How Rocket Watts helped Michigan State basketball avoid 'trap game' loss to Detroit Mercy

EAST LANSING — Everything Michigan State basketball did at Duke three days earlier Detroit Mercy was doing to the Spartans on Friday.

Home-court advantage didn’t matter, not with a pandemic precluding fans. Not with a Titans team led by budding superstar in Antoine Davis.

Rocket Watts and Gabe Brown saved the day. So did the Spartans’ energy and depth.

Detroit Mercy gave the 12th-ranked Spartans everything they could handle Friday during an 83-78 MSU victory.

Watts, a Detroit native, delivered a clutch scoring spurt, then started setting up his teammates and getting MSU out in transition. He assisted on two big plays: a Julius Marble dunk with a little over a minute left, and a Brown 3-pointer, his fourth of the night, with 23.8 seconds.

“(The Titans) play hard and compete," said Aaron Henry, who had 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. “They did all the little things that are staples here at Michigan State as well. And they did some of those things better than we did. I felt like it was a learning experience for us. It’s good to get those type of games in and win them.”

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Watts finished with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting with four assists and four rebounds. Brown had a season-high 16 points while starting in place of Joshua Langford. Marble added nine points and five rebounds.

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Two days after getting his first everwin at Duke and third all-time against Mike Krzyzewski, Izzo avoided a fourth loss to Detroit. He lost three straight from 1995-97 in his first three seasons as MSU’s coach before beating the Titans in 2001 — the last time the two teams played before Friday.

Much of Izzo’s frustration on Friday stemmed from the play of his big men, but the Hall of Fame coach also admitted to not having a scouting report on the Titans. Detroit was opening the season after its first three games were called off due to COVID-19 issues.

“Disappointed and feel good at the same time,” is how Izzo described what he saw.

“A trap game a little bit. A team that we had nothing on, players that we didn’t even know. Found a way to win. We’re going to have to do that a couple times,” Izzo said. “But those of you who think that we’re ready for the national championship because we beat Duke, readjust your theories. We got a lot of work and a long way to go.”

While shooting 48% for the game, including 65.5% in the second half, MSU committed 17 turnovers and struggled to contain Davis, a 6-foot-1 junior who finished with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-26 shooting but was 0-for-9 from 3-point range.

St. Bonaventure transfer Matt Johnson added 20 points for the Titans.

“Both guys had a heck of a game,” Detroit Mercy coach Mike Davis said. “And playing a team that’s top five in the country, top ten in the country, first game, no scrimmage, no exhibition and that’s what you walk into, and we competed like crazy. .. If we do a couple things without fouling and then we have our bigs at the end of the game, it maybe is a different game.”

Langford did not play due to a knee injury, and junior Joey Hauser injured his right knee in the first half. Hauser finished with 10 points and five rebounds, scoring nine in the second half before sitting the final 7:49.

The Spartans (4-0) are scheduled to host Western Michigan at 6 p.m. Sunday, though the Broncos have had COVID-19 issues that wiped out their game this week with Notre Dame. Izzo said Langford will play if that game happens.

“I wasn’t taking Detroit lightly,” said Izzo, who put the decision to sit Langford on himself and his training staff. “But right now at this point in time of the year, after playing 29 minutes (at Duke) and traveling, I just wasn’t going to take any chances.”

Izzo said Hauser banged his knee and had a bruise that affected him late.

“He wasn’t moving very good,” Izzo said. “Joey’s too good of a player. We need him in there.”

Those ailments left the Spartans shorthanded at times and they found themselves in a dogfight. The Titans used a 12-2 run in the first half to go into the break tied, 35-35. Then, after MSU built a five-point lead early in the second period, Detroit ripped off another 12-4 run to take a 53-50 lead with 12:20 left.

That advantage swelled to five on back-to-back driving layups by Antoine Davis and Dwayne Rose Jr. Izzo was forced to call for time with 10:30 to play.

“He did some very good things on the offensive end to help his team, he was a great leader, he played ‘D,’” Brown said of Davis. “He did the right things for his team. It’s just that he didn’t come out with a ‘W’ today, and that’s OK. He’s got a long season to go, and he’s a very, very great player. He’s gonna make big things happen in the future. I’m just blessed enough that I got to play against him, because later on, he’s gonna shock the world.”

After that timeout, Watts heated up, scoring eight straight for MSU and then assisting on a Brown layup in transition that gave the Spartans the lead for good.

Detroit Mercy cut the deficit back to a point on a Johnton tip-in, but a Henry layup and a Brown 3-pointer — after a Spartan-friendly no-call on Davis at the other end — swung the momentum back to MSU.

But Davis and Johnson hit four free throws to pull the Titans within 78-76 with 1:49 to play before Watts got out on the break and threaded a pass to a cutting Marble for a dunk. Then Brown’s dagger 3-pointer sent MSU’s bench into a frenzy.

Watts and Brown combined for 22 points in the second half.

“Me and Rocket just wanted to have grit,” Brown said. “We wanted to get the team back on track and really just try to get stops. I mean, he’s a great point guard, and he found me on a couple good plays.”

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: Rocket Watts saves Michigan State basketball from Detroit Mercy upset