Everyone is surely familiar with MSU’s last game – a thoroughly impressive win against Kentucky at the Champions Classic on Tuesday. That win, however, was preceded by a less than impressive second half
last Thursday against San Jose State. Michigan State came out on top but the second half letdown had Tom Izzo fuming. The team certainly responded favorably to Izzo’s ire when they faced the Wildcats. Tonight he probably wanted to see how locked in the Spartans would be at home against the University of Detroit Mercy with perhaps the stage not quite as big.
It didn’t start out quite as well as offensively for the Spartans as Trey Fort missed everything on an open three point attempt on MSU’s first possession.
On the defensive end, Detroit Mercy went scoreless on all 8 of their possessions leading up to the under 16 minute timeout. UDM was able to get some second chance opportunities and drew two fouls on MSU’s Carson Cooper, sending him to the bench early. Still, it was 10-0, MSU at the first break.
Detroit is coached by former Spartan player and Izzo assistant Mark Montgomery who is certainly familiar with MSU’s emphasis on rebounding. Montgomery had his Titans well prepared and they battled hard on the boards all night.
Detroit’s effort finally paid off as the Titans found the bottom of the net on their tenth possession when Nate Clark got inside and finished.
Michigan State extended the lead to 17-4 at the 11:53 mark. Coen Carr had led the way for MSU at this point going 3-3 from the floor and also 3-3 from the free throw line. His effort included two threes plus a conventional three point play on a nice baseline drive that drew an and-one.
UDM was able to settle in a bit over the next few minutes, however. Xavier Istomin-Monroe hit a jump hook off the glass which got Detroit going a little bit. After a Cam Ward dunk for MSU, Detroit responded with an Orlando Lovejoy midrange jumper and a three from Ayden Carter, and it was 19-11 MSU.
Jesse McCulloch hit a nice fadeaway in the paint to put MSU back up ten but picked up his second foul a bit later. After a Jeremy Fears to Cooper lob, it was 25-13 MSU at the under eight break.
The game got a little sloppy with the turnover count mounting a bit for both teams over the next four minutes. UDM stayed within 12 when Carr was called for goaltending to make it 27-15. It was almost worth giving up the two points to see Carr get high off the ground to swat the ball away.
MSU was still up 12, at 29-17 with 3:35 to go in the half.
The last few minutes before the break featured mostly free throws but Detroit was also able to hit a couple of triples, including another bank shot from 5’-8” Lance Stone that made it 37-23. Denham Wojcik entered in the last minute for the Spartans and drew a foul. He missed both his shots but MSU got the rebound and Wojcik redeemed himself by finding Ward for a dunk to make it 40-25 MSU.
After a UDM turnover, Ward was fouled on a breakaway with less than a second remaining in the half. He hit one of two to put MSU up 41-25 at the break.
After his early flurry, Carr still had 11 points at the break but that was enough to lead MSU into halftime. Jeremy Fears had 8 to go along with 5 assists and zero turnovers at the break. Ward contributed five points and seven boards for MSU. Lovejoy led Detroit with eight points.
Carr had MSU’s only two threes as the Spartans went just 2-7 from deep in the first half. After a hot start, Michigan State was just 11-16 from the free throw line at this point.
Detroit continued to hang around in the rebounding battle as it was just a 21-16 MSU advantage overall, and only 6-5 in offensive boards, at halftime.
There was no real second half letup tonight for MSU as the Spartans got their offensive rebounding game going, leading to their first two hoops of the second half. Fears hit a three after a Coen Carr offensive rebound and then a Cooper tip off a Kohler miss led to a bucket and foul shot for Carson that put MSU up 47-27.
Fort and Kohler hit threes for the Spartans and a beautiful pick and roll Fears to Cooper lob made it 55-31 MSU with 14:52 to go.
Somewhere in between the early second half action, Coen Carr missed a breakaway lob when he jumped into the side of the backboard and couldn’t corral a pass from Fears.
A couple of Titan free throws and a London Maiden turnaround jumper in the paint had UDM back within 20 at 55-35. Detroit went into a zone at this point but Fears was able to penetrate to the middle of it and hit a short jumper to put the Spartans up 57-35. A couple minutes of scoreless action, including three missed triples by MSU, led to the score remaining 57-35 at the media timeout with 10:48 to go.
The Spartans got a turnover coming out of the break which led to two Cooper free throws and a 59-35 lead. At this point, Cooper was on the floor with four Spartan newcomers: two freshmen in Ward and Jordan Scott and two transfers in Fort and Divine Ugochukwu.
That group held their own but the Spartan lead grew when Izzo went back to some more experienced Spartans. Fears hit a three and then found Carr for a breakaway lob – Coen jumped to the right spot this time and his jam put MSU up 66-39 with 8:05 to go.
Kohler added another fast break slam but TJ Nadeau hit a jumper and a three for the Titans to make it 68-44 MSU at the under eight media timeout, which arrived with 6:24 remaining.
Scott turned it over for MSU coming out of the break, leading to a touchdown layup for UDM to cut it to 68-46. MSU responded with Cooper doing his best Coen Carr impersonation with a lob jam and one. His three point play put MSU back up by 25. But Detroit responded with a three from Carter leaving Izzo irritated enough to call a timeout.
A Nate Johnson baseline jumper got UDM back within 20 but a Kohler offensive rebound and putback plus a nifty Fears drive and conversion had the Spartans up 75-41 with 3:31 to go.
Detroit came out in a zone again after the break and Jordan Scott worked hard for an offensive rebound, drawing a foul in the process. This may not have been Scott’s best game from a stat sheet perspective but the freshman seemed to be very active. He was often in the passing lanes and diving on the floor for loose balls.
MSU finished the game with Nick Sanders and the Walton twins on the floor again and didn’t disappoint with Sanders hitting a three almost as soon as he stepped on the floor. Ugochukwu added another three for MSU and it finished 84-56, MSU.
The Spartans shot 46% for the game, including 8-27 from deep while holding Detroit to 37% and only 5-20 on threes. The Spartans had a better second half from the free throw line and finished 20-26 (77%). UDM fared better than Kentucky on the boards but MSU won the battle there 42-31.
Fears led MSU with 18 points and 11 assists against only one turnover while hitting two of his four threes. Kohler (13 points, 4 rebounds), Carr (13 and 7), and Cooper (12 and 6) also finished in double figures for MSU. Ward led MSU with eight boards.
Lovejoy finished with 14 points for Detroit.
Now, time for hockey as #1 MSU faces #7 Wisconsin in a key Big Ten series from Munn Ice Arena.
