3&Out: Michigan State fights through tired legs in statement win over Rutgers

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State (13-6, 5-3) faced the No. 1 scoring defense in the Big Ten on tired legs, and the Spartans found a way to overcome a slow start and a heavy deficit on the glass to defeat a physical Rutgers team, 70-57. With the win, the Spartans ended a two-game losing streak against two of the better teams in the Big Ten in Purdue and Illinois. More importantly, however, Michigan State played with championship-caliber resiliency, and did so without injured senior leader Malik Hall in the playing group.

Michigan State couldn’t close out games against the Fighting Illini and Boilermakers despite having second-half leads in each of those two losses. The Spartans, however, willed their way to a win against the most physical team in the Big Ten.

“That was a big win for us,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “They have played very well, they beat Purdue and (Steve Pikiell) is a phenomenal coach.”

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1. Michigan State shared the ball on offense

After combining for just 16 assists across its previous two games against Purdue and Illinois, the Spartans did a much better job of sharing the basketball against Rutgers. Michigan State finished with 19 assists on 26 made baskets against the No. 1 scoring defensive in the Big Ten.

“When you have 19 assists on 26 baskets against a great defensive team, that’s hard to do,” Izzo said.

Michigan State did a nice job of screening and getting the ball to shooters early in this game. Sharing the basketball is one of the reasons why Michigan State was able to come back from sizeable deficit in the first half and build a six-point cushion at halftime. It is also one of the reasons why the Spartans were able to close out this game.

The Spartans made some tough shots in this game, and Rutgers missed some good shots. As far as Michigan State goes, the shots that went down would have been a whole lot tougher if the Spartans hadn’t shared the basketball as well as they did.

“I am really pleased with the 19 assists against a team that plays really, really well defensively,” Izzo said.

2. Jaxon Kohler played his best game as a Spartan

Last week, freshman center Carson Cooper showed significant growth with solid play in losses to Purdue and Illinois. Against Rutgers, it was Jaxon Kohler’s turn to show how he has come from the start of the season until now. Kohler played his best game as a Spartan, scoring 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Michigan State went to Kohler early in the first half, getting buckets at the rim when Omoruyi was on the bench.

As the game went on, Kohler was able to score against Omoruyi, once with a jump hook and another time with a baseline jumper. On a night where Michigan State struggled to rebound the basketball, Kohler also played a significant role as a rebounder. Kohler led Michigan State with 11 rebounds and the Spartans needed every single one of them.

Kohler also led Michigan State with three blocked shots. That is three more than Omoruyi. Few could have seen that one coming.

“You never know when you are going to be needed or its going to be your game to breakout,” Akins said. “Jax had his first double-double and I am proud of him. He was ready, not complaining about past games. He was just ready to go to night.”

3. Michigan State showed great resilience on tired legs

If it looked like the Spartans were a quart low on energy at times in this game, they were. That’s what happens when a team playing its fourth game in 10 days and faces a well-rested conference opponent with talent, depth, and experience.

Rutgers, playing its second game in eight days, jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first five minutes. That stretch included a pair of Cliff Omoruyi dunks, and three offensive boards for Rutgers, which assisted on their first six field goals.

Despite those tired legs, Michigan State showed plenty of fight, scrapping back from an eight-point deficit to take a brief lead on an AJ Hoggard three early in the opening half. Then Rutgers responded with a 6-0 barrage. After the Scarlet Knights regained the lead on a Caleb McConnell drive, the Spartans dug deep and put together a 9-0 run via threes from Hauser, Akins, and Hoggard to build an eight-point lead. The Spartans enjoyed a six-point lead at halftime.

Rutgers helped Michigan State out in the first half, as leading scorer Cam Spencer was uncharacteristically cold, going 1-of-7 in the opening half. The Spartans were also aided by Rutgers going away from center Omoruyi, who only took three shots in the first half.

Michigan State continued to fight through tired legs in the second half. Fatigue was a major factor in a decisive rebounding advantage for Rutgers in the second half. Despite being outrebounded by a substantial margin, Michigan State continued to fight.

The Spartans got outrebounded 42-34 in this game but managed to overcome that deficit on the glass by shooting 54.5 percent from behind the 3-point line.

The Spartans got some breaks in this game, as Spencer scored just 8 points, going 1-of-8 from behind the 3-point line and 3-of-14 overall. Spencer wasn’t the only Rutgers’ player to struggle from three. As a team, Rutgers shot just 2-of-17 behind the 3-point line. One of those threes came in the final :30 seconds when the game was out of reach.

“Our defense was good, but it wasn’t elite,” Izzo said. “They got some looks, but I think we played pretty good defense.”

The trio of AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, and Jaden Akins played very good defense against veteran Rutgers guards, Paul Mulcahy, Caleb McConnell, and Stewart.

“I feel like us three are some of the best defenders when we are locked in,” said Akins. “It should be hard for teams to score against us when we are all doing our jobs.”