Spartans Fall to UCLA in Overtime, 86-80

West Lafayette, Ind. – Michigan State had an 11-point lead at halftime and led by five points in the final two minutes of regulation but could not hang on as UCLA came back to beat the Spartans, 86-80, in the NCAA First Four at Mackey Arena on Thursday night.

Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) scored 16 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Spartans, while graduate guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists and sophomore forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]) chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.

Records
Michigan State finishes the season with a 15-13 record, while UCLA improves to 18-9 overall and advances to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Recap

The Spartans went into the half leading 44-33 after one of the more efficient offensive performances of the season in the first half.
The Bruins cut the lead to three points early in the second half and took a one-point lead, 67-66, on a layup from Jules Bernard, but the Spartans responded with seven-straight points and took a 73-67 lead on a three-point play from Hall with 4:00 left.
Sophomore guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) hit a floating jumper with 2:59 left and Henry hit free throws with 1:29 left to make it 77-72, but the Bruins managed to tie the game at 77-all on a three-point play from Jaime Jaquez Jr. with 22 seconds left.
The Spartans had a chance for the win at the end of regulation but Henry's shot was off the mark.
In overtime, Johnny Juzang hit a pair of baskets early, Michigan State missed two shots and turned it over twice before a dunk from Cody Riley gave the Bruins an 83-78 lead with 50 seconds left.
Langford hit a layup with 45 seconds left – MSU's first field goal in more than seven minutes – to cut the lead to 83-80, but the Spartans would get no closer.
The Spartans had jumped on top quickly in the first half, hitting their first four shots and taking a 9-2 lead on a layup from sophomore forward Julius Marble (Dallas, Texas/Dallas Jesuit).
The Bruins tied the game at 15-all, but a 13-6 run over 5:29, capped by a jumper from Hall, gave MSU a 28-21 lead with 7;02 before the half.
That was part of a larger 25-11 run as a 3-pointer from redshirt junior Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point) gave the Spartans a 40-26 lead before going into the break ahead 44-33.

Key Stats

Michigan State hit just one field goal in overtime (1-of-5, 20 percent).
The Spartans did not hit a field goal in the final 2:59 on the second half and the first 4:15 of the overtime period.
After committing just four turnovers in the first half, MSU turned it over eight times in the second half and overtime.
UCLA connected on 50.0 percent of its 3-point attempts (9-of-18), including 60.0 percent (6-of-10) in the second half.
UCLA out-rebounded Michigan State 23-18 in the second half and collected 10 of their offensive rebounds and 10 second-chance points in the second half and overtime.

Notes

UCLA leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 7-4.
This was the second win for the Bruins against Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament, previously beating the Spartans in the second round in 2011.
MSU made its 34th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has an all-time record of 69-33.
Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 52-22 all-time in his career during the NCAA Tournament.
Aaron Henry scored 16 points to lead the Spartans.
It was his 26th game in double figures this season the 46th of his career.
Joshua Langford finished with 12 points.
It was his 14th game in double figures this year and the 49th of his career.
Langford now has 1,109 career points, tied with Al Ferrari (1952-52) for 43rd all-time at Michigan State.
Malik Hall scored 10 points, his sixth game in double figures and the eighth of his career.

Team Stats

Aaron Henry

Joshua Langford

Malik Hall

Rocket Watts

Players Mentioned

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Aaron Henry

Joshua Langford

Rocket Watts

Players Mentioned

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Aaron Henry

Joshua Langford

Rocket Watts