Michigan State hosted Minnesota at the Breslin Center Thursday evening in a Big Ten matchup. The Spartans headed into the game holding a record of 10-7 (2-4 Big Ten) while the Golden Gophers boasted a 12-5 record (3-3 Big Ten). A win for the Spartans would push their home win streak to six games.
And they did just that. Behind a late 10-2 run to end the game, Michigan State pulled away from a feisty Minnesota team to win 76-66.
Tyson Walker led the team in scoring with 21 points. Walker scored 12 of MSU’s last 14 points to help the Spartans pull away from the Golden Gophers in the final stretch.
Malik Hall continued his spate good play Thursday evening. He finished the game with 16 points and 12 rebounds, posting a double-double for the first time this season and just the second time in his career. Hall's last double-double was at Duke on Dec. 1, 2020 when Hall scored 10 points and grabbed 10 boards. Jaden Akins also finished in double digits scoring with 10 points.
The Spartans brought out the usual five of Walker, A.J. Hoggard, Akins, Hall, and Mady Sissoko to start the game against the Golden Gophers.
The Spartans seemed comfortable early, and at the under-16 timeout, Hall led all players with six of the team’s first 13 points, while also grabbing a rebound and an assist. Hall ended the first half with six points, four rebounds, and two assists.
In the second half, Hall broke the 1,000 career point mark in a night full of MSU milestones.
On top of Hall’s accomplishment, Tom Izzo coached in his 500th Big Ten game. In addition, Walker scored in double digits for the 18th consecutive game this season and for the 29th consecutive game dating back to last season. Walker is now four games away from tying Kalin Lucas’ record of 33 straight games of double-digit scoring.
Minnesota stayed in the game with its 3-point shooting. The Golden Gophers were, at one point, 7-for-13 from downtown. Minnesota's shooting went as stone cold as the winter temperatures in Minneapolis to close the game, though, as the Golden Gophers ended up missing their last seven 3-point attempts.
What hurt Minnesota throughout the game were turnovers. The Gophers turned the ball over 19 times and the Spartans cashed in on those turnovers. MSU scored 21 points off the 19 Minnesota turnovers. The Spartans kept the competition one-sided for ball security as MSU only had five turnovers itself.
Another aspect of the game that worked in Michigan State’s favor were fouls. Minnesota’s Cam Christie, brother of former Spartan and current Los Angeles Laker Max Christie, fouled out with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Minnesota was in foul trouble all night as Dawson Garcia, Mike Mitchell Jr., and Pharrel Payne all ended the game with four fouls.
The Golden Gophers also struggled in the paint. MSU scored 44 points from inside the paint while Minnesota only scored 12. Additionally, the Spartans pushed the pace as they had 17 fast break points.
The aforementioned 10-2 late run by the Spartans sealed the win for them. Michigan State improved to 11-7 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten while Minnesota fell to 12-6 and 3-4 in the league action.
Up next, the Spartans will hit the road for back-to-back games at Maryland and at Wisconsin before returning to the Breslin Center to take on Michigan.
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