Michigan State falls to Minnesota 76-73, loses second straight

In case you missed the news, I’ve joined the team at The Only Colors as writer number five. It’s great to officially write my first official TOC article. Jokes on me that I picked to write the recap for the Minnesota game, right?

Tom Izzo decided to go with a new starting lineup and gave Jordan Scott his first collegiate start. The shooting guard position has been a revolving door for Michigan State this season and Izzo admitted pregame that Scott deserved a shot.

The Spartans started this one off looking like they were hung over from their recent rivalry loss. Minnesota instantly went on a 15-5 run as MSU had three turnovers and missed all four three-point attempts. It wasn’t until the 9-minute mark until Kur Teng finally made their first three. At one point, Divine Ugochukwu stopped play to sub himself out and he would later be ruled out for the rest of the game with a foot injury.

The Gophers spent a good amount of time playing zone defense in the first half. While MSU struggled from deep, that’s where Minnesota found most of their points with seven made three-pointers. They took a 32-21 lead over Michigan State heading into halftime. The Spartans offense struggled against the zone and shot 8-for-24 from the field.

Minnesota and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hadn’t cooled off from their hot hand in the first and were able to knock down two more threes before the first TV timeout. Early in the second it felt like Minnesota always had an answer when MSU made an important shot. Jordan Scott got one to go from deep to bring the Gopher lead to five before the 12-minute mark until Jeremy Fears earned a technical foul after a review by the referees. I’m sure we’re going to hear from Dusty May about that one, but this whole situation is exhausting. Yet, Fears continues to add to the conversation.

Minnesota responded to the technical with an instant 5-0 run to take a 50-40 lead. Michigan State was battling back, but an and-one by the Gophers to put them up 11 lit up the Williams Arena with eight minutes left. Michigan State was able to respond with back-to-back alley-oops from Fears to Coen Carr.

It felt like the Gophers could get any shot they wanted, and a Langston Reynolds and-one layup gave the Gophers the largest lead of the night as Minnesota went into the last TV timeout up 67-51.

Michigan State battled back. Coen Carr had a tip dunk with 1:35 left to bring the lead down to nine and a Jordan Scott three made it a 69-63 game with a minute left. After a Minnesota turnover, Trey Fort knocked down a corner three to cut the deficit to two with 20 seconds left. The Gophers knocked down their free throws late and would go on to win 76-73.

Jordan Scott proved Izzo right that he was deserving of the starting shooting guard spot. He finished with 15 points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals while shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep.

Coen Carr turned it up late and led all Spartans in scoring with 16 points while also adding in six rebounds. Trey Fort added 12 points on four threes while Fears had a double-double, though, an inefficient 10 points on 11 shots.

This is now the third straight game of disappointing play from the Spartans if you include the overtime game against Rutgers. It’s the second straight game of Jeremy Fears putting himself into positions he doesn’t need to be in. They looked flat as soon as the game started with a 15-5 Minnesota run, and they found their momentum too late into the game to have a chance to win.

Tom Izzo is going to be an unhappy man after this one, and he should be. It’s been more than a week of play since we’ve seen them look like the top-five team they can be. Izzo will need to get them ready for their primetime matchup with #5 Illinois on Saturday night at the Breslin Center.

Go Green.