Spartans outlast Gophers 75-67 in Big 10 opener
MINNEAPOLIS » Michigan State is playing tough defense again, and the arrival of Tyson Walker is not a coincidence.
Gabe Brown, Malik Hall and Walker scored 15 points apiece for 19thranked Michigan State in a 75-67 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday night in the first Big Ten opener for Gophers coach Ben Johnson and the 27th for Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
Brown had three 3-pointers as the Spartans went 10 for 21 from long range against a Gophers team that entered the game with the best 3-point defense in the nation at 23.1% allowed. Walker hit both of his tries from deep.
They won it on the other end, though. Hall (nine) and Brown (eight) fueled a 44-29 rebounding advantage by the Spartans (82, 1-0), who were humiliated at Williams Arena a year ago in an 81-56 defeat that Izzo and his staff made sure to remind them of this week.
Walker, the transfer from Northeastern who was the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year last season, held Minnesota’s Payton Willis to nine points on 3-for-13 shooting after he scored 24 points in a win at Mississippi State on Sunday.
“Tyson’s the head honcho of the group, so we just follow his lead,” Brown said.
Said Izzo: “The more he gets after people and talks to them on the floor and runs my team, the better we’re going to be.”
Sixth-year senior Eric Curry had a career-high 18 points and Jamison Battle scored 17 points for the Gophers (7-1, 0-1), whose feel-good start in Johnson’s debut was hit with a reality check from the stronger and deeper Spartans. Minnesota was one of only 12 remaining undefeated NCAA Division 1 teams when the day began.
Minnesota made a game of it by holding the Spartans to one basket over the final 4 ½ minutes, a 3-pointer by Brown after the Gophers got within 6455 at the last media timeout on a steal-dunk sequence by Sean Sutherlin.
The Gophers missed 13 of their first 16 shots, and not without hustle or creativity. The Spartans simply clamped down on the driving lanes and were there to grab the rebounds when the 3-pointers rimmed out. E.J. Stephens found an open hoop off of a crisp pick-and-roll, only to have his finger roll swatted into the seats by Brown.
“It was all about stopping dribble-drives and closing out on shooters, because they can really shoot. We did a great job of not letting them get in the paint and kick out,” Walker said.