The top of the Big Ten standings resemble a slugfest, with four teams too tightly packed to afford giving a single game away — which No. 13 Michigan State barely avoided doing earlier this week.
The Spartans hope for a more complete effort as they continue a brief eastern road trip Saturday afternoon against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.
On Tuesday night at Maryland, Michigan State (17-4, 8-2 Big Ten) led by 10 at halftime and by 15 after Joey Hauser drained a 3-pointer with 17:44 to play.
The Terrapins, a program in the midst of a down year, managed to climb all the way back and tie the game at 61 and again at 63. Malik Hall converted a layup in the final seconds to help the Spartans escape with a 65-63 win.
“Should have been able to close it out. We didn’t,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told reporters. “It was because of (Maryland) playing well, and harder than hell.”
Hall, a captain, finished with a team-high 16 points off the bench. He is one of six different players to lead the Spartans in scoring in at least one game this season; Gabe Brown, Max Christie, Marcus Bingham and Hall all average between 9.6 and 12.8 points per game.
That balanced attack is one reason the Spartans are jockeying with Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue for first place in the conference. Michigan State beat a slightly undermanned Wisconsin team on Jan. 21, with the rematch coming up Tuesday, and lost at Illinois on Jan. 25 by one point.
“We don’t want close games like this,” Hall said. “In the Big Ten, it’s really hard. Anybody, any team, could come at you any night. We just want to make sure that we’re ready for that.”
Rutgers (12-9, 6-5) is next in line to take a shot at the Spartans, and due to recent results it has become desperation time for the Scarlet Knights. They’ve recently lost three of four games to the league’s basement — Minnesota, Maryland and Northwestern — putting dreams of a return trip to the NCAA Tournament in severe doubt.
Rutgers was behind 43-25 at halftime Tuesday against Northwestern before Paul Mulcahy guided the Scarlet Knights on an improbable comeback. Mulcahy assisted Cliff Omoruyi on a last-second dunk that forced overtime, but the Wildcats survived with a 79-78 win.
With stars Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker having poor shooting nights, Mulcahy shouldered the load and scored a career-high 31 points along with seven assists and seven rebounds. But the effort was in vain for a team that did not live up to its reputation as a tough defensive group.
“Obviously, giving up 43 points in the first half is not Rutgers basketball,” coach Steve Pikiell said. “And we turned the basketball over a ton. That’s been one of our Achilles heels in the first half of games, turning the ball over at an alarming rate.”
The Scarlet Knights are beginning a five-game stretch against ranked teams, the five best the Big Ten has to offer: Michigan State, No. 16 Ohio State, at No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 18 Illinois and at No. 4 Purdue.
–Field Level Media
