Michigan State University
Midwest All-Stars
Men's Basketball Uses Overtime To Defeat Midwest All-Stars
11/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 18, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State overcame poor shooting and overall sluggish play to defeat the Midwest All-Stars, 72-62, on Sunday afternoon in the Breslin Center. Marcus Taylor led the Spartans with 19 points, while the All-Stars' Chauncey Willis led all scorers with 26 points. Michigan State will next take on Syracuse in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT on Wednesday, Nov. 21 in New York.
The Midwest All-Stars started the game on an 8-0 run as the Spartans went without a point for the first four minutes of the contest. During two stretches of the first half, MSU trailed by as many as 11 points. Trailing 19-8 midway through the first half, the Spartans put together a mini-run to tie the game at 24 with 2:44 remaining and would lead 29-28 at the half. In the first half, the Spartans shot 33.3 percent from the field and committed nine turnovers.
In the second half, both squads battled back and forth with neither team being able to control the game, thanks in large part to poor shooting. After a Taylor three-pointer gave MSU a 57-52 lead with 3:18 remaining, it appeared as if the Spartans could pull away, but the All-Stars' Willis answered with a three of his own to cut the lead to two. With 1:50 left, the All-Stars tied the game at 57, but neither team could score for the rest of the half.
In overtime, Michigan State showed a little life as Spartan freshman Chris Hill opened the extra stanza with back-to-back three-pointers to give MSU a six-point lead. Two possessions later, Aloysius Anagonye slammed home an offensive rebound, expanding the lead to seven points. The All-Stars never got closer than five points for the rest of the game.
For the game, MSU shot 34.7 percent from the field, while the All-Stars finished at 31.9 percent. The Spartans committed 17 turnovers, but did outrebound the All-Stars, 57-45.
In addition to Taylor's 19, Chris Hill scored 18 and Kelvin Torbert added 16. Anagonye led all players with 11 rebounds. For the Midwest All-Stars, Darryl Whaley had 11 in addition to Willis' 26.
