It was a tale of two halves in College Park, Maryland on Sunday afternoon. While the Michigan State Spartans dominated the first half and enjoyed a 12-point lead at halftime, the Green and White managed to score only 17 points in the second half.

But those 17 points were just enough to secure a two-point victory, 61-59, and to earn the Spartans' first true road game of the season. Michigan State improves to 12-7 on the year and 4-4 in Big Ten play.

Tyson Walker hit the game-winning three-pointer with 44 seconds left on the clock. It was the only made three-point basket for the Spartans in the entire half (1-for-6).

Before Spartan fans even had a chance to celebrate Walker's three, Maryland’s Jahmir Young answered the deep shot with one of his own just eight seconds later. Young had a chance to tie or win the game for Maryland in the final seconds, but Tre Holloman made a tremendous defensive play, poking the ball away on the perimeter. The Spartans’ Malik Hall recovered the loose ball on the sideline as time expired.

Tyson Walker led the Spartans with 15 points and five assists. A.J. Hoggard, Hall, and Tre Holloman each pitched in 12 points.

The Spartans once again took great care of the basketball and committed a total of only eight turnovers, compared to 18 giveaways for the Terrapins. However, Michigan State struggled mightily to rebound the ball, losing the overall battle of the boards, 37-22.

Those two factors effectively cancelled out as both teams shot an identical 21-for-50 (42%) from the field for the game. Maryland connected on one more three-pointer than Michigan State (8 to 7), but the Spartans were able to outscore Maryland from the free throw line (12 to 9).

Early in the game, the teams traded baskets. Michigan State appeared to be sagging off of Maryland’s shooters on the perimeter, daring the one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the nation to hit jumpers. Ten of Maryland’s first 12 shots came from behind the arc, and the Terrapins hit three of those deep balls to take an early 15-14 lead.

At the 13-minute mark, Michigan State went on a 15-0 run to open up a 14-point lead. The run was aided by eight fast break points from Tre Holloman, a three from Tyson Walker, and a pair of baseline jumpers from Malik Hall.

Meanwhile, Maryland missed 11 consecutive shots.

With under five minutes to play in the first half, Maryland went on a 10-3 run of their own to cut the lead down to seven points at 36-29. But the Spartans were able to finish the half strong and led Maryland 44-32 at the break.

Holloman led the Spartans in scoring at the half with 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting, including a trio of treys. Malik Hall posted 10 points and three rebounds while Tyson Walker put up eight points on 2-for-5 shooting.

Michigan State shot a blistering 58% in the first half to just 37% for Maryland. But those trends would almost completely reverse in the second stanza as Maryland refused to go down without a fight.

Maryland opened the second half on a 16-4 run to completely erase the halftime lead with 12 minutes left in the game. Michigan State missed 11 consecutive shots of their own in the middle of the second half and found themselves trailing by three points with eight minutes left to play.

Then, senior guard A.J. Hoggard and graduate guard Tyson Walker took over the game offensively for the Spartans. Hoggard finally got the lid off the basket with a pair of drives to the rim for layups, allowing the Spartans to regain the lead for good with 6:32 remaining.

Walker or Hoggard took the final nine shots of the game from the field for Michigan State, with almost all of them coming off drives to the basket.

Several Spartans appeared to suffer minor injuries throughout the game. Jaden Akins scored just five points on 2-for-6 shooting, perhaps in part due to getting his foot folded under him in a scrum for the ball late in the first half. Hoggard took a shot to the shoulder midway through the second half and also spent time with the medical staff on the bench.

Both players returned to action shortly after each incident.

Fortunately, Michigan State will have a few days to rest as the next game on the schedule isn't until Friday, as the Spartans travel to Madison to face the Wisconsin Badgers. The game tips off at 8 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on FS1.

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