Michigan State’s comeback falls short, loses 67-63 to UConn
· Yahoo Sports
After Jaxon Kohler kicked the game off with a layup, UConn would start with back-to-back threes and took a 8-4 lead heading into the first TV timeout. Things would look bad early for Michigan State as they would miss ten straight field goals. UConn was on a 12-1 run until Trey Fort was fouled and hit a free throw to stop the bleeding. Tom Izzo was forced to call a timeout with MSU down 18-6.
Coming out of that timeout, UConn would find an open attempt from the corner to hit another three – they knocked down five of their first six attempts from deep. Michigan State’s offense, on the other hand, looked absolutely pitiful. By the second TV timeout, they had gone eight straight minutes without a field goal. There was some bad shot selection of long midrange attempts and MSU missed all four of their three-pointers.
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You’ll never believe this, but UConn again hit a three coming out of a timeout. It wasn’t until under the nine-minute mark that a Kohler layup was MSU’s first make in almost 10 minutes. It looked like a high school freshman team scrimmaging the varsity as UConn held a 27-12 lead with seven minutes left. At the time, Michigan State had missed 16 of their previous 18 attempts.
Kohler hit the first three of the night for MSU with three minutes left in the first half. They missed their first six attempts from deep, but when Izzo is playing extended minutes to a front court of Carr, Ward, and Cooper, there aren’t enough shooters on the court to create a spaced floor.
Michigan State’s defense began to show up late in the half and they were able to turn it into better looking offense. They finished the half on a 9-2 run and the Huskies held a 35-27 halftime over the Spartans. MSU shot 34% from the field and 13% from deep while UConn shot 56% and 67% respectively. With percentages like that, it seems shocking that MSU was only down eight.
Carson Cooper started the second half with an and-one layup after slipping a screen to bring the Spartans within five. Carr followed that up with some two-way play – he had an impressive block on Tarris Reed and an off-the-dribble midrange jumper. After holding UConn scoreless through the first few minutes, back-to-back buckets gave them a 40-34 lead after the first timeout of the second half.
After the break, Jordan Scott knocked down a prayer at the end of the shot clock for his first three points of the night. Fort would follow that up with his own three as MSU would quickly surpass the numbers of threes (1) they made in the first half. UConn would hold a 44-40 lead with 12 minutes left.
Jeremy Fears would find Kohler in transition for an and-one layup and Michigan State would take the lead 45-44 after he knocked down the free throw – it was MSU’s first lead of the game since it was 4-3. UConn would respond as they continued to feed Reed down low and they’d take a 51-49 lead at the next TV timeout.
The Spartan offense began to slow again as they struggled to make a field goal for a few minutes. Luckily, they would reach the bonus with more than four minutes left. With their halfcourt offense struggling, MSU could use as many free throws as they could get. At the final TV timeout, UConn was up 58-55 with three minutes left.
Fears would find Cooper down the lane for a two-handed flush that forced Hurley to call a timeout with a one-point UConn lead. Alex Karaban and Fears traded three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and the Huskies would knock down two free throws to take a three-point lead with 45 seconds left. Fears would respond with two free throws of his own and Izzo called a timeout with 32 seconds left to set up the full court defense down 63-62.
UConn would get the ball past halfcourt and force Michigan State to foul and Karaban would knock down both free throws. With 22 seconds left on the clock, Fears couldn’t find anyone on offense and Kur Teng had to chuck up a forced three with 4.6 seconds left. Izzo had a timeout left and chose not to use it for whatever reason – it was a terrible offensive possession.
Luckily, Cooper was fouled on the rebound to keep MSU alive, but only made one of his two free throws. Tarris Reed would knock down both on the other end to give them a four-point lead and make it a two-possession game. UConn would go on to beat MSU 67-63.
Cooper led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds. Both Fears and Carr had 13 points and Kohler added 12 points and eight rebounds. MSU shot 40% from the field and 25% from three – nobody on Michigan State made more than one three while UConn had three guys accomplish that feat. Tarris Reed was a problem down low and led the Huskies with 20 points while Alex Karaban added 17 points, including three made three-pointers.
I can’t help but feel disappointed about Izzo’s coaching performance. He was outcoached by Hurley and didn’t have his guys prepared for the start of this game. UConn was comfortable letting Michigan State shoot it from deep and Izzo wouldn’t counter it – instead, he doubled-down on extended minutes for the non-shooting front court of Carr, Ward, and Cooper.
Trey Fort only saw six minutes in this one after playing 12 against NDSU and 19 against Louisville while shooting 4-for-8 from deep in those two games. In a game where they only made four threes, I don’t know why Fort didn’t see more playing time when his strength is this team’s biggest weakness. He made one less three against Louisville as the entire team did tonight.
Defensively, Izzo never sent a double-team at Tarris Reed. He led the Huskies in points and shot attempts, yet every time they gave it to him in the post, it was up to Cooper or Kohler to deal with him on their own. UConn’s offense looked much better than MSU’s – they had 20 assists on 24 made field goals while the Spartans only had 13 assists on 23 makes.
All this to say, it was incredible that this team fought all the way to the wire. They were down 19 points at one point in the first half and managed to reclaim the lead halfway through the second half. Shooting was this team’s weakness the entire season and it ended up being their downfall in the final game.
Go Green.