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Published Feb 1, 2025
Spartans' winning streak comes to an end with 70-64 loss at USC
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Paul Fanson  •  Spartans Illustrated
Staff Writer
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@PaulFanson

History will have to wait for at least one more game.

The Michigan State Spartans had a chance to give head coach Tom Izzo his record-tying 353rd Big Ten win on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles. But the Spartans were a step slow in all phases of the game, never led, and fell to the Trojans of Southern California by a score of 70-64.

Jeremey Fears led the Spartans with 12 points and six assists. Jaden Akins contributed 11 points and Jaxon Kohler led the Green and White with eight rebounds.

Both teams shot an identical 24-for-57 from the field and shot an identical 19 free throws. But the Trojans hit two more three-pointers and four more free throws to secure the six-point win. USC was the tougher team and was quicker to the ball all afternoon.

The Spartans got off to a slow start, turning the ball over on their first two possessions and missing the first three shots of the game.

Meanwhile, the Trojans had things rolling early on the offensive end. USC scored on nine straight possessions in the middle of the first half and in the process opened an early 22-7 lead.

For the Spartans, Frankie Fidler and Coen Carr provided some energy off the bench. With 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Fidler got a layup in transition and was fouled to complete the three-point play. This play seemed to give the Spartans the spark that they needed to get back into the game.

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Carr then got near the rim and scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to six, 22-16. The Spartans continued to chip away at the Trojans lead, but trailed by three, 35-32, at the break.

Carr led the Spartans with seven points at halftime, with both Tre Holloman and Jase Richardson contributing six points. Kohler led the Spartans with four rebounds at the break.

The Trojans came out of the locker room hot in the second half, hitting seven of their first nine shots, including two answered prayers from deep as the shot clock expired. With 13:24 to play, the Trojans lead was once again ten points, 55-45.

But the Spartans did not go away quietly. They cranked up the defensive intensity and put up a 7-0 run over the next five minutes. With 8:37 left to play, the USC lead was down to 57-54.

For a moment, it appeared that the Spartans were wearing out the Trojans with their depth, but USC was able to find another gear as the Spartans made multiple, critical errors in the closing minutes of the game.

A possession with six minutes remaining and the home team clinging to a six-point lead was indicative of the Spartans' problems. USC missed three shots from deep, grabbed three offensive rebounds, drew two fouls, and eventually hit two free throws with the ball never crossing half court, to extend the lead to 63-56.

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A few minutes later with the Spartans trailing by just five points with one minute remaining, Michigan State showed no sense of urgency after an offensive rebound and turned the ball over on a shot clock violation.

Finally, with under 10 seconds on the clock in a five-point game, USC missed two late free throws to potentially keep Michigan State's hopes alive, but the Spartans failed to control the rebound and gave the Trojans two more free throws.

Michigan State will now have two days to regroup in the southern California sun. Tuesday night the Spartans will complete their west coast business trip with a game at the suddenly hot UCLA Bruins.

UCLA is on a five-game winning streak and will likely be favored to hand the Spartans their second loss of the Big Ten season. The game tips at 10:00 p.m. EST and will once again air on Peacock.

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Michigan State Men's Basketball 2024-2025 Schedule
+State Farm Champions Classic, *Maui Jim Maui Invitational
DateOpponentLocationTime (ET)/TVResults

Sun. Oct. 13

at Northern MI (Exh)

Marquette, MI

1 pm/BTN

70-53, MSU

Tue. Oct. 29

Ferris State (Exh)

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

85-67, MSU

Mon. Nov. 4

Monmouth

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/B1G+

81-57, MSU,
1-0

Thur. Nov. 7

Niagara

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

96-60, MSU, 2-0

Tue. Nov. 12

vs. Kansas+

Atlanta, GA

6:30 pm/ ESPN

69-77, KU, 2-1

Sat. Nov. 16

Bowling Green

East Lansing, MI

6 pm/BTN

86-72, MSU, 3-1

Tue. Nov. 19

Samford

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

83-75, MSU, 4-1

Tue. Nov. 25

vs. Colorado*

Lahaina, Maui, HI

5 pm/ ESPN2

72-56, MSU, 5-1

Wed. Nov. 26

vs. Memphis

Lahaina, Maui, HI

6 pm/ ESPN

71-63, MEM, 5-2

Thur. Nov. 27

vs. UNC

Lahaina, Maui, HI

9:30 pm/ ESPN 2

94-1, MSU, 6-2

Wed. Dec. 4

at Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

8:30 pm/ BTN

90-72, MSU,
7-2 (1-0)

Thur. Dec. 7

Nebraska

East Lansing, MI

Noon/BTN

89-52, MSU 8-2 (2-0)

Tue. Dec. 17

vs. Oakland

Detroit, MI

7 pm/ ESPN2

77-58, MSU
9-2 (2-0)

Sat. Dec. 21

Florida Atlantic

East Lansing, MI

2 pm/FS1

83-68, MSU
10-2 (2-0)

Mon. Dec. 30

Western Michigan

East Lansing, MI

3 pm/BTN

80-62, MSU
11-2 (2-0)

Fri. Jan. 3

at Ohio State

Columbus, OH

8 pm/FOX

69-62, MSU
12-2 (3-0)

Thur. Jan. 9

Washington

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/BTN

88-54, MSU
13-2 (4-0)

Sun. Jan. 12

at Northwestern

Evanston, IL

Noon/4:30 pm
FOX

78-68, MSU
14-2 (5-0)

Wed. Jan. 15

Penn State

East Lansing, MI

7:30 pm /BTN

90-85, MSU
15-2 (6-0)

Sun. Jan. 19

Illinois

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

80-78, MSU
16-2 (7-0)

Sat. Jan. 25

at Rutgers

New York, NY

1:30 pm /CBS

81-74, MSU
17-2 (8-0)

Tue. Jan. 28

Minnesota

East Lansing, MI

8 pm/ Peacock

73-51, MSU

18-2 (9-0)

Sat. Feb. 1

at USC

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 pm/ Peacock

70-64, USC

18-3 (9-1)

Tue. Feb. 4

at UCLA

Los Angeles, CA

10 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 8

Oregon

East Lansing, MI

Noon/FOX

Tue. Feb. 11

Indiana

East Lansing, MI

9 pm/ Peacock

Sat. Feb. 15

at Illinois

Champaign, IL

8 pm/FOX

Tue. Feb. 18

Purdue

East Lansing, MI

7 pm/ Peacock

Fri. Feb. 21

at Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

8 pm/FOX

Wed. Feb. 26

at Maryland

College Park, MD

6:30 pm/BTN

Sun. March 2

Wisconsin

East Lansing, MI

1:30 pm/CBS

Thu. March 6

at Iowa

Iowa City, IA

8 pm/FS1

Sun. March 9

Michigan

East Lansing, MI

Noon/CBS

March 12-16

Big Ten Tournament

Indianapolis, IN

Varies by day

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