Turnovers, missed free throws, errors spell doom at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Turnovers continue to be a problem for Michigan State, and so do slow starts. The combination of the two led to a bigger problem Tuesday at Louisville - an 82-78 overtime loss to the Cardinals in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

“We just made some uncharacteristic ridiculous plays,” said coach Tom Izzo. “You can’t do that if you are going to win at this level, especially on the road against a good team.”

No. 9-ranked Michigan State, which played without guard Matt McQuaid due to a thigh bruise and saw point guard Cassius Winston foul out with 4:35 left in regulation, falls to 5-2. Louisville is 4-2.

Michigan State battled back from a 12-point deficit midway through the first half, marking the third time in eight games that the Spartans have trailed by double digits in the early going.

“We did another horrendous job at the beginning of the game,” Izzo said. “I’m disappointed in how we played. We just did some things that weren’t good enough to win. We didn’t value the inches. They hit some shots and made some plays. We turned it over, missed lay-ups and missed one-and-one free throws.”

Michigan State committed 17 turnovers, compared to 10 for the Cardinals.

Michigan State made up for that deficit by enjoying a 47-30 advantage in rebounding.

“Louisville is a good team, a big team,” Izzo said. “Our No. 1 key was not to let them get to the foul line. We did a hell of a job. They had 41 of them.”

Louisville was 30-of-41 from the foul line, Michigan State was 14-of-23 from the line in a stop-and-start game that was plagued by 64 free throws and 50 foul calls in 45 minutes.

“We just did not look sharp,” Izzo said. “The turnovers were ridiculous. Maybe we’ll learn from it, maybe we won’t.”

Langford and Kyle Ahrens scored 15 points apiece. Langford was hot-and-cold, going 5-of-14 from the field, with a team-high four turnovers.

Ahrens was 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-6 from 3-point range in the best game of his career.

Winston scored 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Winston fouled out with 4:35 remaining and Michigan State down 61-60. Winston had not sat in the second half until he went to the bench with five fouls, as Michigan State preferred to push Winston as long as possible rather than put Loyer in the game. And then Michigan State had to turn the keys over to Loyer for the rest of the night.

Loyer played most of the last 4:35 and most of overtime, with the exception of some defense-for-offense subbing.

Loyer, who was Michigan’s Mr. Basketball last year but has played just a bit role as a freshman, had two assists, one turnover and two points in nearly nine minutes.

Loyer’s driving, short glasser gave Michigan State a 66-64 lead, the Spartans’ biggest of the game, with 1:39 left.

“I should be more happy, going nine minutes without Cassius,” Izzo said. “That’s a lot. Those little guards (of Louisville) gave us fits, especially when Cassius went out.”

Nick Ward scored 14 points. Goins had 0 points and 17 rebounds.

Michigan State blew a 67-66 lead with :38 left in regulation when Loyer, who holds the Michigan high school record for consecutive made free throws with 119, missed the front end free throw of a one-and-one.

Seconds later, after Louisville’s Malik Williams missed a 3-pointer, Langford hauled down the defensive rebound, but threw an errant pass toward Goins for a turnover. Goins fouled Louisville’s Christen Cunningham trying to win the loose ball.

Izzo lamented after the game that he didn’t do a good enough job during the previous time out of reminding players Michigan State had a time out remaining. Langford said he was unaware that Michigan State had a time out.

Cunningham made one of two free throws, tying the game. Goins rebounded Cunningham’s miss, and was fouled.

Then Goins missed the front end of a one-and-one with the score tied and :08 seconds left in regulation. Louisville’s shot at the buzzer missed, and the Spartans had to try to correct their errors in overtime, but were unsuccessful.

Michigan State took a 71-70 lead with 3:25 left in overtime on a Langford step-back 16-footer, but Loyer went for a steal near the hashmark on Louisville’s next possession, and committed a foul on Louisville guard Ryan McMahon. Izzo gave Loyer the harshest reprimand of the freshman’s young career.

McMahon, who scored a game-high 24 points, thanks to four 3-pointers and 12-of-13 foul shooting, made both foul shots to give Louisville a 72-71 lead.

Langford then made a pair of foul shots to give Michigan State its last lead at 73-72 with 2:56 left

Michigan State had two chances to bite into a 76-73 Cardinal lead with less than 1:15 to play in overtime. But Goins committed a turnover while playing small forward, out of position, while Langford replaced Loyer at the point. Loyer had become a defensive liability in previous possessions, and Izzo tried to sub around him.

After Ahrens drew a charge, Michigan State went to Langford again, but he missed a decent 17-foot look from the right wing with :30 seconds remaining.

Rarely-used freshman wing Gabe Brown hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 79-78 with :09 seconds let.

But Louisville’s McMahon made two free throws. Then Louisville fouled Langford with :04 seconds remaining and prevented him from taking a game-tying 3-pointer. Langford missed the first free throw, and then tried to miss the second on purpose but didn’t draw rim, resulting in Louisville possession, pretty much sealing the game.