Spartans hold on for a 94-91 OT victory over ranked opponent
That was a hell of a game. Rarely does a basketball game take me through the spectrum of human emotions the way this one did. There was happiness, laughter, excitement, panic, confusion, and anger (but most of that last one was from some of the things I read in the game thread).
I wrote in the game thread article that I hope that this team learned some things from last night’s game as UNC’s lineup reminded me of Memphis’s. One of my dislikes from yesterday’s loss was the lack of interior offense, with the four big men combining for 7 points, all of which were scored by Kohler. Well, it seems like the Spartans were making a concerted effort to get those guys involved tonight. The guards were feeding Kohler on the interior, where he was showing off those post moves (though it’d be nice if he had shot a little better after losing his defender). There were lobs to Cooper who finished with three alley-coops. Okay Zapala did not score, or take any shots, but he did some other things that were positives. Oh, and there was Xavier Booker’s monster 2nd half when he scored a dozen points on 5-7 shooting. He also had 7 rebounds. These four guys combined for 21, and the team as a whole got 50 of their 94 points in the paint.
The other lesson from the Memphis game? Izzo decided to match tonight’s opponent with three guards of his own in the starting lineup. Frankie Fidler was moved to the bench and Tre Holloman got his first start of the season. Last year, we had the three-guard lineup of AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, and Jaden Akins which did not end up working so well. For one game at least, the trio of Jeremy “Jeremiah” Fears, Akins, and Holloman looked like a much more synergistic unit.
Tre had the game of his Spartan career, finishing with a game high 19 points. In the first half, he was perfect on his field goals, including 3-3 from 3 (and it was .00001 seconds from being 4-4). And as great as his shooting was, he may end up being best remembered for delivering a lob from the midcourt line to Coen Carr for an alley-oop. That play really helped get MSU’s energy up as they were really playing with a high level of intensity from that point on.
My favorite part of this win was the defensive activity. Our defenders were great, flying to UNC ball handlers, forcing them to play faster than they wanted to and often getting out of control. We were also doing a great job of helping on D in the paint or getting hands up high to affect the Tar Heels’ shots. They missed a lot of shots from close range.
All in all, that first half was a thing of beauty as MSU went to the break up 43-34. I was hoping for a repeat of the superior play in the 2nd half, but the #12 team had a run in them, and they slowly chipped away at the Spartan lead. They even went up by a point for about ten seconds in the middle of the 2nd, their only regulation lead other than when it was 1-0. The Tar Heel comeback was perplexing. There were several instances when I looked at the score and could not believe that the game was as close as it had gotten. It did not feel like UNC was outscoring us by that much, but apparently they were.
That led to some stressful moments for me in the final minutes, and I think it may have gotten to the Spartan players a bit too, as we were playing very on edge. Usually an excellent defender, Fears had a pair of bad defensive plays. The first was when he was blown past by Elliot Cadeau in the final 20 seconds; fortunately, Cadeau bricked the uncontested layup. The second was on the next UNC possession when he took his eyes off his assignment and allowed Seth Trimble to get open for the game-tying triple that sent the game to an extra period. We could maybe even assign Fears some blame for getting in Holloman’s path when we were trying to get off a buzzer beater, though I am pretty sure Fears came over intending to screen Tre’s defender and he was expecting Holloman to cut behind him.
In overtime, the Spartans surrendered another brief one-point lead only to storm right back and score the next six points. That run took the game into the final 30 seconds, at which point MSU just needed to hit their free throws stemming from the intentional fouls. Jeremy Fears hit a pair, and Carr’s two misses were insignificant as they occurred with 0.4 seconds to go in the game.
MSU goes 2-1 in Maui and comes away with a win over a ranked opponent. The Spartans are now 6-2 as they get ready for a pair of conference games next week. Even without our (arguably) best player, we played our most impressive game of the season, in my opinion. Yes, it was concerning that we allowed UNC to come all the way back from our double-digit lead, but we made just enough crucial plays to hang on for the 94-91 win. This squad showed a lot tonight. I know my optimism for the season went up watching this game. Let’s hope that the season-best performances from Booker and Fidler lead to a sustained level of play. Let’s hope that Tre continues to be an assassin from deep. Let’s hope Akins and Carr can continue to score off the dribble. Let’s hope the defense continues to look as good as it did for most of this game. And let’s hope Izzo continues to start the five guys who make us the toughest out for each opponent. This team has great depth but also a great variety of talents. We should have the ability to roll out a lineup that is going to nullify the strength of each foe.
If these things happen, I’ll be giving thanks to Izzo and the team for the next few months.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.