Michigan State needed a victory to get the bad taste out of its mouth following the tough overtime loss at Iowa on Saturday, and rallied via a 35-12 second-half run to spoil senior night in Lincoln for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The 80-67 victory extended MSU's win streak over UNL to 11-games, the longest active win streak over the Cornhuskers in the Big Ten.
Michigan State improves to 18-11 overall and 10-8 in Big Ten play, while Nebraska drops to 15-15 overall and 8-11 in league action.
Joey Hauser led the Spartans in scoring and tied a team-high in rebounds with 20 points, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range, and seven boards. Tight on his heels was Tyson Walker with 19 points, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Walker also added two assists, one steal and five rebounds. Jaden Akins had a strong night as well with 17 points and a steal.
Rounding out scorers in double figures for Michigan State and notching the double-double was A.J. Hoggard, who had 10 points and 14 assists, the latter a career-high. His 14 assists were the most in a game by a Spartan since Mateen Cleaves' 20 assists versus Michigan in 2000, and it marks just the fourth player in Spartan history to have at least one game with 14-plus helpers. Mady Sissoko grabbed seven boards, matching Hauser for the team-high.
Keisei Tominaga led Nebraska with 20 points, inlcuding 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 7-of-11 from the field overall. Three other Huskers scored in double figures, including a near double-double by Sam Griesel with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Michigan State got on the board first, but struggled on offense throughout the first half. Nebraska missed its first three shot attempts before mounting an 8-0 run over a two-minute period, which was finally snapped by a layup from Jaxon Kohler in the paint with 15:43 remaining to make it 8-4 Nebraska. By then, the Spartans were just 2-of-12 from the field.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hauser tied the game up at 10 with 14:00 remaining in the first half, but MSU went ice cold from there to the point a dip in Lake Superior tonight looks like a hot tub by comparison. UNL went on a 17-2 run that only saw a pair of free throws by Tyson Walker for the Spartans during that stretch, while the Cornhuskers opened up a 15-point lead. Malik Hall’s jumper with 6:16 remaining was the first field goal by MSU in 7:44. Another jumper by Walker from the paint off a Nebraska turnover cut the Huskers’ lead to just 27-16 with 5:38 left.
The Spartans finally managed to find some buckets down the stretch, but only enough to keep it from getting away from them. A jumper by Walker brought the Spartans to within 12 points, and the teams headed into the locker rooms at halftime with the Huskers leading 38-26.
A strong defensive effort by Nebraska in the first half saw Michigan State settle for outside jumpers, going just 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and just 10-of-36 from the field. Nebraska, meanwhile, found success down low as the Huskers outscored the Spartans 20-8 in the paint. Tominaga ended the half with 10 points, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, while Hauser led MSU with nine points, going 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
Michigan State quickly found success coming out of the locker room. After trading baskets with Nebraska in the opening minutes, a mini 6-0 run powered by back-to-back 3-pointers by Akins cut the Cornhuskers’ lead to single-digits for the first time since the 8:48 mark in the first half. Griesel responded with a 3-pointer for Nebraska to end the run, but MSU mounted another run, going 7-0 to cut the deficit to just three points, trailing 48-45 with 14:57 remaining.
Nebraska responded with its own 7-0 run to open its lead back out to 10 points before the Huskers would hit their own extended scoring drought. MSU mounted a 15-1 run over the next almost seven minutes of game action to open up a 60-56 lead with 7:26 left.
The Huskers were finally able to end their scoring woes, but the damage was done by the Spartans. A vicious dunk by Sissoko with 4:33 remaining drove home the point as MSU opened up a 68-60 lead. Meanwhile, UNL struggled through another field goal drought that lasted until the final moments of the game. The Spartans closed out on a 17-7 run with Nebraska scoring five of those seven from the charity stripe.
Michigan State closes out the regular season Saturday when Ohio State visits the Breslin Center. Tipoff is set for noon Eastern Time with senior day festivities as a part of game day. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN.
