By Ray Bennett
Thursday March 10, 2011
With their 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances streak in doubt, Michigan State needed to battle back from a seven point deficit to stay on the bubble.
The Spartans defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 66-61 in a first round game in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. This year's tournament is held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The win comes at a very desperate time for Michigan State as early season losses in non-conference games and key losses, including a February 2 loss at Iowa, in the Big Ten may become the deciding factor on whether or not they make it to their fourteenth straight NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State started the game on a 7-2 run in the first two minutes. They capitalized off of Iowa's early foul troubles from forward Melsahn Basabe, who only played three-and-a-half minutes after getting two fouls in the first half, and guard Zach McCabe. The key player in the first half for Michigan State was junior forward Draymond Green, who scored 10 of the Spartans first 23 points. Iowa kept the game close in the first half by tying the game at different points of the first half. However, the Hawkeyes could not take the lead once they evened up the score, including two missed free throws by senior forward Jarryd Cole. Michigan State led the game at halftime 33-31, with Green scoring 15 points.
Once the second half began, Iowa got a spark from two of their key players. Freshman guard-forward Roy Devyn Marble gave Iowa their first lead of the game in the first two minutes of the half with a three point field goal. Then junior guard Bryce Cartwright got hot hitting a few key shots. Cartwright's hot streak, and five Michigan State turnovers on five straight possessions, brought Iowa to a lead 54-47 halfway through the second. However, Michigan State answered back with an 8-0 run, lead by guards Kalin Lucas and freshman Keith Appling. Appling hit a lay-up with 8:20 remaining to make the score 55-54. Michigan State had a 62-58 lead, until Iowa's McCabe hit a three with 1:33 left, cutting the deficit to one point. The Hawkeyes had a big possession in the final minute; however, they missed three shots and fouled Spartans senior guard Durrell Summers, who hit both free throws with 14.5 seconds left. Iowa then failed to hit a three point shot on their next possession. After fouling Summers again, he then hit both free throws to sew up the Michigan State win.
Draymond Green led the Spartans with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Lucas and Appling were also in double figures in scoring, with 11 and 10 points respectively. Cartwright led the Hawkeyes with 14 points. Junior guard Matt Gatens was also in double figures with 13 points. The Spartans led in field goal percentage shooting 41% to the Hawkeyes 34%.
The win for the seventh seeded Spartans sets up a quarterfinal game against number two seeded Purdue on Friday night at 7 P.M. Eastern Time. The Boilermakers swept both games in the season series and are looking for their third consecutive win against the Spartans. Iowa's season comes to an end after the loss. The tenth seeded Hawkeyes went 11-19 in the regular season, with a 4-14 Big Ten record. One of their four wins in the Big Ten was against Purdue, defeating them in Iowa 67-65 March 5. The Big Ten Tournament runs through Sunday with the title game at 3:30 Eastern Daylight Time.
No comments:
Post a Comment