ATLANTA– Michigan State was overpowered by the Auburn Tigers’ talent, most notably star forward Johni Broome, who led the way for the Tigers with 25 points and 14 rebounds in the 70-64 win over the Spartans.
“We gave it our best man, we came up short, we couldn’t get stops,” Spartans junior co-captain Tre Holloman said. “But I am just proud of my teammates, they went out there and gave it their all.”
Auburn came out firing, going on a 17-0 scoring run early in the first half to take a daunting 15-point lead.
“We started out poorly and we just couldn’t recover from that 17-0 run, it wasn’t through lack of effort or lack of anything except we played a good team,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
Even after that large scoring run, the Spartans hung in with the No. 1 team in the country, cutting the deficit to five points later in the half.
But the size of Auburn gave the Spartans trouble, limiting the amount of looks they could get at the basket.
The Spartans were stuck in neutral in the second half, unable to convert on opportunities that would cut into the Auburn lead. Broome left for the locker room to tend with an injury for an extended time in the second half, but the Spartans failed to take advantage.
“Every time we were starting to chip away, they made a big-time bucket,” Spartans redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. said.
MSU senior guard Jaden Akins made a few shots late in the game, but they were not enough for the Spartans to mount the comeback.
The road ends for the Spartans at State Farm Arena, the same spot where the Spartans lost in the Champions Classic in November. At the time, many were questioning the program’s future and there were doubts that the Spartans could reach an Elite Eight, even Izzo thought so.
“Five months ago, I left here saying, ‘well there goes the 26 straight NCAA [Tournament] trips,” Izzo said.
The Spartans will use this loss as motivation to return to these heights in future seasons.
“That this feeling is what drives us, to get in the gym more, shoot more shots, and get better as a player and as a team, so I think all of us can savor this moment and make sure that were never going to feel this again,” Spartans junior forward Jaxon Kohler said.
