Michigan State marches on with 72-62 win over Southern California

The calendar tells us that the month is March, and for the Michigan State Spartans, the NCAA Tournament march continues. The Spartans survived a tough test from the Trojans of Southern California, but used a strong second half to secure the victory, 72-to-62.

Joey Hauser led the Spartans with 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Hauser also grabbed eight rebounds. Tyson Walker and Jadin Akins chipped in 12 points apiece, and A.J. Hoggard added 11 points. Walker and Hoggard combined for nine assists and just two turnovers.

In the opening minutes, Michigan State went to the rim early and often, building a 9-4 lead by the first media timeout. The Spartans ran a crisp offense, got some offensive rebounds, and defended the Trojans well. The early lead steadily grew to 11 points by the nine minute mark in the first half.

But in later stages of the opening half, Michigan State’s half court offense grew a bit stagnant. The Spartans also had a few defensive break downs, leading to dunks and layups by the Trojans. USC went on a 15-4 run to tie the score at 28 with two minutes to play in the first half.

By halftime, the score was again tied 34-34 as the teams headed into the locker room.

Hauser led the Spartans in scoring at the half with eight points, thanks in part to 2-of-3 shooting from deep. Unfortunately, the rest of the Spartans were 0-for-5 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes. In contrast, the Trojans were able to stay in the game thanks in part to 3-of-7 shooting from deep, and the ability to hit some highly contested shots.

Early in the second half, things got a bit chippy. First, Hoggard was issued an offensive foul on a drive where the USC guard may or may not have embellished the amount of contact. On the next possession, Walker was knocked to the ground on an offensive foul.

That sequence of events seemed to energize the Green and White, both on the bench and in the stands. The Spartans went on a 13-to-4 run and built their lead to nine points with thirteen and a half minutes to play. Freshman center Carson Cooper got free for a pair of impressive dunks during the Spartans' run.

But the Trojans continued to fight. Michigan State got out of position on a few possessions and USC managed to trim the lead down to 51-47 at the under 12-minute media timeout.

The Spartans responded after the time out with improved focus on defense, leading to a 7-2 run and a nine-point lead with eight minutes to play.

Tom Izzo also helped to fire up the Spartans by making an example out of a certain clipboard on the sidelines.

In the next few minutes, both Walker and Hauser missed open 3-point attempts that potentially would have taken the roof off of Nationwide Arena in Columbus and its decidedly MSU leaning crowd. But, with six and a half minutes to play, Hall hit a hook shot in the lane and then Hauser and Akins hit back-to-back treys to push the lead to 66-51 with just 4:25 to play.

The Spartans tried to keep things interesting in the final minutes. USC hits 3-pointers on back-to-back possession and then attempted to extend the game by fouling. The Spartans proceeded to miss the front-end of three consecutive one-and-ones. Spartan fans around the world started to have flashbacks to the overtime loss in Iowa City.

But the Trojans would only make two more field goals to finish the game, and Michigan State was able to secure the double-digit win.

Next up for the Spartans will be a Sunday match-up with the winner of the contest between No. 2 Marquette and No. 15 Vermont.

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