Michigan State secured third place in the 41st annual Maui Invitational on Nov. 27th against University of North Carolina. With a rollercoaster of an ending, the overtime thriller finished with Michigan State on top, and a final score of 94-91.
The Spartans put together a collective effort to pull out the win against the Tar Heels, ending the game with six different players scoring in double digits. Among those players was leading scorer Tre Holloman, who ended the game with 19 points overall and did not miss a single shot in the first half, including sinking three big buckets from beyond the arc.
"They beat us last year in the (NCAA) tournament," shared Holloman after the game. "So, we just came out, and then we tried to come out fast, strong, because we still had that bad taste in our mouth from last year."
Holloman said this game meant a lot to him and that he and his teammates knew this matchup was a "must win."
Along with Holloman's leadership, Xavier Booker did some of the same, putting on a rare performance for the Spartans in the second half. After scoring zero points and pulling down just two rebounds in the first half, the sophomore forward brought some much needed energy to the court for the second half.
"Obviously, you guys know me as a three-point shooter, but I know I can do way more than that," said Booker. "I wanted to impact the game in other ways that my team needed me to, so (grabbing) the offensive rebounds then putting it back, just getting the right spots, playing defense, posting guys up."
A notable absence from the court and final box score was budding freshman star Jase Richardson. Following Michigan State's matchup against Memphis on Tuesday night, Richardson was ruled out of MSU's matchup with UNC due to sustaining an elbow to the head the night prior.
Head Coach Tom Izzo made it known that Richardson's absence was felt by the team.
"His head was just bothering him and didn't pass all the protocol," said Izzo.
During the matchup with Memphis, Richardson recorded a personal high 18 points. Having him out for MSU's third game in three days meant other players would be required to step up and fill those shoes.
"We missed Jase too," offered Izzo. "He's cool, casual, cool with ball, and doesn't get rallied by anything."
Izzo ended his final press conference of the weekend on the island of Maui by sharing that he thought his team "deserved to win" the game over North Carolina.
Spartan fans in the Lahaina Civic Center - and across the country - agreed and exhaled when the last second ticked off the clock.
Michigan State ended the Maui Invitational with a record of 2-1 and will fly home to prepare to take on Minnesota on Dec. 4 in Minneapolis.
