UConn men’s basketball is headed to the Elite Eight for the third time in four years and the 14th time ever, defeating Michigan State 67-63. After opening up a 19-point lead in the first half, UConn let Michigan St. climb back into the game, eventually re-taking the lead in the second half.
Tarris Reed led UConn with 20 points and 5 rebounds, and Alex Karaban had another great performance with 17 points. Both came up big late. Michigan St.’s Carson Cooper led the team with 14 points. The Huskies held
top scorers Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr each to 13 points.
This win sets up a matchup with the tournament’s top overall seed, the Duke Blue Devils. Led by the Boozer brothers, Duke took down St. John’s earlier tonight, 80-75.
Karaban got the Huskies night started with a triple, picking up where he left off after his career night in the Round of 32. Mullins hit the next UConn shot from the corner to go up 6-4. Reed was getting defenders in the low post, so he started from the top of the key and went downhill for a thunderous slam.
The UConn defense swarmed Michigan St. during the first seven minutes, holding the Spartans to just five points. Reed and Mullins had rejections. On what seemed to be a broken possession, Reed was doubled down low and hit a cutting Mullins for a rare slam to put UConn up 10-5.
Malachi Smith came off the bench and immediately nailed a three-pointer. Karaban scored an easy layup down low off a Michigan St. turnover to extend the Huskies’ run to 12-1. Fears had a freezing cold start, starting out 1-for-4, forcing up heavily contested shots.
A struggling Solo Ball hit an open three to increase the lead to 12, forcing an enraged Tom Izzo to call a timeout. This was his first field goal since Round One against Furman. Success from guards is the key to victory. Stewart got on the board with a three for the first time since Feb. 21 after his knee injury.
The Spartans had nowhere to go, starting out 2-for-15 overall, having a tough time finding open shots. Reibe was on the Spartans like glue during his first few minutes. The Huskies led 21-6 at the 11-minute mark.
It was rinse and repeat for UConn after the timeout. Ball nailed a deep three and then forced a turnover on the other end. They started 6-for-7 from the three-point range midway through the first half.
Coen Carr hit the first Michigan St. field goal in nearly 9 minutes, making the score 25-8.
To say the bench unit in the first half was phenomenal is an understatement. To make a powerhouse offensive team at Michigan State look lost on the floor is not an easy feat. Fears couldn’t get by Demary, launching a brick with the shot clock at zero.
UConn had its first turnover with just under 7 minutes to go, allowing the Spartans to finish with a layup, cutting the lead to 13. The next possession, the ball slipped from Mullins, turning it over again, giving the foes some life.
UConn started missing shots, but their defense bailed them out, forcing two more turnovers at the 4:30 mark. Smith hit Reed in a two-on-one transition play to put the Huskies back up 15. Reed followed it up a minute later with some smooth ball fakes, getting an and-one, putting him up to 8 points.
Michigan St.’s first triple came from Jaxon Kohler with just under 3 minutes to go in the first half. After forcing a stop, Carr hit a contested layup to make the score 33-23. The Spartan faithful were finally heard in Capital One Arena as Dan Hurley called a timeout. Michigan St. cut the lead to 8 from the free-throw line.
Ball got up 8 points before the halftime buzzer on a circus layup, tying Reed’s for the team high for the half. Fears came back quickly on the following possession to make the score 35-27 at the halftime break. From what was turning into a blowout was now a ballgame, as Michigan St. ended the half on a 15-8 run. UConn finished the half shooting 14-for-25 and 6-for-9 from deep.
Those stats would make you think that this is a blowout, but no, UConn allowed the Spartans to creep back in the last 6 minutes of the first half. 1-for-5 from the charity stripe also didn’t help UConn’s chances of turning this game into a blowout.
Michigan St. cut the lead to 5 as Carson Cooper started the half with an and-one. A Carr jumper after making a highlight rejection over Reed made it a 35-32 ballgame.
The Huskies looked disheveled, as the Spartans came out with more intensity than they did in the first half. An additional and-one from Carr made it just a one-point game. Mullins responded tremendously with a triple on the following possession. Reed picked up a steal from Cooper and rocked the rim to go back up by 6.
The UConn defensive pressure was still present; the Spartans, however, were making the shots they missed in the first half. Karaban rejected Jordan Scott’s layup, putting UConn up by 6 blocks for the game.
At the under-12-minute timeout, the Huskies were up 44-40, still an eternity of gametime left. After starting out 6-for-7 from deep, UConn then went cold, going 1-for-6 after that.
Michigan St. took the lead via transition buckets, Kohler got an and-one to go up 45-44.
It turned into a back-and-forth battle of the bigs after that, Reed getting back-to-back buckets and Cooper getting a post fade over the senior.
Karaban nailed another huge three to go up 51-47, putting him in double figures. After starting out 4-for-19 in the second half, the Huskies made three straight buckets. Another bucket from Michigan St. made it a two-point game at the under-8-minute timeout.
Ball went on a 4-0 run of his own to put UConn back up by 6. Michigan St. was scoreless for over three minutes. The Spartans responded by getting stops and scores to make it a one-point game with 1:50 to play.
The last five minutes were a nail-biter, with both teams throwing haymakers at each other. After UConn’s dominant start, which included a 22-2 run, Michigan St. turned into a different team at the end of the first half and into the second. Jaxon Kohler notched a three-point play to put the Spartans ahead as they surged back, and from there it was one hell of a game.
The captain Karaban made a monster triple to go up 61-57, and Fears stepped up and hit a three of his own with a minute to go. Reed got to the line for a pair with 44.8 seconds left and made two critical free throws to go back up three. Demary fouled a driving Fears, and he went to the line and drilled both free throws, making it a 63-62 game.
Michigan St. needed to foul, and Karaban made both after they broke the full-court pressure. The UConn defense made Michigan St. panic on their final possession. Needing a three, Fears was dancing at the top of the key, wasting precious time trying to find an open shot. Kur Teng launched a wild three that missed. But UConn committed a loose-ball foul, and the Spartans went 1-for-2 at the line, with the rebound falling into Reed’s hands. With 4 seconds to go, Reed had a one-and-one. The 54% free throw shooter hit both. The Spartans turned it over on the inbound, which sealed the deal.
The huge free throws from Reed and Karaban capped off the victory for UConn. The Huskies and the Duke Blue will tip off on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m., on CBS.
