Graduate student forward Malik Hall, No. 25, dunks the ball during a game against University of Minnesota during the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. The 8th seeded Spartans are looking to advance over the 9th seeded Golden Gophers to advance to the Big Ten Quarterfinals.
The Michigan State men’s basketball team took down the Big Ten Tournament hosts, Minnesota, 77-67 on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis in the tournament's second round.
An early boost from the underclassmen and a late surge from the MSU veteran core secured the first win of the tournament for the Green and White.
The Target Center was largely dominated by Minnesota fans, but there was still a large showing of Spartan faithful despite the distance.
Head coach Tom Izzo opted to start sophomore center Carson Cooper over typical starter senior center Mady Sissoko to try out a new big man.
Cooper won the tipoff for the Spartans, but it was the Golden Gophers who struck first with a dagger three-pointer from Dawson Garcia.
Minnesota got the game started with a perfect 3-3 from the floor, whereas the Spartans had yet to sink anything in the opening minutes. The Spartans had the opportunity to add four points from the free-throw line, but Cooper was only able to convert on one.
After the slow start, Izzo subbed in freshman forward Xavier Booker, and Booker got the offense rolling for MSU. On his first two offensive drives up the court, Booker slammed home two dunks to keep the game within a couple of points.
Michigan State started finding its rhythm after the addition of the team’s younger core on the court and the Spartans quickly found themselves in a battle for the lead.
Halfway through the first half, the Spartans once again found themselves all out of sorts. Their play turned sloppy, which led to three turnovers and an 11-0 Minnesota run. The Spartans ended up once again closing the gap to Minnesota after graduate student guard Tyson Walker and junior guard Jaden Akins stepped up their performances.
Michigan State headed into the locker room down just 34-32.
The biggest issue for the Spartans was their inability to put consistent lineups on the floor. This late in the season, lineup experimentation should not have to happen, but that is the reality for MSU. Some of the lineups worked well, while others were complete disasters leading to good runs followed by really bad scoring droughts.
MSU came out of the locker room better than the start of the game and the battle to move on truly commenced.
There was not a moment in the first 35 minutes where the winning team was clearly pulling ahead, which made for a physical game of great basketball.
With three minutes left, Michigan State was able to pull ahead by 10 points after one of their best stretches of the season.
Sophomore guard Tre Holloman was a true standout in the second half of the matchup. He was playing with a level of confidence Spartan fans have scarcely seen from even their veteran guards at times. He ended the night with nine points and was integral in running the floor.
Graduate forward Malik Hall and the veteran backcourt consisting of Akins, Walker and senior A.J. Hoggard also heated up in the final few minutes. The starters were taking care of a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor and amassed massive points for the Spartans down the stretch.
In the end, MSU outscored Minnesota 45-33 in the second half to survive and advance despite some rocky looks in the middle.
With the 77-67 win, Michigan State will be back in action for the quarterfinal round against No. 1 Purdue at noon EST. Big Ten Network will air the game.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
