MSU survives Senior Night scare, beats Rutgers 91-87

It was only fair this one kicked off with senior Carson Cooper scoring the first two points and allowing the Izzone to pop their paper bags. Rutgers knocked down two early threes to take an 8-6 lead at the first TV timeout.

Cam Ward brought his energy on the offensive end. After grabbing multiple consecutive offensive rebounds, he was able to get an and-one putback to go to fire up himself and the crowd. That led to finishing a lob from Jeremy Fears Jr to take the lead, and Fears followed that possession up with a three from the top of the key.

Michigan State allowed Rutgers to stay close due to their high number of turnovers. After MSU held a four-point lead, Rutgers responded with a 13-6 run to take a 25-22 lead at the four-minute mark. I was impressed by the short minutes from Denham Wojcik who found Cooper for an alley-oop and drew a charge playing good perimeter defense, though, that didn’t continue for him in the second half.

Once we made it to halftime, the Spartans had reclaimed the lead and led 31-30. Carr led the way for MSU with eight points, Ward had seven, and Fears and Cooper each had six. The stat that Izzo would’ve circled on the whiteboard in the locker room was their 10 turnovers. Rutgers was only staying close because of the opportunities Michigan State kept providing them.

Whatever Izzo said at halftime, they listened. The Spartans forced Rutgers into a timeout within the first two minutes after a Jaxon Kohler three gave MSU a 7-0 run to start the second half. That’s when the game turned into a Coen Carr dunk contest.

Rutgers connected on a jumper, but Carr still took off after the made basket and Fears found him behind the defense for his patented left-handed hammer. They followed that up with back-to-back alley-oops that just about lit the Breslin Center on fire. The show only stopped because Rutgers had to call a timeout after Jordan Scott joined in with a baseline drive for the fourth consecutive dunk for Michigan State.

Fears and Carr continued to push the pace together as they extended their lead to double-digits. Kur Teng and Cam Ward wanted to get in on the fun as they connected on an alley-oop of their own and Michigan State took a 58-43 lead with 12 minutes left.

Jeremy Fears was assessed a technical foul which turned into a made three afterwards for a quick 5-0 Rutgers run. It was a collective team response with field goals made by Fears, Teng, Kohler, and Scott for a 13-6 run of their own as they looked to push this game out of reach.

Carr added a corner three from Wojcik for his 19th point of the game that also gave Michigan State a 19-point lead. Though, Izzo was unhappy with sloppy play on both ends as he was forced to call a timeout as Rutgers capitalized on MSU’s mistakes to make it a 75-63 game with a few minutes left.

A Kohler spin move in the post got Michigan State back on the board, but Rutgers did their best to spoil Senior Night. Tom Izzo deployed the five-man senior lineup with just over a minute left, but after they let the lead dwindle to seven, Izzo brought the starters back in with 43 seconds still on the clock.

Rutgers continued to apply pressure as they forced a quick turnover to give MSU a 86-82 lead. Even the starters struggled to stop Rutgers as a three-pointer with a few seconds left capped off a 19-6 run to make it a 89-87 Michigan State lead. Fears made two clutch free throws to make it a two possession game and MSU would go on to win 91-87.

Due to the late collapse, no seniors were able to kiss the Spartan helmet at the middle of the court as they checked out of the Breslin Center for the last time. What was once a 19-point lead that looked to be a celebratory night for the seniors turned into a disappointing win that leaves an unsavory aftertaste in your mouth.

Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr led the way for Michigan State with 21 points each – they combined to shoot 13-for-19 from the field and put on a show for the home crowd. Seniors Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper added 15 points and 14 points along with 13 total rebounds.

The Spartans will travel to Ann Arbor for their final game of the season against the #3 Michigan Wolverines for a Sunday afternoon matchup.

Go Green.