Tyson Walker closes out Minnesota as Spartans pull away at Breslin
Chris Solari
EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo got rewarded with a technical foul in his 500th Big Ten game. And another rock fight of a game, just like he likes it.
He also got everything he demanded from Tyson Walker. And then some.
The Michigan State basketball senior scored 12 points in the final 3:46 in a backand-forth battle with Minnesota, lifting the Spartans to a 76-66 victory Thursday night at Breslin Center.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior, who crashed hard to the floor at one point going for a rebound and was limping lightly by the end of the game, scored a game-high 21 points.
Malik Hall scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his five-season career, and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds. Jaden Akins added 10 points, while A.J Hoggard shook off a 4-for-10 shooting performance to finish with eight points, seven assists and four rebounds.
MSU (10-7, 2-4 Big Ten) struggled to find a rhythm much of the night because of the physical Gophers (12-5, 3-3), who played without starting point guard Elijah Hawkins, the nation’s assists leader who sat out with an ankle injury and was in a walking boot. The Spartans went just 3-for-12 from 3-point range and made just 15 of 23 at the free-throw line.
But when they needed them most, Walker delivered by making all four at the line in the final two minutes, with Carson Cooper also hitting a pair to put the game away.
The Spartans finished with a dominating 44-12 scoring edge in the paint, largely with their guards attacking all night off the dribble. They also committed a season-low five turnovers while taking the ball away from Minnesota 19 times, turning those into 21 points.
Dawson Garcia scored 22 points with nine rebounds but went just 6-for-17 from the field. Mike Mitchell Jr. scored 14, but he had just six after halftime while going 2-for-7 in second half. MSU held Minnesota to 38.5% shooting and 2-for-9 from 3point range in the final period.
MSU also pestered Cam Christie, brother of former Spartan Max, and got the freshman to foul out midway through the
second half. He finished with eight points.
Almost a blowout
MSU had a chance to pull away to a big lead by halftime, but one sequence kept a 37-32 edge from ballooning to double digits.
Walker hit a 3-pointer from the wing off an Akins offensive rebound, then Akins knifed through the Minnesota defense for a layup off a Walker assist to put the Spartans up eight points with 1:24 before the break.
The defense then forced the Gophers’ 10th turnover of the first period, and Izzo called timeout with 58.7 seconds to go after consulting with his assistants. Out of it, Hoggard spun away from a double-team on the wing and missed Cooper wide open under the basket. By the time Hoggard got him the ball, Minnesota’s defense rotated, and Cooper kicked it to Akins in the opposite corner. The junior guard missed a 3-pointer, and the Gophers’ Braeden Carrington responded with a 3 at the other end. Cooper missed another layup with four seconds left, and it went to half with MSU up five points.
All that despite the Spartans committing just one turnover, turning 11 Gophers giveaways into 11 points and attacking inside off the dribble for a 24-6 scoring advantage in the paint.
Hall got off to a hot start, scoring all six of his first-half points as MSU built an eightpoint lead just five minutes into the game. Hoggard penetrated deep and hit 4 of 5 shots for eight points and handed out four of the Spartans’ 13 assists on 17 buckets. and Walker each scored
Minnesota kept in it by hitting 5 of 11 from 3-point range and 47.8% overall. And the Gophers did it despite having Christie and Payne three fouls apiece. They also had an 18-14 rebounding edge. With Hawkins out, 6-11 Garcia had nine points in the opening half and Mitchell had eight, including two 3-pointers.
Hard to get rid of those Gophers
That end-of-half sequence proved pivotal. Minnesota tied the game less than a minute into the final period, with Mitchell’s 3-pointer opening the half and a Joshua Ola-Joseph layup.
Even with Christie and Payne picking up their fourth fouls in the first two minutes of the second period, the Spartans could not pull away as the Gophers continued to pound on them physically. Minnesota took a one-point lead twice in the first three minutes.
MSU continued to answer. The Spartans rebuilt their cushion to a five-point lead on a back-down layup by Holloman, followed by his runout layup for a three-point play that Carrington got whistled for a goaltend on while Mitchell was called for a foul.
But Minnesota remained pesky, with Garcia scoring nine straight for the Gophers as they clawed back into a 59-59 tie with his tip-in off his own miss with 8:21 to play.
But the Spartans wouldn’t let them get back a lead. And Walker wouldn’t let MSU lose.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com . Follow him @chrissolari .