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Published Jan 3, 2023
Michigan State sends Nebraska through the combine in 74-56 victory
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Kevin Knight  •  Spartans Illustrated
Asst. Managing Editor
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@KAjaxKnight

Michigan State was firing on all cylinders when a stingy Nebraska defense visited East Lansing on Tuesday night. The Spartans started up the combine early and sent the Cornhuskers home empty handed in a 74-56 victory for MSU.

The win by Michigan State extends the streak against Nebraska to 10 straight victories, a league worst mark for UNL who has not defeated MSU now since 2016.

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Michigan State was led by Tyson Walker's 21 points. Joey Hauser and Jaxon Kohler both scored 10 apiece (a career-high for freshman Kohler) while Hauser notched a double-double with 10 rebounds while adding three steals.

Mady Sissoko also added 10 boards and led the Spartans with three blocks before fouling out. A.J. Hoggard led the team in helpers with nine.

Derrick Walker led Nebraska in scoring with 15 points while Sam Griesel and Wilhelm Breidenbach both added 10 points apiece.

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Nebraska is known as a team with a tough defense this season and that showed in the opening minutes. The Huskers kept the game tight in the opening stretch, taking its sole lead of the game, 4-3, at the 18:08 mark on a fast break score by Emmanuel Bandoumel. Michigan State never led by more than three before the first media timeout at the 14:49 mark and the Huskers cut it to just one moments before the break, trailing 7-6.

UNL managed to tie the game up at 11-11 with 12:47 remaining as well. MSU finally took over from there, building out a double digit lead by the 10:02 mark on a jumper by Walker following a Husker turnover.

Michigan State closed out the first half in near perfect fashion. The Spartans ended the final 5:21 on a 13-0 run while Nebraska ended the half going 2-14 including a 0-8 scoring drought in the final 6:34 that saw five turnovers. The entire Huskers’ team had just one more point (17) than Walker finished the half with (16).

Against a defense that had held opponents to just 40% scoring from the field in its previous four games, the Spartans shot 50% from the floor and 41.7% from 3-point range in the first half.


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For as hot as Michigan State started off the game in the first half, MSU cooled off in the second by comparison. At the midway point, the Huskers had outscored the Spartans 29-21. UNL used a 13-3 run to cut the deficit to 12 with 9:22 remaining.

The Spartans responded with a 10-0 run of its own to push its lead back to 22, up 68-46 with 4:16 remaining. Minutes later with 1:50 remaining and Michigan State leading 72-51, both teams began to empty the benches.

For the final 1:33, both Sam Hoiberg and Steven Izzo, sons of their team's respective head coaches Fred Hoiberg and Tom Izzo, were on the court. Each of Hoiberg and Izzo picked up a personal foul against one another, Hoiberg drawing a shooting foul by Izzo with :51 remaining and hitting both of his free throws while Izzo draw one by Hoiberg on a loose ball rebound and missed the front end of his one-and-one. He missed it by quite a lot to be frank.

Asked in the postgame about the missed free throw, Coach Izzo stated that the younger Izzo would "pay the price" for missing his free throw shot so badly.

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Michigan State moves to 10-4 with tonight's victory and 2-1 in Big Ten action. Nebraska drops to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in league play. The teams will face one another again in Lincoln on Feb. 28.

Meanwhile, the Spartans face off against Michigan on Saturday at the Breslin Center. The game is set for 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will air on linear television on FOX.

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Be sure to participate in the conversation about Michigan State's victory in the Breslin Boards forum (available only to subscribers) which can be found here.

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N. Carolina
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N. Carolina
Michigan St.
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Michigan St.
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Michigan St.
63
Michigan St.
Memphis
71
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72
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Colorado
56
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