Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's 80-67 comeback win at Nebraska
1. That was a gumption-filled, season-saving second half from MSU
LINCOLN, Neb. – For a long while Tuesday night, I was beginning to question Michigan State’s resolve and whether what happened three days earlier at Iowa would be a tipping point in MSU’s season, the defining moment in a slide toward a forgettable finish. Whether Fran McCaffery’s infamous late-game stare had put a spell on the Spartans.
Give MSU’s team credit — that was a gumption-filled second half Tuesday night at Nebraska, full of shot-making and defense that was nowhere to be found for the first 20 minutes. The Spartans looked like a team that made a decision to win a game they badly needed.
If the loss at Iowa on Saturday was crushing for the missed opportunity, a loss at Nebraska — the way it was unfolding especially — would have been just as big a blow for what it said about this group.
Instead, with a 80-67 win that took outscoring the Huskers 54-29 in the second half — and 35-8 over one stretch — the Spartans sent a message: We’ve got a little something to us. Hang with us, even if we can be maddening to watch at times.
If MSU makes a run next week or in the weeks to come, this game, this second half, might be the stretch that set the Spartans on their way. This was the night they showed a mental toughness I’m not sure we knew they had.
The second-half performances by Jaden Akins, Tyson Walker, Joey Hauser and AJ Hoggard were among the best and most notable of their careers.
Akins finished with 14 points, making 4-for-6 3s. Walker had 13, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts and the Spartans were a whopping 30 points better than Nebraska when he was on the court. Hauser scored 11, hitting 3 of 5 from deep. Hoggard dished 10 assists and turned it over just once. And those are second-half-only numbers.
Hoggard’s 14 assists for the game were a career-high, though Izzo described his first half as the worst half of basketball he’s seen from his point guard. Hoggard and Izzo met together at halftime, just the two of them in a room off the side of the locker room, the Spartans trailing 38-26.
"Really proud of him. I just felt like he knew it," Izzo said of their conversation. "So when he knew it, I didn't have to say anything. And then we had to figure out how we're going to change it. And it was totally about defensive effort."
Because as much as the shooting seemed to turn on a dime — MSU hit 12 of 17 3-pointers in the second half (after hitting 11 of 13 in regulation Saturday) — the Spartans’ improved defense gave them a chance. Nebraska, which made 58% of its shots in the first half, hit a more modest 43% after the break.
"We didn't play not an ounce of defense in the first half," Walker said. "Everybody, we didn't help, didn't guard the ball. We didn't really do anything."
That shouldn't happen. Not from a veteran team on the last day of February. Not after the talk and hard, crisp practice they held Sunday following Saturday's devastating loss at Iowa.
"I saw a great attitude," Izzo said of his team’s response over the weekend. "I was concerned that we’d run out of gas, how many times can you get up off the canvas. I was concerned about all those things. And I give my team a lot of credit. They had been through it all in the last three weeks. And that second half, against a good (Nebraska) team and an incredible, incredible crowd …"
They played like a team that wants something from this season. They were merciless, even, best illustrated by Hoggard bringing the ball quickly up the floor while Nebraska's Jamarques Lawrence laid cramping on the court. Hoggard then threw a pass over the immobilized Lawrence to Hauser who buried an open 3 for a 66-60 lead.
Late in the first half, I tweeted, “We’re about to find out a lot about this MSU team.”
We did.
"There's a lot of fight in this team," Hauser said. "Times like that, times of adversity, I think your character is revealed. This team wants to make a deep run, wants to make a run and get some momentum here going into the Big Ten tournament and into the NCAA Tournament. So this was the most important game of the year."
2. MSU’s two centers played important unsung roles in MSU’s win
That’s three games in a row for Mady Sissoko — three games where he’s played with confidence and athleticism and made a notable impact. He did again Tuesday night, especially during the Spartans’ second-half comeback. Freshman Jaxon Kohler made a couple important plays, too, during MSU’s rally.
They made plays that bridged the 3-pointers by their teams' scorers, small plays that helped extend the surge. They played their roles to a T.
Sissoko, who finished with seven rebounds in 22 minutes after six in 19 at Iowa, took advantage of a favorable matchup, like he should. His under-control catch, step and dunk over two Nebraska defenders gave MSU a 68-60 lead as the Spartans began to pull away for the first time. He helped limit Nebraska’s Derrick Walker to four second-half points on 2-for-5 shooting.
Kohler played a part in that, too, including blocking one of Walker’s shots. Kohler’s offensive rebound and put-back layup a possession earlier kept the Spartans’ momentum going, bringing them to within 55-49. Shortly thereafter, he sealed a path for A.J. Hoggard to drive the baseline and lay it in. Kohler finished with four points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 15 minutes.
MSU’s two big guys did a lot of good things. Screen-setting, drawing offensive fouls, rebounding — things that allowed MSU’s main guys to take over.
3. MSU likely headed for the fifth or sixth seed at the Big Ten tournament
It’s still possible for the Spartans to be a top-four seed at the Big Ten tournament and get a double-bye to the quarterfinals, provided they beat Ohio State on Saturday at Breslin Center. But it would take a lot else to happen, too.
Here’s the relevant picture around MSU in the Big Ten standings after Tuesday night, beneath Purdue at 13-5:
Maryland 11-7Northwestern 11-7Michigan 11-7Indiana 11-8Iowa 11-8Illinois 10-8MSU 10-8Rutgers 10-8
Importantly, there are no tiebreakers that impact MSU, because the Spartans will have played one less game than everybody but Minnesota. They’ll either be a half-game up or a half-game back.
For MSU to get the No. 4 seed, the Spartans need no more than two other teams behind Purdue to finish with 12 wins.
Here’s what it would take …
Maryland losing twice, at Ohio State (Wednesday) and Penn State (Sunday)
Illinois losing at Purdue (Sunday)
Rutgers losing at home to Northwestern (Sunday) or Northwestern losing to both Penn State (Wednesday) and Rutgers. This assumes Rutgers wins at Minnesota (Thursday)
Iowa losing at home to Nebraska (Sunday)
Indiana and Michigan play each other Sunday, with the winner going ahead of the Spartans. That’s Indiana’s only remaining game. Michigan plays at Illinois on Tuesday. If the Wolverines win that game, the Spartans would need them also to beat Indiana. If Michigan loses to the Illini, its game with Indiana is irrelevant to MSU. If Michigan beats Illinois, the Purdue-Illinois game is also of no importance to MSU’s chances at a top-four seed.
Iowa simply winning at home against Nebraska would just about knock the Spartans out of contention for the double-bye, unless Minnesota beats Rutgers and Rutgers and Penn State both beat Northwestern.
In other words, plan on MSU playing Thursday in Chicago.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State basketball rallies to beat Nebraska: 3 quick takes
