Michigan State basketball's surge hits road block in Maryland, 73-55 vs. Terrapins
Once again, Michigan State basketball found itself trying to erase an abysmal start to keep momentum moving toward a potential NCAA tournament berth.
The Spartans clawed back to get within five midway through the second half. But Maryland, as it had all Sunday afternoon, found a way to quell their momentum and end MSU’s three-game win streak with a 73-55 loss at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland.
The Spartans (13-10, 7-10 Big Ten) have three regular-season games left to add to their NCAA resume after two upsets of top-five teams earlier in the week.
First up: MSU hosts Indiana on Tuesday (8 p.m., Big Ten Network); the Spartans beat the Hoosiers, 78-71, on Feb. 20 to spark their late-season surge.
The Spartans then close the regular season with two games against No. 3 Michigan, on Thursday at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor and Sunday at Breslin Center in East Lansing. The Wolverines are trying to clinch their first Big Ten title since 2014, though they could do it with a win against Illinois on Tuesday. The Spartans have won at least a share of the past three but are out of contention this year.
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Maryland (15-10, 9-9), which has won five straight, dissected MSU’s Big Ten-leading 3-point defense to make 8 of 16 from deep while holding the Spartans to just 8 of 28 outside and 33.3% for the game.
Aaron Henry and Joshua Langford led the Spartans with 23 points combined but also went just 7 of 29 shooting. Joey Hauser added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Eric Ayala scored 22 for Maryland, going 13 of 13 on free throws. The Terps were 23 of 24 at the line in the game. Aaron Wiggins added 13 points, Darryl Morsell 11 and Hakim Hart 10 as Maryland shot 48.4% overall while making 10 of 18 second-half shots.
Turtle-like start
The Spartans experienced yet another sluggish start, a season-long issue. Maryland raced out to a quick 11-0 lead less than 4 minutes into the game. And the Terrapins did it from deep against an MSU defense that entered Saturday the best in Big Ten play, limiting opponents to 30.6% from behind the arc.
Morsell opened the run with a triple 1:10 into the game, a sign of what was to come. Hakim Hart and Wiggins added their own 3-pointers, then Jairus Hamilton drained Maryland’s fourth in five attempts after Henry’s layup got MSU on the board. Ayala hit the fifth to give the Terps their biggest lead of the half at 12, then Hamilton made their sixth to make it 31-19 with 5:15 before half.
The Spartans, meantime, struggled mightily from outside as their ball movement stagnated. They made just 2 of their first 11 from deep until Langford drained a pair in the final 6:26, his second coming with 42 seconds to go to cut Maryland’s lead to eight. But Ayala drove and converted a tough layup over Gabe Brown to send the Terps into the half leading 35-25.
MSU finished the half shooting just 36% overall and 4 of 15 from 3-point range. The Spartans took 14 3s in Thursday’s upset of No. 5 Ohio State and 8 in Tuesday’s upset of No. 4 Illinois, making four in each game.
Bottled up
Henry entered Saturday averaging 19.1 points and 34.1 minutes over his past eight games. And Maryland coach Mark Turgeon planned around that.
The Terrapins sent three or four defenders at the 6-6 swingman every time he touched the ball in the paint. After making 4 of 6 shots to open the game, Henry missed his final 10 attempts.
Down 11 five minutes into the second half, MSU went on a 10-6 run to pull within 49-44 on a Malik Hall layup and free throw sandwiched around a Hauser 3-pointer at the shot clock.
But the Terrapins countered with a layup by Hakim Hart on its next possession, sparking a 9-2 run which the Maryland sophomore closed with his team’s first 3-pointer of the second half. Donta Scott drained another from deep less than a minute later to seal the win for the Terps.
Henry didn’t hit a shot in the second half, going 0 for 8 from the field and hitting just two free throws with 3:44 to play. He finished with 11 points. Langford, who scored 12, Langford made just 1 of 7 in the second half for four points.
Sunday was MSU’s fourth game in a stretch of seven over the final 15 days of the regular season.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball's surge hits road block in Maryland, 73-55
