Late foul costs Michigan State basketball comeback in 89-88 exhibition loss to Tennessee

EAST LANSING — It was only an October exhibition, with the primary focus on relief efforts in Maui.

But, boy, did it sure feel like a late-March game inside Breslin Center on Sunday.

A packed house. An electric energy. Even some heated words followed by some pushing and shoving.

Two Sweet 16 teams a few months ago playing with midseason physicality, even though both showed the need for preseason growth.

Michigan State basketball rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit and early turnover troubles to turn a potential blowout into an entertaining and competitive game before falling 89-88.

"I asked (Tennessee coach Rick Barnes), 'Are we stupid or what?' We don't need this in October," MSU coach Tom Izzo said. "A couple of people sitting next to me, I said, 'Damn, we got five more months of this?' But that's a good thing, it really, really is. It's a good thing.

"And it was really good for our players. And in some ways, you know my philosophy around here — it's good to get punched in the mouth. Because I thought we did early. I think we got punched right in the mouth, and I did think we'd come back."

The Spartans scrimmaged the Volunteers behind closed doors a year ago in Knoxville, Tennessee, with the Vols edging MSU in a single-digit game.

This time around, the stage was much bigger.

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Izzo and Barnes opted to take this year’s game public to help raise funds for the tragic wildfires that decimated Maui in early August. The Vols will play in this year’s Maui Classic, which has been moved to Honolulu, while the Spartans next season will make their first trip back to the Maui Classic since 2019.

"You lose by one in a game that I think was a hell of a game for the people," Izzo said. "And most important, and that's why we did it, I hope it does bring light on the people from Maui. … I've been (to the Maui Classic), and next year will be my fifth time. I think Rick, this year, it's gonna be his fourth time. So it meant a lot to both of us. Because when you go there, you get treated so well.

"And I thought our our people here did a great job. It was a phenomenal crowd. It's not easy during football to have a crowd like that."

That was the matters of importance. But as a preseason precursor for two of the favorites to get to a Final Four and win a title, it had all the accouterments of a showdown much bigger than a meaningless game.

MSU guard Tyson Walker scored seven straight points to put the game at 77-76 with 3:56 to play, and the senior pulled it back to a one-point game with a driving layup with 24.7 seconds to play.

Tennessee hit nine of 10 free throws at one point, then A.J. Hoggard hit two free throws with 11.1 ticks left. The Spartans’ defensive pressure forced a turnover following those, with Walker scrapping on the floor and getting the ball back to Hoggard for a 3-pointer that tied the game 88-all with 3.9 left.

But a late foul from Tre Holloman put Jordan Gainey on the line and he made one of two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to help the Vols hang on to a victory that won’t count for either team, other than the experience and the opportunity to help Maui.

"This felt like a real game," said Walker, Walker finished with 22 points on 8 of 19 shooting for MSU with four assists and five of the Spartans’ 12 steals. "It didn't feel like a game that should be happening in October, so it's good to have it. ... It's good to learn now about importance of possessions, turnovers and stuff. Every possession matters. So it's good to have this right now."

Hoggard scored 14, Malik Hall had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Jaden Akins had 12 points and six assists.

Dalton Knecht scored 28 and Gainey 20 for the Vols, who had four others combine for 36 points.

"It just makes it more real," Hall said of having a full crowd as opposed to the closed scrimmage from a year ago. "To be honest, when nobody's watching, it's a little bit different. It's quiet in there, the momentum swings aren't as serious, things of that nature. But there's so much that you can learn from just like the environment, and especially the experience for our freshmen and some of the younger guys.

"I think that was a really high quality game that you would see in March. And it's October."

Defensive intrigue

The Spartans, coming off an easy win over Division II Hillsdale in their exhibition opener Wednesday, were blitzed from the outset as the Vols arrived with the intensity of a blazing orange sun.

Tennessee took full advantage of MSU’s early sloppiness, dashing out to a 17-1 lead by drilling three 3-pointers, including back-to-back 3s for Gainey. The junior guard hit two more on back-to-back possessions over Walker to put the Vols up 18, 30-12, at the midpoint of the first half.

By that point, the Spartans had committed eight turnovers and were 5-for-14 from the floor. But Izzo’s promise to pick up a full-court defense more frequently rattled Tennessee, which was without top guards Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler for the scrimmage.

"That's how we want to play. We just didn't think we could sustain it today," Barnes said of being without Viscovi and Zeigler. "I was impressed with their guards' conditioning, their physical cardio toughness. I thought they worked us back there in the backcourt really good, really well."

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Hoggard’s three-point play off a steal sparked a 25-10 closing run to the opening period for MSU over the final 9:45. The Spartans committed just two more turnovers in that stretch, finishing with 10 in the half and 17 total for the day.

Tennessee finished the half with 14 turnovers and had 20 in the game.

"The turnovers were a joke," Izzo said. "I mean, theirs were worse, Rick's not real happy, either. But our turnovers lead to some touchdowns that they got early. And then that was a depressing moment when you get down 17-1.

"I guess my team deserves some credit for coming back from that."

Everything stabilized from that early portion of the game for both teams, and the second half was a back-and-forth heavyweight slugfest. But Izzo found other areas his team will need to work on.

Rotation preview?

Izzo went with the same starting group he did against Hillsdale. Hoggard ran point, Walker at off-guard, Akins on the wing, and Hall and Sissoko on the block.

His substitution pattern gives a glimpse of how he plans to rotate some of his younger players.

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Carson Cooper came into the game first, replacing Sissoko at center. Guards Holloman and Jeremy Fears Jr. came off the bench next, about six minutes into the game. Freshman swingman Coen Carr took the court a minute later, but forward Xavier Booker did not enter the game until nearly 12 minutes in and played just eight minutes on the day.

Carr showed off his array of dunks — one off a steal and runout between three Vols players, one a tip-dunk on a Walker miss, and two off alley-oops from Walker. The freshman had nine points and four rebounds, looking sturdy and quick-handed defensively while attacking the glass more frequently than he did against Hillsdale.

Carr played 16 minutes, Cooper 15, Fears 13 and Holloman 12 off the bench.

“What I didn't get to do is rotate guys enough,” Izzo said. "I probably, if I had to do it over again, I'd get Tre and Jeremy a few more minutes in there. A little cleaner rotation, but they played less than 12 minutes. That's more than a lot of freshmen do. And even Book played eight or nine minutes. So kust getting that rotation down will be very important."

Areas of concern

Perhaps the one concern, seemingly an issue for many years, was MSU’s 3-point defense. That was evident early, as the Vols got plenty of open looks and went 7-for-11 in the opening half, finishing 11-for-21 beyond the arc.

The Spartans had some free-throw shooting woes throughout the game, finishing 26-for-36 at the line. Particularly their big men struggled.

Izzo wasn’t be pleased with Akins not getting a rebound, though MSU recovered from early rebounding struggles to finish with a 38-31 advantage.

"If there was a disappointment," Izzo said, "it was our wings, our guards gotta get more rebounds."

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari. 

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State loses 89-88 in exhibition against Tennessee