Hoyas Stun Spartans

It’s not often that Michigan State plays a non-conference game in the middle of the Big Ten season. It is even more rare when the Spartans lose away from the Breslin Center.

Both of those things happened Saturday afternoon as Georgetown defeated Michigan State 64-60 at Madison Square Garden. Georgetown had lost five straight going into Saturday’s game.

One look at the numbers tells the story of the game. MSU shot 9-30 from three point range, turned the ball over 16 times, lost the rebound battle 35-29 and went only 9-16 from the free throw line.

Georgetown jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the first half, but a 10-0 run by the Spartans put them up midway through the period. The teams exchanged the lead throughout the half and MSU took a 30-29 lead into halftime.

The Hoyas started the second half on an 11-3 run and never looked back. Michigan State was able to draw as close as two, but never held the lead after halftime.

Georgetown did a good job of keeping Michigan State off balance by freely switching between a zone and man-to-man defense.

Despite just a 7-16 shooting performance, Gary Harris led all scorers with 20 points, 17 of which came in the second half.

Denzel Valentine and Kenny Kaminski also scored in double figures, contributing 11 and 10 respectively.

Michigan State returns to the Breslin Center Thursday night looking to bounce back against Penn State (11-10). Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m.


Andrew Hayes is the host of Impact Izzone for Impact Sports.

Photo: David Defever/Impact Sports