Michigan State men's basketball falls to Rutgers in the Big Apple, 61-55

Michigan State missed out on a major opportunity to notch a quality win in a “road” environment at Madison Square Gardens in New York City on Saturday afternoon as the Spartans fell to Rutgers by a score of 61-55.

The Spartans did a much better job on the boards in the rematch with Rutgers. Michigan State outrebounded the Scarlet Knights, 31-to-26 overall and grabbed five more offensive rebounds (13-to-8). But 14 turnovers and ice cold shooting (20-for-58, 34.5%) doomed the Spartans in the Big Apple.

Guard Tyson Walker led the Spartans in scoring with 12 points. Forward Joey Hauser put up 10 points and five rebounds, but was 0-for-4 from deep. Guard/forward Jaden Akins scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

The rest of the Spartan roster all struggled. Point guard A.J. Hoggard scored eight points on 3-for-10 shooting. He also committed five turnovers compared to only two assists. Forward Malik Hall had a very tough day on offensive end, scoring only four points, while going just 1-for-9 from the field. Hall did lead the Spartans in rebounding, however, with 13.

Both the Spartans and the Scarlet Knights opened the game very cold from the field. Michigan State shot only 2-of-12 to open the game, while Rutgers was a bit worse at 2-for-16. Rutgers led for over 10 minutes of the first stanza, but neither team led by more than three points in the first 18 minutes of the game.

In the early going, the points that Michigan State did get came mostly in transition or early in the shot clock. Eight of the Spartans' first 10 points came off from the fast break. The Spartans also struggled to hit the few open shots they had on the first 10 minutes.

But Rutgers was able to shut down the Spartans' transition game for the rest of the day. The Scarlet Knights played tough half-court defense all afternoon, shifting from man-to-man to zone defense just enough to keep Michigan State off balance.

While the officials generally let both teams play early, Spartan center Mady Sissoko picked up two early fouls, which resulted in some extended minutes for the freshmen, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper. But the young centers held their ground against Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi, who only had six points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half.

In the final four minutes of the first half, the Spartans grabbed the lead and got a little bit of separation. A jumper from Hauser gave the Spartans a four-point lead with just over a minute to play in the half. In the final seconds, a steal from Walker led to a layup from Akins as time expired to give Michigan State a 25-19 lead at halftime.

Michigan State was briefly able to extend the lead to eight points in the first few minutes of the second half, but Rutgers responded with a 10-2 run, thanks to several nice plays in the paint from Rutgers’ Omoruyi (who finished the game with 15 points) and a 3-pointer from the corner from guard Paul Mulcahy (who finished the with a game-high 17 points). At the under 12-minute time out, the score was tied 33-33.

A 3-pointer from Akins ended a streak of nine consecutive misses for the Spartans, who were able to cling to a narrow lead for the next four minutes. With just under seven minutes to play, Michigan State as held a slim a one-point lead, 40-39.

But coming out of the timeout, Hauser missed the front end of a one-and-one and Rutgers hit a shot from deep. A few possessions later, Sissoko missed another front end of a one-and-one. Meanwhile, Rutgers was able to score six in a row, all from the free-throw line, to take a 46-40 lead with just five minutes to play.

The Spartans were able to cut the lead to just two points by virtue of two free throw from Hall and a dunk from Sissoko. But a free throw and a pair of skillful drives to the basket from Mulcahy pushed the lead back up to seven for the Scarlet Knights, 51-44, with just over two minutes remaining.

At that point, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo decided to put the Scarlet Knights on the line to see if they would wilt under the pressure. They did not. Rutgers ended the game by hitting 10 free throws in the final two minutes. The Spartans did finally hit two 3-pointers in the final minute, but it was far too little, far too late.

With the loss, Michigan State falls to 6-6 in Big Ten play and 14-9 overall.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday night against Maryland in the friendly confines of the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. The game tips off at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2. Join in on the conversation about the game in the meantime over on the Spartans Illustrated Message Board here.