The MSU offense started strong with a three from Trey Fort followed by a Coen Carr dunk for a 5-0 lead. UNC then went on an 8-2 run to go up a point. Coen Carr responded with his 2nd dunk to put MSU up 9-8
at the first TV timeout.
The two teams traded buckets for a few possessions, with Carr and Cooper scoring for MSU, but then the lid closed on the rims. At the under-12 commercial, MSU still had a 1-point lead, 13-12.
The next segment of the game was possibly the worst basketball I’ve ever seen. Missed layups and turnovers and fouls. Carolina had a little run that forced MSU to call a timeout for what would be the under-8. The Spartans now found themselves down 22-15.
The Spartans had a response. Jeremy Fears hit a jumper after an MSU offensive rebound, Jaxon Kohler hit a three, and then Fears found Cooper for the Alley-Coop to tie the game… plus Cooper got the foul and made the and-1 (after a lane violation was called on a missed FT) for a 23-22 MSU lead. Divine Ugochugwu hit a corner-3 in transition and then Cam Ward scored in the low post, forcing a Tar Heel timeout. That’s a 13-0 run between commercials. MSU up 28-22.
UNC opened up the final segment of the 1st half by hitting a three to split the MSU lead. Cam Ward was fouled on a dunk attempt, but only managed to split the free throws. A couple possessions later, Ward found himself at the line again after getting an offensive rebound, and this time he drained them both. MSU rushed their final possession. Coen Carr missed a layup but got his own miss, and then Fears was called for a travel trying to drive the lane. At the break, MSU had a 33-28 lead. 8 Spartans scored in the first half, but no one had more than Carr’s 6.
UNC started the 2nd half, but Cooper defended the shooter well to cause a miss. On the other end, Cooper got the ball down low, scored, and picked up the and-1. Some trading of ugly possessions and scoring, and MSU still had a five-point lead 40-35 with 16 to go.
Admittedly, the Thanksgiving gathering that I am at right now started getting louder, so I started missing some of the action. But there was a lot of scoring in that last 4-minute stretch. MSU is holding on to a 53-46 lead with 10:43 remaining.
Carolina got the game to within 3 after the timeout, but Fears got us a bucket to get the lead back to a handful. Scoring is getting hard to come by. After a Tar Heel bucket, the score was 55-52 MSU with 7:49 to go.
Cam got things going out of the commercial scoring down low. After a stop on defense, Fears and Kohler played the inside-out, and Fears swished a triple while being fouled, but missed the FT. Another stop led to a 3-on-2 and Fears fed Ward for the easy bucket to give MSU a 10-point lead, 62-52. After Cooper padded the lead to a dozen, Carolina called a timeout with 5:17 to go.
Fear hit an amazing bank shot from just beyond the FT line. That score was right between a pair of UNC scores. On our next possession, Carr cleaned up a Cooper miss for the dunk. At the under-4 (2:47 left), Sparty is up a dozen, 68-56.
In the last part of the game, UNC was unable to mount any sort of comeback. They scored their first points from the FT line with 1:13 left, but they were still down 12. MSU used almost their entire shot clock before Fears hit the exclamation point. And then he hit another exclamation point after that with a 7 seconds left.
MSU wins 74-58!
Okay the turkey is already carved so let me do this quickly.
3 Things I Liked:
1. MSU is still perfect and 3-0 against ranked teams.
2. Defense: MSU forced UNC to 38% on FGs and 17% on 3s. MSU also won the rebound battle 37-30.
3. Four Spartans in double-figures. Fears led the way with 19, followed by Cooper’s 14, Ward’s 11, and Kohler’s 10
1 Things I Did Not Like:
1. The Lions lost to GB. That ruined the first part of my day.
That’s it. It’s Thanksgiving and I am not looking for anything bad from the MSU victory.
