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Men's Basketball Instant Recap: Huge first half downs Wolverines 79-62


Men's Basketball Instant Recap: Huge first half downs Wolverines 79-62

The Breslin crowd came ready for this one, as expected. After a turnover on MSU's first possession, Jeremy Fears really got them into it with a hustle play. Fears got in the way of a Michigan outlet pass and then threw the ball off a Wolverine defender to get the ball back for MSU.

Fears then found Kohler on a nice slip to the basket and MSU was up 2-0. Vlad Goldin responded with a three point play for Michigan but then MSU's defense clamped down and Michigan never led again. Two more Michigan turnovers led to two three pointers from Jaden Akins, an 8-3 MSU lead, and a Michigan timeout.

MSU forced another turnover coming out of UM's timeout but Akins was off on a third three point attempt. Goldin backed down Carson Cooper on the other end and converted, aided by what appeared to be help from a push-off, and it was 8-5 MSU.

A 12-1 MSU run would make it 20-6 going into the second media timeout. MSU continued to clamp down on defense and, on the other end, Jase Richardson created a layup for himself and Akins hit another three. Tre Holloman drilled his own three after a nice drive and kick out from Akins, and then followed that up with a nice 16 foot pull up.

At this point, Goldin had all six of Michigan's points but UM had more turnovers than points. Nimari Burnett changed that with Michigan's first three pointer and cutting the Spartans' lead to 20-9.

The Wolverines continued to go to Goldin, who delivered two more buckets with a turnaround hook and a short jumper over Kohler. Those were sandwiched around a nice Kohler turnaround for MSU.

Coen Carr cleaned up a mess near the basket and his lay-in made it 25-13 MSU with 7:56 to go. Goldin responded with an offensive rebound and put back off a Will Tschetter missed three and it was 25-15.

The Wolverines then went to a zone on the other end. The Spartans beat it inside, getting the ball to Carr who drew Tschetter's third foul and hit both shots to make it 27-15.

Another UM turnover and great ball movement from MSU led to a Holloman corner three and MSU doubling up the Wolverines at 30-15.

Two more Goldin free throws, his 13th and 14th points for Michigan, and a Tre Donaldson layup got Michigan to the under four break. But the Spartans got a corner three and a beautiful reverse layup from Richardson to go into the last media break leading 35-19.

Michigan State would explode in the last four minutes of the half. Frankie Fidler converted a pretty drive and put MSU up 39-22 behind an 18-0 lead in bench points. It would only get better from there.

A Richardson drive bailed MSU out late in the shot clock and drew the second foul Rubin Jones. Richardson hit both and then foul trouble continued to mount for the Wolverines. Fears pushed after another Wolverine miss and drew the second Roddy Gayle, Jr. His two free throws made it 43-24.

That would extend to 50-28 at halftime. The Spartans added a Richardson slam off a backdoor cut and a Kohler slam after a steal by Akins. The referees were kind to Jaxon as he took an extra step or two on his way to the rim but even the zebras recognized this was going to be MSU's day. A Richardson kick to Holloman led to another three and MSU's 50th point in the half.

The Spartans have had several good halves this year but this may have been the best. They shot 7-18 from three and held Michigan to 2-10. After struggling a bit at Iowa, the free throw shooting was back in order as MSU hit 11-12. MSU committed only two turnovers and forced Michigan into 11 while running up a 14-2 lead in fast break points. The Spartans also grew their lead off the bench to 21-1.

Richardson and Holloman led MSU with 11 at the break while Akins had nine on three triples. Goldin was the only real threat for Michigan with 14.

After nearly two minutes of scoreless play to open the second half, Jase Richardson broke the drought with a foul on Goldin. His two free throws put MSU up 52-28. Goldin converted a nice inside pass from Wolf into another three point play before a Jaxon Kohler straightaway three made it 55-31.

It got sloppy from there with a lot of running around and missed threes from both teams before Goldin powered inside for two more to make it 55-33 with 15:51 to go.

Unfortunately the sloppy and disjointed play continued into the next media timeout as Michigan was able to get the lead under 20 at 61-43. The Spartans were able to get a couple of pretty mid range jumpers from Holloman and two Carson Cooper free throws. MSU was also able to draw the fourth foul on Tschetter and Wolf's third but the Wolverines were more aggressive in this stretch.

Wolf continued to work and came to life with a three pointer, a nice interior pass to Goldin that led to a three point play, and a Euro step layup around Carr. The Wolverines would continue to cut into the deficit with Goldin drawing the fourth foul on Jeremy Fears far from the basket. Goldin then hit a left hander over Kohler to make it 61-45 on a 9-0 run.

The run extended to 12-0 before Richardson ended it with a corner three to make it 64-50. Jase tripped over a referee and may have tweaked his ankle but still nailed a much needed and massive bucket for MSU.

It remained 64-50 coming out of the under 8 break as Holloman missed the front end of a one and one. Michigan cut it to 12 when Wolf found Goldin for a banked in push shot from just inside the free throw line.

Tre Holloman continued to spark the Spartans from there, drawing the fourth on Gayle Jr. and hitting one free throw before his high off the glass finish made it 67-52. Holloman's 20th point came on another pull-up jumper to make it 69-54 and gave MSU a 30-3 lead in bench points.

Wolf backed down Carr and hit to make it 69-56 before Fears was fouled going into the under four break. Fears hit both coming out of the break to make it 71-56 with 3:48 to go. Michigan still wouldn't completely go away though as a Wolf provided a free throw and then a layup off a steal to make it 71-59.

Richardson made another key play for MSU and put a stake in the Wolverines with a beautiful hesitation drive, getting one to fall over Goldin, to make it 73-59 with 2:50 to go.

Before it was over, Akins added his final hoop at Breslin for the Spartans and Szymon Zapala got one more bucket at the Bres as well. It ended 79-62 but unfortunately, not before some pushing and shoving between the two teams.

Despite some second half struggles, the Spartans more than earned the opportunity to give the Seniors a chance to sub out and kiss the S, per MSU tradition. Frankie Fidler was first to go and Michigan let it pass without incident. However, when Zapala tried to take his turn, two Wolverines stood at center court and wouldn't move. Tre Holloman approached and forced them to get out of the way. Fortunately, before things could really boil over, Tom Izzo and Dusty May, to their credit, got together and cut it off. Zapala finally got his kiss when it was all over.

The TV announcers wondered aloud if Michigan was unaware of this Spartan tradition but they had just seen Fidler do it. Come on. The Wolverines showed some fight in the second half but you're down double digits with less than a minute to go. Have some respect for once.

An emotional Akins was the last to complete the tradition. In perhaps a less-noticed moment, Xavier Booker, who really struggled in his limited time today, gave Zapala a big hug on the bench.

Goldin led everyone with 29 points for Michigan while Wolf finished with 18. Holloman had 20 for MSU and Richardson scored 18. Both hit several key hoops in the second half when MSU was struggling a bit.

The Spartans would commit 13 second half turnovers and didn't have any fast break points after halftime. However, MSU hit 20-24 from the line and won the rebounding battle 39-30.

The Spartans had already secured the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will open play in Indianapolis on Friday against either Indiana or Oregon.

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