The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans played with emotion – maybe too much for a heated match-up against their rival.
No. 3 Michigan came into the Breslin Center, stayed composed and took the first round of the rivalry match 83-71. The little things and an 18-point deficit in the first half became too much to overcome as MSU did not capitalize enough on UM mistakes.
With the win, Michigan took sole possession of the Big Ten lead, while MSU fell to fourth place with its second conference loss. MSU did not fall apart in just one area of the game; instead, untimely turnovers, missed possessions and a juggernaut of an opponent that took over the Breslin Center eroded the Spartans’ confidence.
MSU played sporadically and forced poor shots with little ball movement in the half-court. The Spartans’ over-eagerness to run in transition overshadowed their ability to set up plays against Michigan’s backcourt. After the game, head coach Tom Izzo said his team did not handle the emotions of a rivalry game well enough.
“Jeremy, let their talking get to him,” Izzo said. “I don’t think we handled it very well. I don't know how to look at the game. We get off to a bad start.”
MSU did get off to a bad start, something they could not afford against one of the nation’s best teams in second half point margin. With a minute left in the first half, UM took an 18-point lead, fueled by a costly hook-and-hold flagrant foul on freshman Cam Ward that led to an 8-0 run by the Wolverines.
MSU had two flagrant fouls and a late technical on Izzo that kept the Michigan spark alive throughout. Michigan’s strengths come on the boards and in the post on offense. They played a physical, wear-you-down brand of basketball that succeeded on Friday night in East Lansing.
“You can't dig holes that big and expect to come back either,” Izzo said. “So I thought that was the difference. We dug too big a hole, and it all started with that hook-and-hold.”
MSU did not capitalize on opportunities on the offensive boards, as they have all season. MSU grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to UM’s 11 but only scored 6 points in second-chance possessions.
Against one of the nation’s best in Michigan, opportunities to score do not come often. The Spartans got those opportunities, but could not make anything of them, while Michigan continued chipping away at MSU’s stamina.
MSU’s erratic play hurt them far more than it helped. Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a career high for the second night straight, this time with 31 points on 9-of-20 from the field with a 12-for-14 free throw mark.
MSU needed a leader coming out of the break, and they found one in Fears. He poked holes in the Wolverines’ defense that proved difficult to stop. Fears emphasized drawing fouls, averaging six per game. Tonight, he more than doubled that, but as the game wore on, his aggressiveness became a liability, and fatigue set in after a constant beating.
After being down 16 at halftime, MSU cut the lead to five in just four minutes. The Breslin Center crowd that was seated in the final minutes of the first half was alive again, giving the Spartans a fuel source that ran out all too quickly.
Izzo was happy with his point guard play but said he needed more out of others on offense.
“It's a shame Jeremy played as well as he could play in a lot of ways; he just didn't get enough help from enough people,” Izzo said. “Our offense, I thought, was very poor in the first half, though it was an incredible comeback. We did everything we could do, and then we just couldn't get over the hump.”
Ultimately, the little things held MSU back from a 9th straight win over Michigan. A missed rebound here or an illegal screen there plagued the Spartans in holding on to their slim second-half lead.
Jaxon Kohler, MSU’s second leading scorer with 12 points, shot 30% from the field while grabbing 5 rebounds. In the locker room after the game, he said he knew his team could play better than that, but not executing the little things can be too much to bear.
“Little things are crucial, and we spend a lot of time going over those little details as much as we can,” Kohler said. “A little detail can create a three that builds momentum for the other team, that gets them going, and separates them and gets them a win.”
Carson Cooper fell short despite a couple of emphatic alley-oops. He scored six points while grabbing 2 rebounds, his lowest total since MSU’s win over Arkansas.
MSU has four days off now until they head to Minnesota on Wednesday, Feb. 4th at 7 p.m.
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“I like the way they responded, but I don't know why they responded late,” Izzo said. “I don't think officials cost us this game, the lack of getting rebounds and playing defense at the right time of the game cost us the game.”
