Michigan State and Tennessee, both preseason AP Poll top 10 teams, met at the Breslin Center in a charity exhibition game to benefit the Maui Strong Fund. The Volunteers won by a final score of 89-88 in a heavyweight fight.
First half
Michigan State sent the same five players out on the floor to start the game as Wednesday night against Hillsdale College: Tyson Walker, Jaden Akins, A.J. Hoggard, Malik Hall and Mady Sissoko.
Josiah Jordan-James opened the scoring for Tennessee as he nailed a jump shot from just inside the 3-point arc. Jonas Aidoo nailed a corner 3-pointer to extend the Volunteers lead before a fourth turnover led to a Tennessee dunk on the other side by Dalton Knecht. Jordan Gainey continued Tennessee’s pesty defense as he picked the pocket of Sissoko for an easy bucket the other way.
Sissoko got MSU on the board over three minutes into the game as he hit a free throw but Tennessee responded with two straight 3-pointers by Gainey to extend the lead to 15-1 at the under-16 media timeout.
Carson Cooper checked into the game for Sissoko and MSU got some momentum on its side. After a Knecht bucket off of another MSU turnover, Hall nailed a bucket in the post and then fought for a loose ball that went the Spartans way. Cooper’s hook shot cut Tennessee’s lead to 12 points. Knecht hit another 3-pointer for the Volunteers and Sissoko got his first field goal of the game in the post to cut Tennessee’s lead to 22-9 heading into the under-12 media timeout.
Right after the timeout, Tobe Awaka added to Tennessee’s lead and Akins got those two points back at the free throw line. Jeremy Fears Jr got his first point of the game by hitting one of two free throws to cut the Volunteers’ lead to 24-12. Gainey continued his red-hot shooting from downtown as he hit back-to-back 3-pointers. At the halfway point in the first half, Gainey was 4-for-4 from deep.
Sissoko got into some early foul trouble and was subbed out for Cooper after picking up his second personal foul. Hoggard made a big defensive play as he stripped Jahmai Mashack and took it the other way for an old-fashioned three-point play.
Walker followed that up with a couple of key plays. He hit a jump shot and picked the pocket of Gainey. The steal did not lead to any points though. Xavier Booker saw his first minutes of the game just before the under-8 media timeout with Tennessee leading 32-17.
Walker hit his first 3-pointer of the game after the timeout. Michigan State got a key stop on defense and Akins scored a layup in transition. Tennessee called a timeout with a 33-22 lead.
The Volunteers got the first basket out of the timeout as Knecht was left wide open under the basket. MSU responded with 3-pointers by Booker and Akins to get the Breslin Center crowd excited as MSU cut Tennessee’s lead to single digits.
Knecht silenced the crowd with his second 3-pointer of the game. Fears got his second steal of the night on a press but the Spartans could not capitalize on the Tennessee turnover and Fears picked up a foul to send Tennessee to the line.
Gainey made the front end of his two foul shots and Hall responded right away for Michigan State by hitting a fade away to cut Tennessee’s lead to 39-30. Carr got his first dunk of the game to get the crowd out of its seat at the Breslin Center. Carr hit the euro step on the defender and slammed home the dunk.
Hall cut Tennessee’s lead down to four points by hitting both free throws. He hit another bucket in the post on a fade away to cut the Volunteers’ lead to just two points. Hall committed a foul on the defensive end but Aidoo converted on one of two from the line. At the first half buzzer, Tennessee had a 40-37 lead.
The story of the first half was Tennessee’s hot shooting. But the Volunteers ended the first half by hitting just one of 10 from the field. Tennessee’s biggest lead was 18 points (30-12). Michigan State remained within striking distance throughout the half for when the Volunteers cooled off and the Spartans did just that. Michigan State ended the first half on a 25-10 run.
Hall led the team in scoring in the first half with nine points. He also led the team in rebounding with four. Akins was the first half leader in assists with four.
Both teams looked a bit rusty on the offensive side with turnovers. Tennessee had 14 and Michigan State had 11 in the first half. The Volunteers did win the rebounding battle in the opening 20 minutes. They had 19 boards to Michigan State’s 17.
Second half
Michigan State opened the second half with the same five players that started the game: Walker, Hoggard, Akins, Hall and Sissoko. Jordan-James got the scoring started for Tennessee as he hit the first shot of the second half for the Volunteers. Sissoko got the Spartans on the board in the second half by going 2-for-2 at the line. Knecht responded on the other end for Tennessee with a layup. That was followed up by a Hoggard floater from just inside the free throw line. The hot shooting continued as a Walker 3-pointer cut Tennessee’s lead down to one point.
Gainey tacked on two more for Tennessee on a second chance effort. Jordan-James restored Tennessee’s two possession lead by hitting two free throws after a foul call on Hall. Then, Mashack hit a corner 3-pointer for the Volunteers. Tennessee and Michigan State traded dunks to continue the fast start to the second half. Knecht’s dunk over Hall extended Tennessee’s lead to double digits heading into the under-16 media timeout.
A transition layup by Hoggard cut Tennessee’s lead down to single digits. Tre Holloman got his first bucket of the game with a tough layup. Carr once again got the Breslin Center crowd out of its seats as Walker found him for an alley-oop.
Carr followed that up with a block on the defensive end. Then, Freddie Dilione V for Tennessee and Walker traded 3-pointers as the two teams went punch for punch. Tennessee led the Spartans 62-56 with 11:34 to play.
Before the timeout, Gainey was fouled by Carr on a 3-point attempt. Gainey made two of three at the line to extend Tennessee’s lead to 64-56. Michigan State got the two points back as Carr slammed home a put back dunk on a Walker missed layup.
It was a free throw heavy game as the Spartans made five free throws and Tennessee made four free throws before the next field goal was made by Knecht from deep. Tennessee had a 71-63 lead at the under-8 media timeout.
Cooper hit two free throws to get the action back underway, but Tennessee responded on the other end thanks to a Aidoo dunk. The Walker-Carr connection was in full effect as those two had another alley-oop. Knecht and Walker traded free throws as both hit two. Aidoo slammed home another dunk for Tennessee off of a fortunate bounce to give the Volunteers a 77-69 lead. Walker cut into that lead by hitting a 3-pointer as the clock crossed the 5-minute mark of the second half. Fears drew a charge on the defensive end to give the ball back to the Spartans. Walker capitalized and took over as he hit a layup and a jumper to cut Tennessee’s lead down to just one point.
Mashack scored for Tennessee coming out of the under-4 media timeout to extend Tennessee’s lead to three points. Knecht gave Tennessee a five point lead by hitting two free throws. Mashack also hit two from the line after a Sissoko foul. Akins broke Michigan State’s over two minute drought without a point by hitting from downtown. Michigan State called a timeout down by four with 1:33 to play.
The Spartans had a defensive stop and had the ball with time ticking under one minute. Hoggard dribbled, drove and drew a foul with 41.1 seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to cut Tennessee’s lead to two points.
Hall fouled Aidoo on the ensuing in-bounds pass. Aidoo made one of two free throws to give Tennessee a three point lead. Walker drove to the lane and scored on a layup to cut Tennessee’s lead to 84-83. Akins fouled Knecht right after the inbounds pass and he hit both free throws. Michigan State called a timeout with 21.6 seconds remaining down by three points.
Mashack fouled Walker which sent him to the foul line for two shots. Walker missed both foul shots and Mashack was hacked, which sent him to the line. He hit both shots to give Tennessee a five point lead. Hoggard was sent to the line and he made both shots to cut the Volunteers’ lead back down to one possession.
On the in-bounds pass, Walker came up with a steal and Hoggard nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game.
Holloman fouled Gainey on Tennessee’s possession with 1.9 seconds to play. Gainey made the back end of his two shots to give Tennessee an 89-88 lead.
On Michigan State’s final possession of the game, Hoggard’s in-bounds pass was intercepted by Aidoo to seal the victory for Tennessee 89-88.
It was a back and forth battle at the Breslin Center. Michigan State never had the lead in the game though. The Spartans spent a large majority of the game battling back from a slow start.
Walker led the Spartans in points with 22 and Akins led in assists with six. Hall finished the game with a double-double (14 points and 11 boards).
Tennessee finished the game 26-for-51 (51%) from the field and Michigan State finished 27-for-62 (44%). The Volunteers shot 52% from 3-point range. The Spartans were 8-for-17 from beyond the arc (47%). Free throws were a big part of the game. Both teams were identical, 26-for-36 (72%), from the line. Michigan State won the turnover battle, 20-17, and rebounding battle, 38-31.
Despite the loss, Michigan State is still 0-0 this season. The Spartans will begin regular season play on Monday, Nov. 6 against James Madison. Tip off is at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
