Michigan State defeats Buffalo 89-68 in Malik Hall's return
Michigan State returned to the court for its final non-conference game of the season Friday night. The Spartans defeated the Buffalo Bulls 89-68 after not playing a game for the past nine days.
This was senior forward Malik Hall’s first game back since Nov. 18 after suffering a stress reaction in his left foot. Head coach Tom Izzo said that Hall would be on a minutes restriction for this game. He wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he checked into the game with 12:28 left in the first half. Hall played a total of 12 minutes against the Bulls.
It was a true team effort in the win as 11 different players scored for the Spartans.
To start it was an ugly back and forth four minutes of basketball, though. Both teams started off ice cold from the field. MSU was 1-for-6 shooting at the first media timeout. Buffalo was 2-for-10 shooting. Those shooting numbers weren’t a shock as both teams haven’t played a game since Dec. 21.
Senior guard Tyson Walker ran into early foul trouble as he was called for two offensive fouls in the first five minutes of the game. Michigan State’s other guards started to take control with Walker on the bench. Junior guard A.J. Hoggard had two buckets and freshman guard Tre Holloman and sophomore guard Jaden Akins both hit 3-pointers with Walker on the bench. Hoggard had four points and two assists at the under-12 media timeout.
Hall made his first basket since the Villanova game at the 8:17 mark of the first half. He nailed a wide open 3-pointer in transition after a scrappy rebound by junior center Mady Sissoko. That extended MSU’s lead to seven points (19-12). Buffalo head coach Jim Whitesell was forced to call a timeout to halt the Spartans’ momentum.
MSU started to heat up after the Buffalo timeout. The Spartans extended the team's lead to 29-17 before Buffalo went on a 6-1 run. That small run by Buffalo was halted by another Hall 3-pointer to bring the game to the under-4 media timeout. Hall had nine points in five minutes on the court at the 3:19 mark of the first half.
Hoggard racked up five assists in the first half. One of those assists was an alley-oop pass to freshman center Carson Cooper right out of the media timeout.
The Spartans had a 41-30 lead at the half. Hall was arguably Michigan State’s best player in the opening 20 minutes. He posted nine points and he was 2-for-3 from the field. Fifth-year senior forward Joey Hauser also had a standout first half as he led the team in rebounds with eight. He had six points to go along with the eight rebounds.
MSU shot 47% from the field and 42% from beyond the 3-point arc. On top of that, the Spartans’ defense played well, holding Buffalo to 35% shooting (30% from 3-point land). The Bulls also turned the ball over seven times in the first half. Michigan State had nine points off of those Buffalo turnovers.
Another big factor in the first half was bench points. MSU outscored Buffalo 20-3 in that department.
Buffalo started the second half on an 8-0 run. Sophomore guard Jaden Akins halted the Bulls’ momentum with a 3-pointer which was followed by a Sissoko dunk after a missed layup by Buffalo.
Sissoko had another dunk, and he drew a foul in the process to take the game to the under-16 media timeout with MSU leading 50-42.
Buffalo hung around for a majority of the second half. The Bulls shot 61% from the field in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Isaiah Adams nailed a 3-pointer at the 9:50 mark and Tom Izzo called a timeout. Adams had 15 points and was 6-for-10 shooting at this point of the game. Michigan State had the lead 66-56 halfway through the second half.
The Spartans caught fire as MSU went on a 17-2 run from the 8:07 mark in the second half to the 2:31 mark. That run allowed Michigan State to pull away and virtually seal its ninth win of the season.
The Spartans coasted in the final minutes to an 89-68 win over the Bulls. MSU ended the game shooting 51% from the field and 42% from 3-point land. Michigan State moved the ball well throughout the game, ending with 21 assists. Hauser and Hoggard accounted for 16 of the 21 helpers.
Hauser led the team with 14 points. Hoggard posted a double-double as he had 11 points and 10 assists. The returning Hall had 11 points in only 12 minutes. Akins had a solid day shooting as he scored 13 points.
The Spartans will resume Big Ten play in the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 3 against Nebraska. That game will be at the Breslin Center at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on the Big Ten Network.