Michigan State gets key win for NCAA tournament resume by surviving Minnesota, 77-67

MINNEAPOLIS – It was another must-win moment, with another second-half gut-check.

Michigan State basketball’s veterans delivered in the clutch. And likely extended Tom Izzo’s 25-year NCAA tournament streak in the process.

A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Malik Hall combined for 30 of the Spartans' 45 second-half points, with MSU closing on a 33-18 run over the final 12:31 to beat Minnesota, 77-67, in the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday.

Hoggard scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime, while Walker had eight points in the last 4:37 to finish with 15. Hall scored seven of his nine after battling first-half foul trouble.

"I think we didn't close the games out that we should have won or could have won by larger margins throughout the year. We kind of just learned from it and did a better job of being veterans and knowing what time of year it is and knowing what these games mean," said Hoggard, who finished 6-for-6 shooting with six assists and didn't have a turnover in the second half after committing three in the first. "It's win or go home, and then we would be sitting at home from now until Sunday hoping our name would get called. And we didn't want to be in that position.

"We knew it was time to take care of business and close the game out."

MSU (19-13) moves on to face No. 1 seed and third-ranked Purdue (28-3) at noon Friday at Target Center (BTN). The Boilermakers won the only meeting between the two, 80-74, on March 2 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Jaden Akins added nine points and seven rebounds for the Spartans, who had a 30-23 edge on the boards and outscored the Gophers 44-30 in the paint. MSU also had a 24-11 edge in reserve scoring, led by nine points with four assists from Minneapolis native Tre Holloman and seven points and six rebounds from Jaxon Kohler. Those two combined for 11 second-half points off the bench.

A team effort that likely secures an NCAA berth for the Spartans after they lost four of their final five in the regular season.

"Did I think we were in if we would have lost? I thought we had a good chance, because of all the things that I hate but that everybody uses (metrics)," Izzo said about a potential NCAA invite. "But did I feel comfortable? No. But I didn't use that, as there was no breaking the 25-year thing, that wasn't even mentioned. It was, 'Let's go win a tournament. Let's go win some games. Let's get better, because it doesn't matter if we don't get better whether we get in or not.'

"Get in and win a game? All it does is protect a record. It doesn't do anything for the program or for them. And that's the approach I took with them, so I was pleased on how they handled it."

MSU and Minnesota entered having split their two regular-season meetings, and each lost four of its final five regular-season games, giving this game some extra juice with two desperate teams. And for the Spartans, they also had the added motivation of trying to enhance their NCAA tournament resume to keep Izzo's streak active after he broke a tie with Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski for a coach at a single school with his 25th straight berth last year.

"I think we had we had to win that game," said Holloman, who was 3-for-3 with a pair of 3-pointers and added two steals and a block. "I think we play better like that, because we just want to win. That is the main focus, winning, so I think everybody takes that in."

Dawson Garcia had 19 points for the Gophers (18-14). Pharrel Payne, Parker Fox and Cam Christie each scored 11 points, while Elijah Hawkins had 10 points and seven assists.

Another lineup change to start

Izzo turned to Carson Cooper to start against Minnesota, his fifth of the season and first since Dec. 5 against Wisconsin. Cooper was the fourth player to start at center in the last four halves of basketball – Mady Sissoko against Northwestern, Xavier Booker in the first half Sunday at Indiana and Jaxon Kohler the second half of that 65-64 loss.

As they did against the Hoosiers, the Spartans got off to a sloppy and sluggish start. Minnesota ripped off the first seven points, with Cooper missing three of four free throws before finally getting MSU on the board a little more than three minutes into the game.

Booker replaced Hall, and the Spartans’ offense started to come together. First, Hoggard hit Booker on a baseline cut for an alley-oop. Then after a steal, Hoggard took off in transition and delivered a bounce pass to the freshman for a second straight dunk. A 3-pointer by Holloman and a spin-move post-up by Kohler gave MSU its first lead, 10-9, with 13:25 to go in the half.

That lead swelled to four after a Hoggard hunt-and-peck drive and layup and then a Hall dunk in transition that forced Minnesota coach Ben Johnson to call timeout. The Spartans appeared to finally have things figure out.

But the Gophers again tightened up their defense and culled together a quick 11-0 answering run. That included 3-pointers from Hawkins and Garcia, a dunk by Fox and – perhaps most importantly – a three-point play by Payne that drew Hall’s second foul. The MSU senior would sit the final 10:32 of the half.

"We knew it was going to be a grind," Johnson said. "A team that's a proven veteran, been in this position before. Kind of a must-win game for both teams. We knew it was going to come down to the details."

Everything bounced back and forth from there, much like the first two meetings this season that the teams split. Akins’ 3-pointer with 2:03 to go in the half forced the fourth tie of a half that featured eight lead changes.

After the Spartans got a stop defensively, Izzo called timeout with 1:36 to go before halftime. He put a seldom-used lineup with four guards – Hoggard, Walker, Akins and Holloman – along with Cooper. MSU’s play out of the stoppage was a post-up for Cooper, and he missed the hook shot. Then at the other end, Garcia beat Cooper to the block and scored a layup that gave the Gophers a 34-32 lead at the break.

"We made some mistakes in that first half that are (inexcusable). And those cost you," Izzo said. "We talked about every single possession matters. It's been harder for this team to figure that out."

Nine different Spartans scored in the first half, with Akins getting seven, Booker six and Walker five. MSU had a 16-12 rebounding advantage, but the Spartans' six first-half turnovers turned into 10 points for the Gophers.

Garcia had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers. But the Gophers went just 4-for-13 from deep in the half despite shooting 50% overall. Fox came off the bench with nine points.

Closing time

MSU continued to struggle to find an offensive rhythm at the start of the second half. But Minnesota couldn’t creep away as the Spartans continued to defend at a high level.

Kohler delivered another up-and-under post move to tie the game at 40-all with 16:23 to go. MSU would take its first lead of the second half with 13:51 to play when Holloman came away with a loose-ball rebound and pushed the pace with a pass that Hoggard finished for a transition layup. It began another tooth-and-nail sequence with the two teams trading leads and ties.

Hall gave MSU the lead for good with a three-point play with 11:51 to play. Holloman followed a mid-paint floater, then drilled a 3-pointer after a Garcia layup.

Akins, who appeared to tweak his ankle or knee going for a loose ball rebound, put together a critical sequence right after it. That included a tip-in and a pair of rebounds. Hall took a pass from Holloman for another bucket, then had a spin move layup to give the Spartans a nine-point lead with 6:57 to play.

"In the second half, 95% of those positions did matter, and we did a lot of good things," Izzo said. "Jaden Akins might have won the game for us. And it wasn't with his scoring. He did a hell of a job defensively and a hell of a job knocking two or three balls loose that would have been layups."

Garcia kept the Gophers from fading, scoring nine points in the final half. But Walker got hot and attacked off the dribble frequently in the final four minutes. That included three layups to put MSU up 10. Then after a Christie 3-pointer, Walker drove again and missed, but Kohler cleaned it up with a tip-in that all but sealed the win.

And another shot for the Spartans against Zach Edey and Purdue, who will be playing their first game at Target Center. Another chance for MSU to stick around to make a run at a Big Ten tournament title. And another chance Izzo and his players to add to their NCAA portfolio,

"It'll give us an advantage that we've played a game, we're warm, we're ready," Kohler said of facing the Boilermakers. "I feel like it'll give us energy and momentum going into that game. Everyone gotta stick to their roles and execute them the best they can."

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State survives Minnesota test 77-67 for key NCAA resume win