Michigan State basketball's offense flows in 2nd half of 73-64 win vs. Louisville
EAST LANSING — Louisville came out of the locker room at halftime Wednesday and started taking it to Michigan State basketball.
In a flash, everything changed. And Breslin Center shook with noise for the first time since March 2020.
A.J. Hoggard set the tone by getting out and running and finishing through contact. The Spartans stopped giving up the ball and started moving it, with 3-pointer after 3-pointer starting to rain down from the perimeter. And their defense began to stifle the Cardinals, allowing No. 22 MSU to pull to a 73-64 victory.
MSU (6-2), which hosts Toledo at 5 p.m. Saturday, improved to 9-12 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Spartans are now 7-5 all-time against Louisville, including 4-0 at home, and have won three of the past four meetings.
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An eight-point MSU halftime lead nearly vanished with a 9-3 Louisville run to open the second half. But Hoggard provided a spark after Tyson Walker’s third foul.
The sophomore hit a 3-pointer from the corner to snap a 6-0 Cardinals run to open the half, then attacked off the dribble and scored through contact to spark a 20-4 pull-away run.
He did more than just score. Hoggard drove and kicked to Jaden Akins for a 3-pointer, then set up Hall’s 3-pointer with 12:20 left that forced Cardinals coach Chris Mack to call a timeout. But Hall hit another 3-pointer, and Bingham finished an alley-oop on a pass from Walker to put MSU up 20 with 11:07 remaining.
However, Louisville (5-2) fiercely fought back with El Ellis turning in an unconscious scoring performance. The junior guard hit six straight shots, including four 3-pointers, and had 18 of his 22 points in the second half to pull the Cardinals within eight points with 1:26 left on a Gabe Brown goaltending call.
Hall led the Spartans with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. He hit all three of his 3-point attempts as MSU went 10-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Max Christie had 11 points, Bingham had nine points and 12 rebounds, while Akins and Brown each scored 10. Hoggard had nine points and four assists, while Walker had 10 assists. The Spartans shot 46.9% from the field.
Dre Davis added 15 points for Louisville, which went 7-for-27 from 3-point range.
The Spartans committed 19 turnovers, with six of them coming in the final 10 minutes of the game to aid the Cardinals’ late surge. MSU’s defense held Louisville’s leading scorer Noah Locke scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
It took some time for the Spartans to find their rhythm in the first half. But when they did, there were moments when they looked as crisp as they have all season.
Hall entered and drove the baseline for an up-and-under layup, followed by a drive and two-hand slam by Brown. Walker then set up Hall in transition with one of the point guard’s seven first-half assists off one of his three steals. Brown hit a 3-pointer, and MSU surged to an 11-7 lead.
Then turnovers hit again. MSU did not commit a turnover for the first 5:21, then committed eight of its nine in the opening half over a nearly 7 1/2-minute span. Hauser got pulled after one and tried to blow past Izzo, who was trying to talk to him as the senior walked off the court then chased him down the bench and gave him an earful. Hoggard also heard it from Izzo after attempting to thread a no-look pass into two Louisville defenders that led to a breakout alley-oop by Davis.
The Spartans settled down, though, as Walker stabilized the offense and shooters began making shots. Bingham, who looked shaky and tentative early, started attacking the rim. Then Hall, Christie and Pierre Brooks hit 3-pointers in a 9-0 run that helped MSU head into halftime leading, 36-28.
Brown had all 10 of his points on 4-for-5 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Bingham had six points, five rebounds and two blocks by halftime. The Spartans were 6-for-7 from deep at one point in the half and went into the locker room making 48.1% overall while getting out in transition for a 12-4 edge in fastbreak points. They also got 15 points off the bench, including seven from Hall.
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: Michigan State basketball's offense rises in Louisville win
