Michigan State Comes Back for 53-48 Win over Gophers
February 22, 2011

After stifling Michigan State with a zone defense and dominating the boards for most of the game, the Minnesota Gophers fell apart at the end and lost to the Spartans 53-48 at Williams Arena. In a must-win game for two struggling teams trying to capture one of the final Big Ten spots in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, the Spartans overcame a 16-2 run that put Minnesota ahead 47-39 with 4:33 left and held the Gophers to only 1 point the rest of the way.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo called it a “bizarre” game and noted, “We had a lot of guys who didn’t play great but made great plays.” The teams came out of the final media time out with 3:30 left with the Gophers up 47-40 and Spartans guard Kalin Lucas going to the line for a pair of free throws. Lucas made only one of two, but Draymond Green stole the ball from Ralph Sampson and passed to Lucas, who hit a jumper. After a missed shot by Trevor Mbakwe, Green grabbed the rebound Summers open on the right wing, and Summers drained a three-pointer. Izzo compared Green’s sighting of Summers with a former Spartan wizard, Magic Johnson. The six-point surge occurred in 57 seconds, pulled the Spartans to within a point, and caused Minnesota coach Tubby Smith to call a time out.

Chip Armelin, who had made a couple of big three-pointers, including one that put Minnesota ahead by a point after having trailed 37-31, drew a foul and made one of two free throws, the final point for the Gophers, giving them a 48-46 lead. After both teams missed a three-point attempt, Spartans freshman Keith Appling drew a foul and went to the line for a one-and-one with 1:22 left. Appling, who had struggled and had only 2 points on 1 of 4 shooting from the field to this point, sank both free throws to tie the game.

After another miss by Mbawke, Green got the rebound and then kept the Spartans alive with an offensive rebound after a miss by Lucas. Green missed a three-point attempt, but Appling came away with the ball and drew a reach-in foul by Blake Hoffarber, sending Appling to the line for another one-and-one with 27.5 seconds left. Once again, Appling buried both to give Michigan State a 50-48 lead. “At halftime I said I have never seen him play that bad,” said Izzo of Appling. “He was missing shots, but he wasn’t even guarding like he normally does and turning the ball over. I guess that shows the kid has great courage, he made some great free throws.”

Smith called his final timeout. When play resumed, Armelin started to drive, then stepped back behind the arc and launched a three-pointer that was short and rebounded by Mike Kebler, who was fouled. Kebler made both of ends of his one-and-one to put the game out of reach with 11.4 seconds left.

“I don’t know how many turnovers we had down that stretch,” said Smith. “When you don’t handle the ball and you’re giving it up, it’s going to be tough. We were trying to spread it out at the end, maybe try to drive it because we felt like we had them in some foul trouble. Again, things happen and then the momentum shifts.”

In a low-scoring first half, Minnesota led 21-19 at the break. The Spartans took only five shots from the lane and were 3-for-12 from behind the arc. “Their zone really hurt us,” said Izzo. “We had no match for it since we are hurting at the small forward right now. I thought it was a brilliant idea to go zone, and if we didn’t go on that one little run before half we would have been down seven or eight.”

The Spartans launched another 12 three-point attempts in the second half, and Izzo said he was “disappointed that we settled for 24 threes.” But he credited his defense, particularly Appling and Kebler, for shutting down the sharpshooting Hoffarber, who has been playing point guard for Minnesota since an injury to Al Nolen. “We said we were going to velcro him,” said Izzo, and Hoffarber made only one three-pointer (out of three attempts) and was 1-for-8 overall from the field, scoring just 5 points, all in the first half.

“Our ballhandling has been a little suspect, so that’s what teams are doing,” said Smith. “They’re pressuring Blake, trying to keep it out of his hands. We just have to make better decisions.”

Michigan State improved its record to 8-7 in the Big Ten while the Gophers dropped to 6-9 in conference play, losing their sixth out of eight games since Nolen was injured.