Michigan State takes down Michigan, 59-53, wins sixth straight

East Lansing, Mich.  – Michigan State didn’t secure the blowout that seemed to be brewing, and instead staggered to the finish for a satisfying 59-53 victory over Michigan, Saturday at Breslin Center.

In a tight, defensive game littered by poor shooting from both sides, Michigan State led by 14 on two occasions in the second half, including 42-28 with 8:59 left. 

But a 15-5 run by Michigan cut it to 47-43 with 3:55 remaining.

Malik Hall answered with a 16-foot pull-up jumper, a second-chance bucket, to make it 49-43. 

A put-back by Joey Hauser gave Michigan State a 51-44 lead with 1:42 left, and a spinning, 12-footer by A.J. Hoggard with 1:02 left gave Michigan State a 53-46 lead. Michigan State was 6-of-7 from the foul line in the final minute to close it out for the Spartans who picked up a key conference victory in improving to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. 

Michigan State has won six straight games and is in a tie for first place in the Big Ten.

“That was a tough game to officiate, a tough game to coach, a tough game to watch, a beautiful game to win,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. 

Michigan fell to 9-6 and 3-1 in the Big Ten.

“First half, foul trouble to Jett (Howard) and (point guard) Dug (McDaniel), we had some different lineups in there, some who had never played together,” said Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. 

“The second half, we made a run, started attacking the paint, didn’t settle for a lot of these 3s and jumpers and things like that. Putting pressure on the basket. We tried to keep A.J. out of the paint, which is tough to do. Tried to keep them off the glass. 

Unfortunately for us, A.J. got in the paint and made that tough runner.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Michigan State led by 14 on two occasions in the second half at 32-18 on a Hauser jumper with 18:46 left in the game, and again at 42-28 on an AJ Hoggard jumper with 8:59 left.

Meanwhile, quiet problems began creeping up on Michigan State with Mady Sissoko, after not committing a foul in the first half, quickly got into foul trouble in the second. That led to defensive problems for MSU at the center position against Hunter Dickinson. Meanwhile, a big discrepancy in team fouls aided the Wolverines’ cause. 

With :40 seconds left in the game, Michigan had a 13-0 edge in second half free throws attempted. Michigan went 9-of-13 on those, including 2-of-3 from Kobe Buffkin after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Those free throws cut it to 53-48 as the Breslin Center crowd remained uneasy until the final seconds and never fully got to celebrate what they hoped would be a pulverizing win. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Hoggard scored 15 points for Michigan State with six assists and four rebounds. He was 6-of-10 form the field against only one turnover.

Malik Hall scored 15 for Michigan State on 5-of-9 shooting. After leading Michigan State in first-half scoring with 9 points, he played only 10 minutes in the second half as he continues to recover from a stress reaction injury.

Tyson Walker scored 14 for Michigan State on 5-of-12 shooting. He was 2-of-5 from 3-point range. His crafty glasser gave Michigan State a 44-32 lead with less than 8 minutes to go, harming Michigan’s comeback bid.

Hauser led Michigan State with 10 rebounds. Michigan State out-rebounded Michigan 38-34.

Michigan State shot just 37.5 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from 3-point range, failing to capitalize on many open jumpshots.

Dickinson led Michigan with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He had 14 after halftime Michigan State ran into foul trouble at the center position midway through the second half.

Buffkin scored 11 for Michigan. 

THE FIRST HALF

Michigan State led 27-18 aft halftime. 

Michigan State battled back from a 7-3 deficit to take a 12-9 lead. 

Hoggard began the 9-2 run with a spinning transition lay-up. Then he fed Sissoko for an alley-oop dunk, tying the game at 7-7 and electrifying the packed Breslin Center crowd and causing Michigan to call time out.

Michigan State’s transition game sparked a 5-0 run late in the first half which created a 19-14 Spartan lead. Hall provided both buckets – one on a driving reverse lay-up, and another on a 3-pointer from the right wing. 

Michigan State came into the game ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten in 3-point accuracy at .375, but the Spartans had five wide-open 3-point attempts fail to draw rim in the first half. 

Michigan State never heated up from 3-point range in the second half.