No. 12 Michigan State Falls to No. 18 Alabama, 81-70, in Phil Knight Invitational

PORTLAND, Ore. – Michigan State's men's basketball led for a large portion of the first half but fell behind by five at the break and could not catch Alabama in the second half en route to an 81-70 loss at the Moda Center in the first round of the Phil Knight Invitational on Thursday night.

Senior guard Tyson Walker led the way for the Spartans with 21 points, four assists and three rebounds, while junior guard A.J. Hoggard finished with 18 points and four rebounds and graduate forward Joey Hauser finished with nine points and five rebounds.

Records
Michigan State falls to 3-2 overall, while Alabama improves to 5-0.

Recap

Michigan State trailed by five points (42-37) at the break, but Alabama used a 15-3 run to take an 18-point lead, 67-49, on a 3-pointer from Nimari Burnett with 9:17 to play in the game.
The Spartans, playing without senior forward Malik Hall and sophomore guard Jaden Akins, did not quit and pulled to within nine points, 72-63, on a jumper from Hoggard with 4:02 left in the game.
A pair of 3-pointers from Hoggard in the final two minutes got MSU as close as 78-70 with 1:41 remaining, but the Crimson Tide would hit four free throws to push the lead back to 11 points (81-70) to close out the scoring.
Alabama had jumped out to an early 8-2 lead following a layup from Noah Gurley in the opening minutes of the game, but the Spartans worked back into it and tied the game at 10-all after a layup from freshman forward Jaxon Kohler at the 12:23 mark.
Trailing 15-14 with 11:03 on the block, the Spartans used a 9-2 run to take a 23-17 lead on a jumper from freshman guard Tre Holloman with 7:43 left.
The Spartans took their biggest lead of the game, 28-21, on a hook shot from Kohler with 5:41 to play.
MSU led by five points, 30-25, following a jumper from Walker with 4:42 left before the half, but Alabama's Brandon Miller scored six-straight points as the Crimson Tide took a 31-30 lead.
A Walker jumper tied the game at 37-all, but Noah Clowney hit free throws with 33 seconds left and Miller hit a trey with three seconds left to give Alabama a 42-37 lead.

Key Stats

The Spartans shot just 38.7 percent from the floor (24-of-62), including 33.3 percent (11-of-33) in the second half.
Alabama entered the game leading the country in rebounding, but Michigan State finished with a 42-40 advantage on the boards
MSU finished the game shooting 72.0 percent from the free throw line (18-of-25), but missed four front-end shots of one-and-one situations.
Michigan State committed just 11 turnovers, but Alabama scored 18 points off those turnovers, including 12 points off seven first half errors.

Notes

Alabama now leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 2-1.
Michigan State has an all-time record of 43-28 record against teams from the Southeastern Conference … Head Coach Tom Izzo is 21-7 against teams from the SEC.
MSU finished the game shooting 72.0 percent from the free throw line (18-of-25), but missed four front-end
Senior guard Tyson Walker scored a team-high 21 points, his fourth-straight game in double figures and the 50th game of his career in double figures.
It was his second game with at least 20 points this season and the 13th of his career.
Junior guard A.J. Hoggard scored 18 points, his third game in double figures this year and the 14th of his career.

Up Next
Michigan State will play Oregon on Friday, Nov. 25 in the second round of the Phil Knight Invitational (midnight ET).

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Team Stats

Tyson Walker

A.J. Hoggard

Joey Hauser

Jaxon Kohler