Michigan State Tears The Terrapins Apart, 91-48

I don’t care if the temperature was 5 degrees. Today was a beautiful day in East Lansing.

One of the big stories of MSU’s west-coast trip was the offensive struggles of Jaxon Kohler. On MSU’s first possession, the Spartans sent it inside to the Kohler Bear, who went to work on his defender. Kohler put up a shot, and the miss was tipped out of bounds by Maryland. After the inbounds, Kohler was fed again, and this time he finished for MSU’s first points. Got to appreciate the dedication to get his game going immediately.

Divine Ugochukwu would be the next Spartan on the board with a corner three… that was changed to a corner two. Maryland would then get on the board with a couple free throws. Not sure how that was called a shooting foul. Kohler had an answer with an easy short-range jumper. After the Terps’ first field goal, MSU pushed the pace, and Jeremy Fears connected with a triple from the top of the key. Carson Cooper then had a big defensive play bodying up against a driving opponent to cause the miss and get the ball back for the Spartans. After an empty offensive trip, Maryland was called for an offensive foul. At the under-16, it was 9-4 MSU.

Cooper got in the scoring column next with a pair of FTs to get MSU to double digits. After another Maryland turnover, Fears drew a foul driving the lane. After some discussion, it was decided that Fears’ shot was before the foul, so he went to the line to complete the three-point play, and MSU was up 10. With almost a full line-change in, Denham Wojcik led a fast break and fed Kur Teng for a kiss of the glass. Maryland called timeout with MSU up 16-4. On the next trip, MSU got into the half-court offense, and Cam Ward earned a trip to the line, but he missed all three including an extra after a lane violation. No worries though as Kohler got the rebound and the putback. Maryland then had their own empty trip to the charity stripe. Fears was then fouled behind the arc; he sunk all three to get the run to 15-0. More good defense. Then Fears drove the lane, kicked it out to Jordan Scott, and Scott buried the three. 24-4 at the under-12.

Maryland finally got their second field goal coming out of the break with a triple. MSU pushed back down in a hurry, and Coen Carr was fed on the left wing for the easy drive and finish. Maryland had the answer and then scored for a third straight possession to get to within 15. The Spartans suddenly went cold, and Maryland took their run to 11-2. All of this happened with no Fears, Kohler, or Cooper on the floor. Izzo made the switch to put all three back in, and suddenly MSU got a defensive stop. Fears hit another jumper, this one just inside the arc. After surrendering a triple, Carr hit a jumper from near the FT line. And just before the under-8 whistle, Carr drew a foul going up for the oop. 30-18 Spartans.

The officials reviewed the foul during the commercial and elevated it to a flagrant-1. The FT struggles continued, as Carr missed both. He would make up for it on the ensuing possession, scoring from inside the lane. COOPER SWISHES A TRAILING THREE!!! Coop Deville then was fouled getting a defensive rebound and converted both his freebies to get MSU doubled up on Maryland. On a possession with a number of offensive boards, it was Scott who finally got the bucket for MSU. At the under-4, the lead had ballooned to 39-18.

Ward made up for his earlier missed FTs with a dunk and then a block on defense. The big defensive play led to a rush for the Spartans which finished with a feed from Scott to Cooper cutting up the lane for a dunk. The two teams traded triples, Ugo getting the Spartans’. Tom Izzo called the obligatory timeout with 24 seconds to go; I wish we would just let the timeout go to waste. In the half-court set, Fears dribble until there was under 10 ticks to go, then threw the ball out of bounds. Michigan State had a 46-23 lead at the half.

Maryland scored the first four points of the second half. MSU got their offense going with an alley-Coop followed by a Fears jumper to get MSU to 50. After giving up a 3 to the visitors, Cooper responded with an and-1 to maintain the 23-point lead. Fears earned his tenth dime of the game with that feed. Scary moment on defense as Cooper rolled his right ankle while absorbing some contact. Don’t worry, he’d return soon. After giving up a two, Carr hit a corner three for MSU’s largest lead of the game. Deja vu: give up a two, followed by Teng in the corner for three more. Kohler for three from the top of the key. Timeout Maryland. 62-34 with 15 to play. It’s a little silly that this timeout can’t be the under-16, but we got that with an MSU foul a few seconds later.

The Spartans forced a 5-second violation as Maryland did not get the inbounds pass intime after the break. Fears hit a turnaround J after that to give MSU a 30-point lead. Next trip, Fears fed Ward for a dunk. That was his career-high 14th dime. After the teams combined for 4 consecutive timeouts, Scott ended the skid with another triple. Wojcik with some great lockdown defense to force a miss at the end of the shot clock. The lead was 35 now; 69-34 at the under-12.

With Fears on the bench for a few, MSU did not give up any ground. With 9 minutes left, Fears returned, and Trey Fort checked in (for I believe the first time). Cam Ward got himself another trip to the stripe, and this time he smoothly sunk both for MSU’s 75th point. Fort got a statistic with an assist on Jesse McCulloch’s wide-open three. 78-39 at the under-8.

Starting off the next segment, Maryland got busted for another 5-second violation. On offense, Fears got assist #15 on an alley-oop to Ward. After giving up a bucket to Maryland, Fears got assist #16 with an alley-oop from the logo to Carr. Still doubling up Maryland 82-41. A couple possessions later, the two connected again, maybe a couple feet shorter, and then took their curtain call. 87-45 at the final TV timeout.

I thought Sanders and the Twins would be in at this point. Got to wait a little longer. Sanders came in at 2:08. The Waltons came in at 1:37. Brennan missed a jumper. Wojcik would work his way into the lane with the rock and scored on MSU’s lat possession. Michigan State walked a way with a 91-48 win. We did not end up with the double-up, but the 43-point margin is still acceptable.

Okay, so Maryland was obviously not a good team. I would say the best thing about the Terrapins was how well-dressed their head coach, Buzz Williams, was. The positive I am taking from the blowout was how focused MSU was for the full 40 minutes. No lulls in intensity. There was really just the 11-2 run that Maryland had in the middle of the first half, otherwise this could have been a 50-point win. Fears was totally locked in and doing whatever he wanted. Matching 17 points and 17 assists, this may have been his best game of his career.

Carson Cooper also had a monster day with 14 points, 8 boards, and 3 steals. And let’s not forget his first triple of the year, which was a thing of beauty. Carr also had 14 while Kohler chipped in 11. In all, ten Spartans scored thanks to Wojcik’s late score. Perhaps more impressive than all the scoring was the lack of fouls. MSU only was whistled 11 times all game, and just three times in the first half. This was the third category that Fears led the way in today, as he was the only Spartan with three fouls.

61% from the field and 47% from deep. 35-24 advantage on the boards, with each team grabbing 9 on offense. Of MSU’s 34 FGs, there was an assist credited on 25 of them. MSU won points off turnovers 17-4, fast break points 31-0, and points in the paint 38-16. An absolute crime scene of a game.

MSU moves to 18-2 and 8-1 in the conference as they win their sixth straight.

Make sure you join the hockey thread. That game starts in about 2 and half hours and will be on BTN.