Michigan State basketball rides huge bench day to beat Rutgers, 81-74, stay perfect in B1G

Posted by author January 25, 2025 Basketball

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NEW YORK – Problems, solved. Streak, extended.

Depth and tenacity remained guiding forces for No. 8 Michigan State basketball, which rode a hot-shooting second half and pulled away to an 81-74 victory over Rutgers on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Spartans (17-2, 8-0 Big Ten) have won 12 straight and host Minnesota on Tuesday (8 p.m.). Their next three games will only be available to stream via Peacock.

Tom Izzo now has 351 conference victories, and the 30th-year head coach needs three more to surpass Indiana legend Bob Knight’s Big Ten record of 353. If the Spartans beat the Gophers, Izzo could tie Knight with a victory next Saturday at USC and potentially could break the record Feb. 4 at UCLA.

Ten Spartans scored at least two points and grabbed at least two rebounds Saturday, with MSU finishing with a 44-34 edge on the boards. Freshman Jase Richardson set a season-high with 20 points, hitting three of the Spartans’ five 3-pointers. Coen Carr added 14 points and tied a career best with eight rebounds in 26 energetic minutes, while Jaden Akins added 12 points despite going just 3-for-15 from the field.

Six MSU players also combined for 19 assists on 27 made baskets, led by six from Tre Holloman and five from Frankie Fidler.

MSU improved to 5-17 all-time at Madison Square Garden, and Izzo is now 5-13 there. It was the Spartans’ first win at at the historic venue considered the Mecca of Basketball since defeating Wisconsin in their first game of the 2018 Big Ten tournament.

MSU’s defense stifled and stupefied Rutgers star freshman Ace Bailey all day. The Big Ten’s second-leading scorer finished with 18 points and nine rebounds but went just 4-for-17 from the floor. Rutgers’ Dylan Harper (ankle) and Jordan Derkack (hip) were both listed as questionable before the game, and both provided a boost off the bench deep once they entered. Derkack scored 26 points, while Harper had six in the first half but played just two scoreless minutes in the second period.

Big moments

It didn’t take long for MSU’s depth to be needed. Both out of necessity and matchups.

Big man Jaxon Kohler picked up two quick fouls before the first media timeout, sitting for more than 11 minutes before briefly returning late in the first half. Szymon Zapala and Carson Cooper struggled with Rutgers’ athletic big men. That led Izzo to use Fidler and Carr extensively at the 4, as well as shifting Xavier Booker to the 5 late in the half.

The Scarlet Knights ripped off a 10-0 run early that took advantage of the Spartans’ mistakes after Holloman’s game-opening 3-pointer. But MSU responded with a big burst of its own, scoring 11 straight and building a 23-13 lead on a putback by Fidler and two Jaden Akins free throws.

The final eight minutes of the opening half showed this was going to be another rock fight. Rutgers delivered a 15-5 counterpunch to tie it on Derkack’s three-point play with 1:51 to go before the break. The junior guard also had a pair of 3-pointers in the comeback run and scored 11 in the first half.

The Spartans got their own answer immediately. Fears penetrated into the paint and, as the defense collapsed, lofted a lob for a Carr alley-oop dunk. Richardson added a pair of free throws, then coolly buried a 3-pointer off another Fears assist, and MSU went into halftime leading, 35-32.

Yin and yang

MSU’s shooting slump continued for the first 20 minutes. But so did its stingy defense.

Half of that changed after halftime.

The two teams combined to go just 5-for-27 from 3-point range in the first half. Akins was 1-for-10 overall and 0-for-3 from deep as the Spartans shot 38.7% but held the Scarlet Knights to 31%.

Bailey had nine points at intermission but was just 2-for-7 shooting. Harper scored six in his 12 minutes off the bench after being a late scratch from the starting lineup just before tipoff.

But the Spartans found their feel in the second half, at the same time ratcheting up even more defensive intensity to get the Scarlet Knights off-kilter.

Fidler continued his recent run of strong all-around play. His ball-fake and pass around a fly-by defender set up Akins for a 3-pointer. At the other end, the senior transfer elevated to block a driving attempt from Dylan Grant to spark a break that led to Holloman finishing and flexing as Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell called timeout with MSU up, 54-44, with 10:51 to play.

The Spartans pushed their lead to 13 with 2:28 to play on Richardson’s layup through traffic, but the Scarlet Knights started bombing away from deep and hit four 3-pointers in the final 1:42 and cut it to six points late.

However, Richardson, Holloman, Fears, Carr and Akins combined to go 10-for-10 at the free-throw line in the last two minutes to seal the victory. The 22-for-26 performance at the line continued one of the best performances at the line in Izzo’s career.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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