Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 75-62 win at Michigan

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Michigan State’s Tre Holloman (5) shoots over a Michigan defender during the first half of their matchup at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025.

1. And with that, MSU has a real shot to win the Big Ten

ANN ARBOR – A week ago, when MSU trailed big early at Illinois, coming off a bad loss to Indiana, it was just about impossible to picture what’s transpired since — three straight wins, at Illinois, over Purdue and, Friday night, at Michigan in the biggest game this series has seen in six years.

Frankly, there were times in the first half Saturday where it was hard to picture it. Certainly not a 75-62 win — a win that gave MSU sole possession of first place in the Big Ten for the time being. At 13-3, the Spartans are a half-game up on Michigan (12-3), with games at Maryland, home against Wisconsin, at Iowa and home against Michigan still to go.

If MSU plays the rest of the way how it did in the second half Saturday — defensively pestering the Wolverines into eight turnovers and 38% shooting, getting its defensive rotations cleaned up to guard the 3-point line effectively and offensively making shots and playing more decisively against a zone that caused them fits for a long time — the Spartans might just finish this thing off.

This game will be remembered for Jase Richardson’s performance (more below), for Tre Holloman’s flurry of 3-pointers in the middle of the second half — he finished with 18 points and made three 3s on successive positions — and for the response when things looked shaky. Holloman and Richardson were a big part of that. MSU doubled up Michigan on the offensive glass and, in the second half especially, used different matchups to bother Michigan’s Danny Wolf, who made just 2 of 7 shots after the break.

This would be an incredibly meaningful Big Ten title for this MSU team and Tom Izzo’s program, given the mediocrity they’ve struggled to escape the last few seasons. There’s a lot of work still to do, but the finish…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/couch-3-quick-takes-michigan-033231324.html

Author : Lansing State Journal

Publish date : 2025-02-22 03:32:00

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