After Tuesday’s big win over Duke, Tom Izzo called tonight’s matchup a maturity test for Michigan State. The Spartans, at least in the early and late going, did enough to pass the exam but left some questions unanswered at times.
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Michigan State raced out to a 16-2 lead and forced a UNI timeout five minutes into the first half. Corner triples from Jordan Scott and Jasiah Jervis got MSU going before Jeremy Fears added two
threes of his own.
The timeout didn’t help much for Northern Iowa as they immediately committed a turnover coming out of the break. Scott added another triple and it was 19-2, MSU. But the Panthers were able to play it pretty even for the rest of the half from this point.
Michigan State then went deeper into the bench with Jesse McCulloch, Kur Teng, Kaleb Glenn, and CJ Medlock on the floor with Jervis. This group’s first offensive possession bogged down and produced a turnover but they quickly found their footing. A Medlock corner three made it 22-7, as MSU was 6-7 on their triple tries at this point.
Jervis would add yet another three pointer and it was 27-9 with 11:35 left in the half. The only Spartan who wasn’t hitting at this point was Teng, who missed his two three point attempts plus a baseline jumper. Teng would respond though, hitting his next two shots to finish the half with five points.
Carr, after sitting with two early fouls, came back in around the 10 minute. His layup off a break made it 31-14 Spartans. Fears added another three and then, a couple of possessions later, whipped it to Scott for his third triple. This made it 40-18 at the under eight break.
The only downside in this stretch for the Spartans involved freshman big Ethan Taylor, who picked up two quick fouls on defense and a turnover on the offensive end. Taylor returned to the bench after just a few minutes of action.
Fellow Spartan big Anton Bonke had started the game but had also played just three minutes at this point, without recording any stats. Bonke would eventually check back in later in the half but didn’t last too long. He was pulled after getting called for two illegal screens, the second of which negated a Glenn layup.
UNI was able to hang around, breaking down MSU off the dribble a few times and hitting some jumpers. The Panthers were down 48-32 with 3:50 left in the half, as the Spartan offense struggled a bit to keep things going with Fears catching his breath on the bench.
Fears subbed back in and added six more points before halftime but UNI continued to prove they could weather the early storm. After limiting Duke to just 25 first half points, the Spartans gave up 44 to Northern Iowa and led by 15 at the break.
Of the Spartans’ 59 points in the half, 30 came on threes as MSU went 10-16 from deep. Another 17 came from the free throw line where Michigan State hit 77%.
Fears led MSU with 19 and his only miss from anywhere was from the foul line. He hit all five of his field goals, including three from beyond the arc. Scott added 11 but the Spartan big men (Cam Ward, McCulloch, Bonke, and Taylor) combined for just one point.
Levi Valdo had nine points off the bench to lead UNI into the break while Tate McCubbin and Greyson Uelmen each added eight.
After the break, the rough outing continued for Bonke. His foul on defense led to a three point play for UNI, getting the Panthers within 12.
The teams then traded buckets, mostly threes, from here for the next few possessions. Jervis hit two more from deep – the second one on a catch and shoot inbounds play to put MSU up 65-50. Jervis was 4-4 on his triple tries at this point. Fears added another three but Northern Iowa continued to answer and it was just 68-54 MSU at the first break of the second half.
Some of the Spartan big men finally gained some traction in the next segment. McCulloch and Teng, on a kickout from McCulloch, added threes after the timeout. Taylor came back, worked hard for an offensive rebound, and drew the fifth foul on UNI’s Ian Smikle with 12:39 to go. Taylor hit both free throws to grow the Spartan lead back to 76-58.
Going into the under 12 minute break, Scott was fouled gathering in an offensive rebound. When play resumed, Scott was on the bench with an icepack on his shoulder while Carr shot his free throws. Carr converted and MSU was back up 20 at 78-58 but Scott remained on the bench, with the ice, for the rest of the game. Hopefully remaining on the bench, rather than going to the locker room, means that this was more of a precaution for Scott.
UNI recovered with a five point run before MSU regained control. A Glenn drive fouled out Isaiah Johnson-Arigo with 10:30 left. Glenn hit both free throws and, after a stop on defense, Fears found Ward for an uncontested dunk. While all this was happening, a bunch of whistles and three monitor reviews slowed the game down while irritating Tom Izzo and the Breslin fans.
MSU took advantage of the whistles with more free throws and then another Jervis three. After an 11-0 Spartan run, the lead was back up 89-63 with 7:36 to go.
The run would extend to 21 points after the break to really put the Panthers away. The Spartans also tied the school record with 17 triples when McCulloch hit from deep with 6:18 left. MSU hit the century mark with a free throw from Carr with 4:18 left.
The only question remaining was if the Spartans would break the school record for threes. Julius Avent did it with just under a minute to go as MSU finished off a 106-72 victory. Even better, UNI was gracious enough to miss consecutive free throws with 10 seconds left to provide the Breslin fans with free chicken nuggets.
Fears finished with 24 points on 6-7 shooting (4-5 on threes), plus nine assists in 28 minutes for the Spartans. Jervis added 20 in 23 minutes on 7-9 shooting (5-6 on threes). Carr and Scott were each in double figures with 11. As a team, MSU shot 49% overall and 18-37 from three while holding Northern Iowas to 35% and outrebounding the Panthers 46-28.
The three point shooting is the big storyline tonight but this has to be considered a missed opportunity for Bonke, who played just seven minutes, with just three fouls and three turnovers to show for his time on the floor. The rest of the Spartan bigs found their footing though. Taylor went 4-4 at the line and added four boards in his nine minutes. Ward had three points seven rebounds in 20 minutes but went just 1-6 at the free throw line. Finally, McCulloch hit two threes and contributed seven points and five boards in 16 minutes.
Next up for the Spartans is a big test at Tennessee, their first true road game of the season, on Tuesday (9 PM ET, ESPN2). We’ll have a preview out Monday.
Go Green!
