Spartains get 73-51 win over Minnesota

EAST LANSING – In a flash, Tre Holloman took over the game. In every facet. Against his hometown team.

The junior guard’s seismic stretch of three consecutive 3-pointers near the end of the first half made Breslin Center shake with excitement as No. 7 Michigan State basketball overwhelmed Minnesota for the second time this season.

Holloman led another balanced effort with 12 first-half points, all on 3-pointers, as the Spartans won their 13th straight game, 73-51, on Tuesday night. They are off to its best start and on its longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season, when they also won their first nine Big Ten games and had a 13-game streak to open 18-2.

The Spartans (18-2, 9-0 Big Ten) head to Los Angeles later this week for a two-game road trip, starting 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon at USC (12-8, 4-5) and 8 p.m. next Tuesday at UCLA (15-6, 6-4). Both games will not be on broadcast or cable TV but streamed on NBC’s Peacock app.

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Dawson Garcia scored 21 points for Minnesota (11-10, 3-7), which had won three straight after opening league play with six straight losses.

Defense to start

MSU and Minnesota opened the game in a defensive tussle, trading blocked shots and turnovers during a sloppy start.

The floodgates, albeit through some volume shooting early, finally opened from outside for the Spartans. MSU entered ranked 341st out of 355 Division I teams at 28.7% 3-point shooting, 342nd at 5.5 made 3s per game and 325th at 19.1 triple tries a contest.

Holloman made the Spartans first 3-pointer Tuesday on their fifth attempt, a pull-up from deep over the Gophers’ guards, just before the first media timeout. It was part of a 16-6 opening salvo by the Spartans, which was capped by Jaxon Kohler’s first of two first-half 3-pointers.

Through the first 16:34, Minnesota committed nine turnovers to MSU’s five, while each team had four blocks and four steals. That was when Holloman took center stage.

After Carson Cooper missed a pair of technical foul free throws and MSU retained possession, Holloman buried a triple from the right corner with 2:17 to go before half. Jase Richardson picked up a steal at the other end and fed it ahead to Holloman, who pulled up for a second 3-pointer. Then after a Richardson rebound, he again found Holloman. He buried the heat-check third time, and Breslin erupted.

Then it was Holloman’s turn to pick up a steal and hit Richardson, who got fouled. He hit both free throws to cap a 13-0 takeover run and give MSU as big as a 22-point lead. And for good measure, just before halftime, Holloman dished to Szymon Zapala for an alley oop dunk.

The Spartans have not lost since Holloman joined the starting lineup for their overtime win against North Carolina at the Maui Classic.

Izzo movin’ on up

With the win, MSU coach Tom Izzo now has 352 victories in Big Ten regular-season play. A victory over the Trojans on Saturday would move Izzo into a tie with former Indiana coach Bob Knight’s record 353, and he could break that mark by winning both games out West.

It is the first time in Izzo’s 30 seasons the Spartans went undefeated in December and January. And their balanced production continued.

And the balanced production continued.

Jadin Akins and Xavier Booker each added 10 points, while Cooper had nine points and 11 rebounds as MSU finished with a 40-22 rebounding edge that set up a 13-4 second-chance points edge and a 30-20 points in the paint advantage.

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Coen Carr had seven points, including a late alley-oop dunk through a foul for a three-point play. Kohler added eight points and seven rebounds.

Richardson had eight assists, Jeremy Fears Jr. had six and Holloman had three as MSU had helpers on 20 of 25 baskets in the game.

The Spartans went 8-for-25 from 3-point range while also holding a 17-3 edge in fastbreak points.

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