Michigan State scorches Rutgers from 3-point land in 70-57 victory

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State fought back from its most aggravating defeat of the season for perhaps its most impressive victory. The Spartans ended a two-game losing streak by cruising past No. 23 Rutgers, 70-57, Thursday night at Breslin Center. 

“This is a big win for us,” said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. “That’s a very good team. They are the only team that beat Purdue. They didn’t shoot it as well tonight, but God dang, they’re tough.

“Our defense was good, but it wasn’t elite. I mean they had some shots, and they missed some shots they’ve been making.”

Michigan State, following a pair of losses to Illinois last Friday and a 64-63 loss to Purdue on Monday, improved to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. 

Rutgers fell to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. 

The Spartans used 16 points from junior point guard A.J. Hoggard, 10 of which came in the second half, to upend the Scarlet Knights.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

* Michigan State shot a sizzling 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from 3-point range against a Rutgers team which came into the game ranked first in the Big Ten in three-point percentage defense and overall field goal percentage defense.

“You are not going to be able to withstand that on the road in this league,” Rutgers coach Steve Piekell said of MSU’s 3-point percentage. “Credit Michigan State, they are good, they play hard and they got it going today.”

Rutgers was a miserable 2-of-17 from 3-point range.

“We got some good looks,” said Rutgers coach Steve Piekell. “You have to make a few and play better than that on the road to beat a Hall of Fame coach with the fanbase here.”

* Michigan State had five players in double figures.

* Freshman Jaxon Kohler had the first double-double of his career with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. 

* Jaden Akins scored 11 points and was 3-of-6 from 3-point range, including a punctuation triple from the right wing with :16 seconds left.

* Joey Hauser scored 13 for Michigan State, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. His 3-pointer from the left corner, off an assist from Akins on hammer action, gave Michigan State its biggest lead of the night to that point at 62-49 with 2:48 left and spelled doom for Rutgers’ hopes of a late comeback.

“It was huge,” Hauser said. “The way we answered tonight, it was crucial. This was a must-win game. Dropping to 4-4 in the Big Ten was really not an option for where we want to go.”

Overall, Michigan State out-shot Rutgers 47.3 percent to 34.4 percent.

* MSU’s hot shooting helped the Spartans overcome a 42-34 deficit on the boards.

“We did a lot of good things, but don’t be fooled,” Izzo said. “When you get out-rebounded like we did and you give up 18 offensive rebounds, usually you don’t win. But when you don’t turn it over and you shoot the ball well against a great defensive team, which is hard to do, I was pleased.”

* Point guard Paul Mulcahy and center Clifford Omoruyi each scored 12 for Rutgers, which failed to match the intensity of a tired but desperate Michigan State team.  

HOW IT WENT DOWN

After Rutgers cut MSU’s 36-30 halftime lead to 43-41 on a put-back by Antwone Woolfolk with 14:15 remaining, the Spartans outscored Rutgers 27-16 the rest of the way.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

• Rutgers cut the lead to 52-47 on a Mowat Mag 16-foot jumper, but Michigan State answered quickly with Akins nailing a 3-pointer from the right corner on the counter-break, giving the Spartans a 55-47 lead with 7:52 to play. 

• Michigan State stretched the lead to 40-33 on a Kohler hook shot vs zone defense, :90 seconds into the second half.

• That marked MSU’s biggest lead until Hoggard hit a 3-pointer off a ball screen, capitalizing on a defender going beneath the screen out of a lack of respect for Hoggard’s range shooting ability. But that triple gave Michigan State a 50-41 lead with 11:09 to play

THE FIRST HALF

Michigan State went 7-of-13 from 3-point range in building a 34-26 lead with 2:05 left in the first half as Akins drilled a triple from the left wing on a baseline out of bounds play.

A late floater, through contact, by Pierre Brooks gave Michigan State a 36-30 lead at intermission.

Walker also had three steals in the first half, including one that he converted into a run-out lay-up while getting fouled. His free throw cut Rutgers’ lead to 22-20 with 7:00 left.

“Those steals that Tyson Walker had when we were down 14-5 or whatever were big motivators for us,” Izzo said.

Rutgers dominated the early moments, taking a 14-5 lead, thanks in part to two early dunks by center Amoruyi and a second-chance 3-pointer from Caleb MConnell. But Michigan State answered with a 29-12 run.

WHAT’S NEXT

Michigan State will play at Indiana at noon on Sunday (CBS.)