University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Hot-Shooting Spartans Down Gophers 81-62
2/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State shot 57 percent from the field en route to an 81-62 victory over Minnesota this evening at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. The Gophers lost their third game in a row and dropped to 16-9, 6-6 in the Big Ten. The 10th-ranked Spartans solidified their second place spot in the Big Ten, improving to 18-4, 9-2 in the Big Ten.
Vincent Grier continued to shine offensively, leading the Gophers with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting. He wasn't enough for a balanced Spartan attack that posted four players in double figures. The Gophers were outrebounded 36-25.
Michigan State shot the lights out in the first half, hitting 17-of-27 field goals. The Gophers forced 11 Spartan turnovers but they couldn't capitalize and fell behind 45- 31 at the half. The Gophers did lead 5-2 early, but Michigan State took control and led 19-11 with 11 minutes to go. The Gophers crept back to within six at 23-17 on a Jeff Hagen layup but the Spartans pushed it back to nine on a Shannon Brown three. The Gophers followed with a 7-0 run on two hoops by Dan Coleman and a trey by Aaron Robinson to make the score 26-24. However, Michigan State ended the half on a 19-7 run.
The Spartans kept the momentum into the second half with a 6-0 run. The Gophers finally got on the board with a Brent Lawson three-pointer and Minnesota trailed 51- 34 with 16:26 on the clock. However, the Gophers couldn't muster a significant run as the teams played close to even for the remainder of the game. MSU built its lead to 64-42 on a Chris Hill three and Minnesota cut the Spartan lead to 19 on several occasions. Hagen edged the Gophers to within 17 at 77-60 on a three-point play with 4:15 on the clock but that was as close as they would get.
Coleman chipped in with 12 points and Hagen added 11 points and five rebounds. Minnesota shot 41 percent from the field for the game on 22-of-54.
Shannon Brown led the Spartans with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Maurice Ager had 16, Paul Davis 14 and Alan Anderson 10.
The Gophers will try to get back on track Saturday afternoon in the friendly confines of Williams Arena. Minnesota will take on Ohio State at 4 p.m. The game will be shown live on FSN North.
