Saturday, February 1
Los Angeles, Calif.
4:30 PM
Michigan State University
18-3,9-1Big Ten
64
at
70
USC
13-8,5-5Big Ten
1
2
F
Michigan St.
32
32
64
Southern California
35
35
70
Photo by: Rich Schmitt
No. 7 Michigan State Falls Short at USC, 70-64
2/1/2025 7:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Michigan State's men's basketball team fell behind by as many as 15 points in the first half and could not recover as the 7th-ranked Spartans lost to Southern California, 70-64, at the Galen Center on Saturday afternoon.
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and handed out 6 assists to lead the Spartans, while senior guard Jaden Akins had 11 points and four rebounds and sophomore forward Coen Carr chipped in nine points and three assists.
Records
Michigan State had a 13-game win streak end and falls to 18-3 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while USC improves to 13-8 overall and 5-5 in league play.
Recap
Key Stats
Up Nex
Michigan State continues its West Coast swing, playing at UCLA on Tuesday, Feb. 4 (10 p.m. ET, Peacock).
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points and handed out 6 assists to lead the Spartans, while senior guard Jaden Akins had 11 points and four rebounds and sophomore forward Coen Carr chipped in nine points and three assists.
Records
Michigan State had a 13-game win streak end and falls to 18-3 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while USC improves to 13-8 overall and 5-5 in league play.
Recap
- The Spartans fell behind early in the first half and rallied to pull within three points, 35-32, at the break but the Trojans quickly pushed the lead back to eight points, 40-32, in the opening minutes and extended it to 10 points, 55-45, on a jumper from Wesley Yates III with 13:24 left.
- Both teams went scoreless for more than two minutes before MSU used a 7-0 run to pull within 55-52 on a 3-pointer from Akins with 8:37 left in the game.
- The Trojans responded with a 10-4 run and extended their lead to 65-56 on a jumper from Desmond Claude with 3:50 left.
- The Spartans pulled to within five points, 66-61, after 1-of-2 free throws from Fears with 1:36 to play and had the ball back with just over a minute left but turned the ball over and a dunk from Yates pushed the lead to seven points, 68-61, with 37 seconds left.
- MSU trailed by as many as 15 points (22-7) in the first half but used a 9-0 run and pulled to within six points, 22-16, on a driving layup from Carr at the 10:18 mark.
- A tip-in dunk from Carr with 5:56 to play pulled the Spartans to within three points, 24-21, and a three-point play from senior center Szymon Zapala got MSU to within two points, 33-31, with 2:08 before the break.
- The Spartans struggled out of the gate, with turnovers on their first two possessions and hitting only one of the first five shots from the field as the Trojans opened an early 11-4 lead.
Key Stats
- Michigan State committed 13 turnovers, including seven in the first half and USC scored 12 points off those turnovers.
- The Spartans out-rebounded the Trojans, 34-33, but USC had 10 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points.
- The Spartans shot a season-low 57.9 percent from the free throw line (11-of-19).
- The head-to-head series between the teams is tied at 4 wins apiece.
- Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo is 2-1 all-time against USC.
- Izzo's career record is now 725-298, including a 352-171 record all-time in the Big Ten Conference.
- The loss ended a 13-game win streak for the Spartans, the longest win streak since 2018-19.
- Michigan State suffered its first road loss of the season, falling to 5-1 away from home.
- Michigan State scored 64 points, its second-lowest output this year, and the Spartans are 1-3 when scoring below 70 points.
- MSU has scored fewer than 70 points just four times this season.
- Michigan State is 0-3 when trailing at the half.
- Michigan State held a 34-33 advantage in rebounding, the 18th time holding the edge on the boards.
- The Spartans are 16-2 when controlling the boards.
- Michigan State hit just 57.9 percent of its free throws (11-of-19), the lowest of the season and just the third time this season the team shot below 75.0 percent.
- The Spartans received 30 points from the bench, the 18th time in 21 games this season with at least 30 points.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. scored a team-high 12 points, his seventh game in double figures this season, while handing out a team-best 6 assists.
- It was his first time leading the team in scoring this year and he is the ninth different player to lead MSU in scoring this year.
- This was his 13th time this season leading the team in assists.
- Jaden Akins scored 11 points, his 11th game in double figures in the last 12 games.
- Akins now has 1,061 career points, passing Marcus Sanders (1962-65) for 53rd place all-time, while also moving past Miles Bridges and Earvin Johnson for 51st place … He needs two more points to pass Johnny Green (1956-59) for 50th place.
- Junior forward Jaxon Kohler grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds, leading the team in rebounds for the 10th time this season and the 13th of his career.
Up Nex
Michigan State continues its West Coast swing, playing at UCLA on Tuesday, Feb. 4 (10 p.m. ET, Peacock).
Team Stats
MSU
USC
FG%
.421
.421
3FG%
.333
.318
FT%
.579
.789
RB
34
33
TO
13
11
STL
5
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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