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1. MSU shows it can do more than compete with the top teams in college basketball
EAST LANSING — Man, did Michigan State need that.
The Spartans needed to win one of these shots against the top few teams in college basketball. For a long while Saturday night, this one looked like it was going to go the way of the others.
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Instead, MSU had enough this time.
I don’t think MSU is better than Illinois — you don’t prove that by winning 85-82 in overtime at home. But I think the Spartans needed to know they could do more than play with the Illini, or Michigan, or Duke. Those are the sort of teams they’ll have to beat in the second and third weekends of the NCAA tournament.
And, on a given day, MSU showed it has the goods. The Spartans have work still to do if they’re going to beat this sort of team regularly. But if you can do it once and be in the game every time, you’ve got a chance.
They played through some things Saturday — Jordan Scott’s cut and stitches above his eye, the back of Coen Carr’s head slamming against the court. They made enough shots, with Jaxon Kohler hitting three 3s and Kur Teng hitting the biggest one of his career in the final 10 seconds of regulation. They defended the 3-point line reasonably well, holding a scary-shooting Illini team to 28%. They went after rebounds like their season depended on it, out-rebounding their sizable opponent 48-38. They attacked this game with grit and vigor right from the jump.
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And their best players came through, doing what they do best. Jeremy Fears tallied 26 points and 15 assists, with 11 points in overtime, the ball almost entirely in his hands. Kohler had 16 rebounds, the most he’s had since November, including one on the offensive end among the trees at the end of regulation that led to Teng’s big 3. The Spartans, Jordan Scott and Fears, held Illinois star freshman Keaton Wagler to 2-for-16 shooting. Scott had another strong performance.
All of it was enough. Finally.
MSU is a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/couch-3-quick-takes-michigan-041501676.html
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Publish date : 2026-02-08 04:15:00
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