spartans defeated the Terrapins, 77-60.
The No. 21 Scarlet Knights (15-3, 7-0 Big Ten) upset No. 17 Spartans (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten), 76-62 to remain perfect in Big Ten play.
Early on, the Spartans capitalized on two early Rutgers turnovers, pushing the score to 5-0 before the Scarlet Knights came back and set a fast pace tempo causing the Spartans to struggle to keep up with for the rest of the half.
The first three and a half minutes of the second quarter remained scoreless until Nia Clouden’s banked three put the Spartans within 4, 17-21 Rutgers. That would be the closest the Spartans would come to Rutgers lead.
The tough Rutgers defense held the Spartans to 24 points in the first half while scoring 33 point themselves.
The Spartans shot 27.3 percent from both behind the arch and in the field. Shay Colley led the Spartans with six points and Jenna Allen, Clouden and Sidney Cooks with five points each.
Rutgers shot 50 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arch. Redshirt sophomore guard Arella Guirantes and redshirt senior forward Stasha Carey led the Scarlet Knights with 11 points each.
The second half was all Scarlet Knights as they scored dominated on both sides of the ball. The Spartans could not contain the Guirantes-Carey duo for the rest of the game.
Michigan State shot 37.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from behind the three point line. Sidney Cooks led the Spartans with 15 points off the bench and seven rebounds and Taryn McCutcheon had 15 points and four assists.
Rutgers Stasha Carey had 30 points and six rebounds and Arella Guirantes had 19 points and seven rebounds. The Scarlet Knights shot 51.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the arch.
The Spartans will host Illinois (9-8, 1-5 Big Ten) on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m at the Breslin Center.
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