Huge second half sends MSU to exam week break at 2-0 in Big Ten play
Wow.
This is the first time since the exhibition at Northern Michigan that I’ve been able to see an entire MSU basketball game this year. They certainly looked a lot different from that October exhibition. And from last year. This team looks pretty competent on offense and is really fun to watch.
Michigan State opted again to go with a smaller lineup to start, with Tre Holloman on the floor and Frankie Fidler ready to come off the bench. The Spartans won the tip and a three from Holloman started the scoring. That was followed by Jeremy Fears finding Szymon Zapala in the paint and then a nice drive by Jaden Akins for a 7-0 Spartans lead. MSU also forced two early Nebraska turnovers.
Nebraska would respond though with buckets from Brice Williams and Juwan Gary before a Williams three tied it at 7. It was MSU’s turn to turn it over now, as they did so on three straight possessions to help fuel the Nebraska run.
Coen Carr, Frankie Fidler, and Xavier Booker entered for MSU during Nebraska’s run and Carr would have a nice impact, starting with crashing the boards a couple of times. The second drew a foul and got Coen to the line where he hit both and pushed MSU’s lead back to 11-7. Later, Carr would disrupt a Nebraska drive on the defensive end and then convert in the paint for a 15-11 MSU lead. A Jaden Akins 3 would extend the lead to 18-13 going into the under 12 time out.
Jaxon Kohler also had a very positive impact for the Spartans in the first half in holding his own at the rim on defense and fighting for rebounds on both ends. From the under 12 to under 8 timeouts, MSU would hold Nebraska scoreless and extend the lead to 22-13 behind a pretty drive from Jase Richardson and two Kohler free throws.
Nebraska would start to draw a little closer here though. After Xavier Booker badly missed a trailing 3 pointer, Andrew Morgan got past Zapala and Booker in the paint for a hoop and one, cutting the MSU lead to 8. MSU responded with great ball movement and Holloman finding Zapala to go back up 10. But Gary responded with a three and then, after an offensive foul on Zapala, a Morgan turnaround over Cooper cut it to 26-21.
Nebraska wouldn’t get closer from there though.
Jeremy Fears appeared to be a little out of control with the dribble and ended up on his backside, but still with the ball. Instead of panicking, Fears found an open Coen Carr for an alley oop dunk. I’m not sure if it’s called an alley oop if you throw it while seated but, regardless, it put MSU up 7 again and got the crowd excited.
Nebraska called timeout to try to stop the run but Richardson hit a three after an empty Huskers possession and MSU was back up 10. Connor Essegian was called for a flagrant 1 on Richardson after a missed Nebraska three. Richardson hit both shots to put MSU up 12.
The Spartans would extend the lead to 15 before Nebraska drew a little closer before halftime. The Huskers got as close at 37-31 before two Kohler baskets put MSU up 10 at the break. First, Kohler cleaned up a Holloman miss, helped by a tip from Carr, and then Fears found Jaxon in the lane on MSU’s last possession of the half.
At the half, Essegian, who hit six threes in Nebraska’s last game, was held scoreless on only one shot by Holloman and the MSU defense. The Spartans were also 12-12 at the line, out-rebounded Nebraska 24-10, and had a 20-12 advantage in the paint. The only real negatives were seven Spartan turnovers and no real contribution from Xavier Booker, who had put together back-to-back solid games against North Carolina and Minnesota.
Dale Young-Imagn Images
The second half, however, was when MSU truly broke it open, outscoring the Huskers 48-21. The scoring started with a Kohler putback off a Holloman miss. Later, Jaden Akins would miss a three but fight for his own rebound. Akins knocked it to Kohler, who hustled on the floor and kicked it back to Akins, who didn’t miss this time and it was up to 46-33 Spartans.
Fears was fouled on a drive off the fast break and hit both free throws before Fidler hit from the elbow after a crafty behind the back dribble. It was 50-33 MSU at the under 16 minute break.
Another Akins three off a nice skip pass from Holloman put MSU up 20 just before Xavier Booker came in again. Fortunately, his second half performance would be much more effective.
On one of the first Spartan possessions with Booker in, rather than hanging out at the three point line, Xavier went to the block and called for the ball. He didn’t get it but his positioning allowed Fears to drive the baseline and kick to Richardson. Jase converted the jumper to put MSU up 23. A little later, a Booker rebound on the defensive end led to a Richardson three, a 60-34 lead, and a Nebraska timeout.
MSU would continue to roll from here behind two Fears free throws and then great ball movement leading to a Holloman three. Booker would also add a three from the top of the key to double up Nebraska at 68-34. Booker would add a couple free throws, another three, and an aggressive fake, drive, and dunk to finish with 11 points to go along with 6 boards.
Richardson also had a big second half for the Spartans to finish with 16 on 5-7 shooting, including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Akins would lead MSU with 18, which included hitting 4-8 from deep.
As a team, MSU hit on 9 of 23 three pointers, not as good as their 11-22 at Minnesota, but still decent at nearly 40%. The Spartans continued to be excellent at the free throw line, hitting 22 of 23.
Essegian never did get it going for the Huskers. He was only able to get off two shots and finished with just the one free throw. Andrew Morgan led Nebraska with 14 points off the bench.
Finally, Carson Cooper contributed late on offense with a nice jumper from near the elbow and a couple of free throws. Kur Teng, Gehrig Normand, and Nick Sanders each had a chance for a hoop late in the game but couldn’t quite convert.
Dale Young-Imagn Images
All in all, Michigan State was able to build on a solid conference opener at Minnesota to soundly beat a Nebraska team that has a win at Creighton, who has a win against Kansas. The Spartans can look to cut down on their 17 turnovers today but otherwise go into the exam week break probably feeling pretty good.
MSU takes to the floor again on December 17 against Oakland at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
I think tradition now calls for ice cream?