Michigan State University
Minnesota
Spartans Edged By Minnesota, 70-67
1/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 5, 2002
By ANDRES YBARRA
Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - All week in practice, Minnesota coach Dan Monson screamed at his players to never give up. He had to be pleased with their effort Saturday.
Trailing by a point in the final minute, the Gophers stayed focused and beat No. 19 Michigan State 70-67 in the defending Big Ten champion's conference opener.
Reserve Jerry Holman scored 16 points, and Rick Rickert added 15 for the Gophers (8-5, 1-1), who snapped a two-game losing slide.
"The lesson stuck," said Michael Bauer, who scored 12 for Minnesota. "We've been carrying over a lot of practice into the games, except the winning."
Chris Hill scored 25 points, and Adam Wolfe had 12 rebounds for the Spartans (9-5), who have lost two games in a row.
The Gophers led for much of the second half, but saw the Spartans slowly chip away with a balanced scoring attack and pressure defense. Hill, filling in for injured Marcus Taylor, gave the Spartans a brief 67-66 lead when he banked in a 3-pointer with 53.1 seconds left.
"That probably would have killed us if we had played the way we've played in the past few weeks," Bauer said. "But we stepped it up and said, 'We're not going to lose this game."'
Holman answered with a powerful dunk, and Kerwin Fleming went 1-of-2 from the line to put Minnesota ahead 69-67.
"I was very surprised they left me open," Holman said. "They left me open and that was a big mistake."
Wolfe's 3-point attempt rattled in and out with 6.1 seconds left, and Travarus Bennett hit a free throw for the Gophers. Hill's 3-point shot at the buzzer went off the rim.
"With a team like Michigan State, you're not going to beat them - no matter who they have on the floor - if you don't match their aggressiveness," said Monson, whose team lost 80-60 at Texas Tech and 76-53 at Illinois.
Taylor, Michigan State's leading scorer, was sidelined after developing back spasms in the morning shootaround. Taylor averages 15 points.
"It was the most bizarre thing," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "He grabbed the ball and turned, and it just got out of whack and it just started spasming out, up to the point he couldn't even breathe right.
"There's no question, we've got to get him back."
Minnesota shot 44 percent from the field, while Michigan State shot 41 percent. But the Spartans committed 17 turnovers.
"This was a game we felt like we could win all the down to the end," Hill said. "But we made some mistakes ... and you really can't do that against a good team like Minnesota."
The Spartans jumped in front early, but the Gophers slowed Michigan State's offense with a zone defense that forced several tough shots and bad passes.
Fueled by Holman, Minnesota went on a 22-4 run in the first half to take the lead. Immediately after entering the game, Holman scored on a layup and a short jumper before blocking a shot, leading to two free throws by Fleming. A bucket by Dusty Rychart gave the Gophers a 19-18 advantage.
Two free throws by Holman gave the Gophers their biggest lead of the half - 37-25 with 4:10 remaining.
"This was a good win for us," Rickert said. "Even after two lopsided defeats, we knew coming home that we could beat Michigan State. This was a big-time win versus a big-time opponent."
