Michigan State basketball's young role players Jordan Scott, Cam Ward and Kur Teng all came up with pivotal plays in the Spartans' road win at Purdue.
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Move over, Michigan State basketball's core four.
With March Madness on the horizon, Tom Izzo’s yougsters are starting to come around with his veterans.
Jordan Scott, Kur Teng and Cam Ward walked into No. 8 Purdue on Thursday, Feb. 26, for the first time and helped the No. 8 Spartans end a 12-year, seven-game road losing streak at Mackey Arena. The three combined for 30 points, nine rebounds and four steals – along with some unchartable hustle plays – in MSU’s dramatic 76-74 victory.
“We’re not as talented as some teams you’ve seen us have over the years,” MSU's coach said. “But I've said for two years I've been the luckiest guy in America, we're together and connected. And together and connected does a lot.”
Scott finished with nine points, three assists, a steal and an assist over 34 minutes. While Izzo said it wasn't the best game for the 6-8 freshman shooting guard, who hit two of fiveshots, Scott – along with Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr – helped contain reigning Big Ten player of the year and first-team All-American Braden Smith to just 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting with four turnovers.
Scott also made two of three free throws and a runner over the final 4:40. Since joining the starting lineup Feb. 4 at Minnesota, he is averaging 9.3 points, three rebounds, 1.7 assists and a steal over six games. He's also making 52.2% from 3-point range (12-for-23).
Both Ward and Teng both came off the bench to provide a significant impact.
After enduring a swoon in late January and early February, Teng continued his resurgence as well. The 6-4 sophomore went 3-for-6 from 3-point range for 13 points, and he's 11-for-28 beyond the arc over his past five games. Teng followed his 3 off a kickout pass from Cooper with a steal and dish to Carr for a breakaway windmill dunk midway through the second half, a sequence Izzo pointed to as pivotal in the Spartans' 9-3 run that gave them the lead for good.
Ward helped spell Jaxon Kohler early as the Boilermakers attacked inside with 6-11 senior Oscar Cluff, who had four baskets and eight points in the first 3:59 of the game. Ward alternated with starting post players Kohler and Carson Cooper from there and helped limit Cluff to one more basket, near the end of the first half, and then scoreless after halftime.
“Cooper and Cam Ward definitely had their hands full in there, and I thought did a phenomenal job,” Izzo said.
Ward went 4-for-4 from the field with a pair of dunks, one coming on an offensive rebound off a blocked Teng shot, for eight points with four rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes. Over the past six games, the 6-9, 230-pound forward is averaging 5.1 points and 3.8 boards while shooting 73.7%, a sign the wrist injury that hampered him since late November following a hot start to his freshman year is healed.
“Cam Ward is gonna be a hell of a player,” Izzo said. “The process has been a little slower than he'd like, a little slower than I want. But the injury, I think, had something to do with that. And then the process – the process of just growing up and understanding that it's hard at this level, it really is.”
Izzo shortened his rotation to eight players, seven of whom scored at least eight points. Only Denham Wojcik did not score, and the backup senior point guard struggled defensively in his four minutes – though those stints were critical to give Fears a break against a Purdue defense that focused on shutting him down.
“They kind of were containing me, I guess you could say, on the ball screens,” said Fears, who finished with 12 points and six assists. “But Coop made a lot of plays, Cam made big plays, Kur made big plays, Coen. All the the guys that would come in, they’d contribute. Without them, we don’t get the win.”
Big Ten Tournament picture
That leaves MSU (23-5, 13-4 Big Ten) in a strong position to lock up a triple-bye for the Big Ten Tournament when it begins Tuesday, March 10 in Chicago, meaning the Spartans wouldn’t play until Friday, March 13. The Spartans travel to Indiana on Sunday (3:45 p.m., CBS), host Rutgers on Thursday (8 p.m., FS1) and wrap up the regular season at No. 3 Michigan next Sunday, March 8 (4:30 p.m., CBS). The Wolverines wrapped up the outright Big Ten title with their win over Illinois on Friday night.
According to playoffstatus.com, Izzo's team has a 40% chance to finish second during the regular season, a 39% chance to finish third and an 11% chance to finish fourth. The Spartans also could finish anywhere from fifth (9%) to eighth (less than 1%), but the win over the Boilermakers (22-6, 12-5) assured MSU that it will not have to play five games in five days at United Center.
“We've put ourselves in position where now we have a measuring stick to say, ‘This is what you do when you prepare well … and you played with some passion, some toughness and some togetherness,’” Izzo said. “And that's what's gonna move us forward.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Next up: Hoosiers
Matchup: No. 13 Michigan State (23-5, 13-4 Big Ten) at Indiana (17-11, 8-9).
Tipoff: 3:45 p.m. Sunday, March 1; Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana.
TV/radio: CBS; WJR-AM (760).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball: Cam Ward, Jordan Scott, Kur Teng come up big
Category: General Sports
