Spartans remain perfect in Big Ten play
I can’t, in good faith, begin without some non-MSU related content. I was absolutely gutted and despondent this morning. Last night was supposed to be the beginning of the Detroit Lions playoff run; the streets of downtown Detroit were supposed to transform into a party as soon as the game went final. And then, my Lions suffered the latest chapter in their tortured, cursed history. As a Lions fan, I am forced to now settle into mock draft season, returning to the long-familiar reality where the NFL Draft is “the Lions’ Super Bowl.” At least for another year, the actual Super Bowl remains a dream.
Speaking for myself, but I am sure for many other Lions fans too, the 2024-25 NFL season began with an all-time high level of optimism, and as the season unfolded, that optimism only rose higher. That is why last night’s shocking defeat to the Washington Commanders is so deflating. Super Bowl windows can be cruelly short. Who knows if the Lions can be as good next season as they were this year. I know, come September, I will be in front of the TV to watch their week one game, as well as every other game on their schedule, but I do not know if I can go into the campaign with the same level of excitement, hope, and belief. This latest emotional blow is going to make it tough to have that same optimism, perhaps as a defense-mechanism, simply because now doubt has sunk back in. Maybe this won’t happen, maybe the Curse of Bobby Lane will persist much longer than he initially intended, maybe Dan Campbell will not be the savior of this tortured franchise and tortured fan base. I don’t know if I can (allow myself or force myself to) believe my Lions can, at long last, get it done, and make 2025-26 the ever-elusive “Year of the Lion”.
So that is where my head was as I sat down to watch this MSU game, in hopes that something could distract me from the numbing pain I feel today.
The game, especially in the first ten minutes, felt like a bizarro world, with MSU struggling with the things they have been doing well, and then succeeding with the things I have been putting in my dislikes. From the jump, Illinois was demonstrating their superiority on the glass, getting boards on both ends to give themselves second chance opportunities while preventing MSU from having the same. Seven minutes in, Illinois had opened up a 20-10 lead. Tre Holloman, who I have critiqued for his slow starts the last couple games, seemed like the only starter who was ready to go today. Tre had 11 points by halftime to lead the Spartans. It was key contributions from the bench, particularly Coen Carr and Frankie Fidler, plus some good hustle plays from Xavier Booker, to help MSU back into the game.
By the two-minute mark, the Spartans had tied the game, and that is where the two teams would be when the halftime horn sounded. The score was 36-36. But the stat sheet was certainly not even. Illinois led in rebounds 25-17, including an 11-4 edge on the offensive end. Another usual strongpoint for MSU is assists, but in the first half, they only had four of them on 13 made FGs. One thing that helped MSU get even in the first half was the foul situation. Three Illini had 2 first half fouls, including their leading scorer on the season, Kasparas Jakucionis, though he was scoreless so far in this one, and Will Riley, who was the star of the first half with 16 points (all in the first ten minutes).
MSU started the 2nd half, and Jeremy Fears scored a layup to give the Spartans their first lead of the game. Illinois responded by scoring the next five to regain the lead. From there until about the ten-minute mark, the game fluctuated between a tie game and a one- or two-possession lead for the Illini. This portion of the game saw Illinois’ Jakucionis and Riley both head to the bench with their fourth fouls.
Szymon Zapala put MSU up a point with a pair of FTs at the 10:28 mark, 59-58. From there, MSU went on a 7-1 run to lead 66-59 at the under-8 timeout. After the timeout, Jakucionis came back into the game, where he promptly converted a layup and drew the foul for a bonus point at the line and then had a great assist to Tomislav Ivisic to make the game just a 2-point MSU advantage. However, on the very next play, Frankie Fidler had the ball on the wing, dribbled around a screen where Cooper picked off Jakucionis, then slowed up to allow the Illinois defender to catch him as he rose for a jumper, drawing the fifth foul on Jakucionis and sending him to an early shower.
Fidler converted both free throws, starting another small MSU run to get the lead back up to 7, 72-65 with 5:16 to go. Illinois chipped the score down to four before a technical foul was assessed to Illinois (it was never said who it was on, but assumedly on the Illini’s head coach Brad Underwood), and Fidler hit the technical FTs to make it 76-70 with 3:18 on the clock.
Again, Illinois went on a run, getting within one point with 57 seconds left, 78-77. In the final minute, MSU missed their opportunities at the basket on a missed Jaden Akins layup and a missed Jaxon Kohler putback, and Illinois got the ball down one with 26 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, the Illini got into the lane on a drive by Kylan Boswell, who tried to pass it to a teammate on the baseline, but the ball went through its target’s hands and out of bounds. MSU inbounded with 5 seconds and was immediately fouled. Tre Holloman hit two FTs, giving him 17 on the day. After an MSU timeout, Jeremy Fears committed the intentional foul to avoid an Illinois three-point shot opportunity. Boswell went to the line, made the first, intentionally missed the second, but chased down the rebound and shot the ball as he was drifting out of bounds. His shot went over the backboard, but was judged to have hit something as it went over the glass, making it out of bounds. MSU was awarded the ball with 1 second left. A full court inbounds pass ended the contest and gave MSU the 80-78 win, their 11th straight.
Let’s get to the lists.
3 Things I Liked:
1. Tre Holloman revival. I have to start here. As I mentioned early, he was the only starter who was not struggling in the early going. He had 11 points at intermission, and finished the game with a team high 17. He also chipped in with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, one block, and one steal. No other starter hit double figures.
2. Coen Carr off the dribble. The human highlight reel has really improved his handles over the past month or so, and today he was regularly putting the ball on the floor and attacking the interior. If he was not finishing his drives, he was getting to the line. He hit 4-6 of his FGs, one being a three-pointer and one an alley-oop, but the rest were off the dribble. Carr finished with 11 points. He also had a pair of volleyball spike blocks in the first half. Those are always fun.
9. Frankie Fidler continuing to settle in. After losing his starting role seven games into the season, Fidler continued to struggle with his offensive game. Over the last two weeks, however, he has shown significant improvement. Today, he followed up his season-high effort from Wednesday (18 points) with an 11-point output along with three rebounds and three dimes. He has given the second unit another reliable scorer.
3 Things I Did Not Like:
1. Non-dunk alley-oops. I did not count to give an official stat, but I feel like I remember six or seven times where an Illinois player caught a lob pass in the air and put up a layup before hitting the floor. It was circuslike. I did not enjoy it.
2. Guards driving into the trees. Speaking of things I lost count of, I can’t tell you how many times one of the MSU perimeter players – Fears, Akins, Richardson – attempted to drive into the lane and get off a layup. It ended in a large number of bad misses, and on a few occasions, it led to transition points the other way. This was the biggest contributor to Fears’ 3-9 shooting, Akins’ 3-10, and Richardson’s 2-8.
3. Last night’s Lions’ game. MSU may have picked up a big win today, but I am still sad.
That’s 11 in a row for our Spartans. VICTORY FOR MSU!!!