Tuesday, January 5
East Lansing, Mich.
9 p.m.
Michigan State University
8-3,2-3Big Ten
68
vs
45
Rutgers
7-3,3-3Big Ten
1
2
F
Rutgers
22
23
45
Michigan St.
28
40
68
No. 23 Michigan State Uses Big Second Half, Tops No. 15 Rutgers 68-45
1/5/2021 11:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – No. 23 Michigan State broke open a close game and used a big second half to pull away from No. 15 Rutgers, beating the Scarlet Knights, 68-45, at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night.
Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds, had four blocks and two steals to lead the Spartans. graduate student Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) finished with 11 points and two assists, while sophomore guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) added 11 points off the bench and redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point) had nine points and 14 rebounds.
Records
Michigan State improved to 8-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten, while Rutgers falls to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
Recap
Michigan State remains at home this week, hosting Purdue on Friday, Jan. 8 at the Breslin Center. The game will air live on FS1 and tips at 7 p.m.
Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds, had four blocks and two steals to lead the Spartans. graduate student Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) finished with 11 points and two assists, while sophomore guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]) added 11 points off the bench and redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point) had nine points and 14 rebounds.
Records
Michigan State improved to 8-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten, while Rutgers falls to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
Recap
- Michigan State led by six points (28-22) at the break and extended the lead to 11 points, 41-30, after a pair of free throws early in the second half.
- Rutgers was able to pull within six points, 36-30, on a layup from Paul Mulcahy, but Henry responded immediately with a jumper, triggering a 25-10 run over a span of 8:54 as the Spartans extended the lead to 21 points, 61-40, on a conventional three-point play from sophomore forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]) with 3:26 left in the game.
- The Spartans took their biggest lead, 65-40, on a three-point play from Hauser with 49 seconds left.
- MSU went into the half with a 28-22 lead despite committing 14 first half turnovers.
- The Spartans had jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead after a 3-pointer from Henry at the 15:34 mark.
- MSU went nearly five minutes without a field goal before Hauser hit a layup at the 10:38 mark, giving MSU a 13-8 lead.
- A floater from Watts gave MSU its biggest lead of the half, 20-12, with 5:30 left.
- Rutgers pulled to within two points, 22-20, after a layup from Mulcahy, but a basket from Hall and a 3-pointer from junior forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) pushed the lead back to 27-20 before the Spartans settled for the 28-22 lead.
- Michigan State out-rebounded Rutgers, 45-25, and collected 37 defensive rebounds.
- After turning the ball over 14 times in the first half, the Spartans committed only four in the second half.
- The Spartans held Rutgers to 30.9 percent shooting from the floor (18-of-59), including just 28.6 percent (10-of-35) in the first half.
- Michigan State connected on 84.2 percent of its free throws (16-of-19), including 10-of-11 (90.9 percent) in the second half.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 11-0, and have won all six meetings played at the Breslin Center.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 10-0 all-time against Rutgers.
- MSU held Rutgers to 30.5 percent shooting from the field, the lowest for an opponent this season.
- The 45 points scored by Rutgers were the fewest by a Big Ten opponent since a 62-44 win over Ohio State on Feb. 17, 2019.
- Aaron Henry scored a game-high 20 points, his second-straight game with at least 20 points and the third 20-plus point game of his career.
- He has scored in double figures in 10-straight games.
- It was the 29th time his career scoring in double figures for Henry and the fourth time in the last five games he has led the team in scoring.
- Joshua Langford scored 11 points, his second-straight game in double figures and the fourth time this season.
- He has scored in double figures 39 times in his career.
- Langford now has 935 career points.
- Rocket Watts scored 11 points, his fifth game in double figures this year, and the 16th time in double figures in his career.
- Joey Hauser scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
- It was the fifth time this season Hauser has collected at least 10 rebounds.
- The Spartans received 23 points from its bench, the 10th time this season with at least 20 points.
Michigan State remains at home this week, hosting Purdue on Friday, Jan. 8 at the Breslin Center. The game will air live on FS1 and tips at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
RU
MSU
FG%
.305
.469
3FG%
.250
.429
FT%
.353
.842
RB
25
45
TO
9
18
STL
13
5
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballF
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/ Men's BasketballG
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