Tuesday, February 4
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10 PM
Michigan State University
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UCLA
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Michigan St.
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UCLA
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Photo by: Rich Schmitt
No. 9 Michigan State Rallies, but UCLA Hits Late Shot to Beat the Spartans, 63-61
2/5/2025 1:11:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – No. 9 Michigan State trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before coming back to take the lead but UCLA hit a shot with 7.5 seconds left as the Spartans lost to the Bruins, 63-61, on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Senior guard Jaden Akins scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Spartans, while junior forward Jaxon Kohler added 8 points and 7 rebounds and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Records
Michigan State drops its second-straight game and falls to 18-4 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten Conference, while UCLA improves to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in league play.
Recap
Key Stats
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Saturday, Feb. 9, hosting Oregon (noon, Peacock).
Senior guard Jaden Akins scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Spartans, while junior forward Jaxon Kohler added 8 points and 7 rebounds and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Records
Michigan State drops its second-straight game and falls to 18-4 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten Conference, while UCLA improves to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in league play.
Recap
- After trailing 48-37 with just over 15 minutes left, the Spartans tied the game at 54-all on a pair of free throws from Cooper with 7:09 to play.
- That was the first of four ties and four lead changes over the final minutes of the game, with a layup from Akins at 3:55 giving MSU its last lead at 59-58.
- UCLA's Lazar Stefanovic hit a 3-pointer to give the Bruins a 61-59 lead, but Kohler hit a second-chance layup to tie the game with just over two minutes left.
- The Spartans had a pair of chances in the final minute but could not connect and UCLA's Eric Dailey Jr. hit a jumper with 7.5 seconds left to give the Bruins a 63-61 lead.
- ;Michigan State called a timeout and a 3-point attempt from Akins was just off the mark at the buzzer.
- The Spartans had gone into the break trailing by seven points, 35-28, but a 3-pointer from Dylan Andrews gave the Bruins a 46-35 lead at the 16:44 mark.
- The lead was still 11 points, 48-37, when MSU used a 9-3 run to pull within five points, 51-46, on a dunk from sophomore forward Coen Carr at the 11:12 mark.
- A layup from Akins and Cooper's free throws capped a 17-6 run, tying the game at 54-all and setting up the thrilling finish.
- Michigan State went into the break trailing by seven points, 35-28, shooting just 34.5 percent from the floor and eight turnovers leading to eight points for the Bruins.
- A 3-pointer from Skyy Clark with 1:18 left gave the Bruins a 34-26 lead, capping a 7-0 run and forcing MSU to call a timeout.
- Free throws from Cooper pulled MSU to within seven points on the break.
- After an opening 3-pointer from UCLA on its first possession, the Spartans went on a 12-2 run and took a 12-5 lead on back-to-back baskets from Holloman.
- After trailing 48-37 with just over 15 minutes left, the Spartans tied the game at 54-all on a pair of free throws from Cooper with 7:09 to play.
- That was the first of four ties and four lead changes over the final minutes of the game, with a layup from Akins at 3:55 giving MSU its last lead at 59-58.
- UCLA's Lazar Stefanovic hit a 3-pointer to give the Bruins a 61-59 lead, but Kohler hit a second-chance layup to tie the game with just over two minutes left.
- The Spartans had a pair of chances in the final minute but could not connect and UCLA's Eric Dailey Jr. hit a jumper with 7.5 seconds left to give the Bruins a 63-61 lead.
- ;Michigan State called a timeout and a 3-point attempt from Akins was just off the mark at the buzzer.
- The Spartans had gone into the break trailing by seven points, 35-28, but a 3-pointer from Dylan Andrews gave the Bruins a 46-35 lead at the 16:44 mark.
- The lead was still 11 points, 48-37, when MSU used a 9-3 run to pull within five points, 51-46, on a dunk from sophomore forward Coen Carr at the 11:12 mark.
- A layup from Akins and Cooper's free throws capped a 17-6 run, tying the game at 54-all and setting up the thrilling finish.
- Michigan State went into the break trailing by seven points, 35-28, shooting just 34.5 percent from the floor and eight turnovers leading to eight points for the Bruins.
- A 3-pointer from Skyy Clark with 1:18 left gave the Bruins a 34-26 lead, capping a 7-0 run and forcing MSU to call a timeout.
- Free throws from Cooper pulled MSU to within seven points on the break.
- After an opening 3-pointer from UCLA on its first possession, the Spartans went on a 12-2 run and took a 12-5 lead on back-to-back baskets from Holloman.
Key Stats
- Michigan State committed 16 turnovers and UCLA scored 19 points off of those.
- MSU had a 45-27 advantage in rebounding and collected 14 offensive rebounds but had only 12 second-chance points.
- UCLA limited the MSU fast break to just 9 points.
- The Spartans shot just 37.7 percent from the floor (20-of-53), including 22.7 percent from 3-point land (5-of-22).
- UCLA leads the head-to-head series with Michigan State, 8-4, and the Spartans are 1-4 at UCLA.
- Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo is 2-4 all-time against UCLA.
- Izzo's career record is now 725-299, including a 352-172 record all-time in the Big Ten Conference.
- The loss was the team's second-straight, the first time all year with back-to-back losses.
- Michigan State is now to 5-2 on the road this season.
- Michigan State scored a season-low 61 points and the Spartans are 1-4 when scoring below 70 points.
- MSU has scored fewer than 70 points just four times this season.
- Michigan State is 0-4 when trailing at the half.
- Michigan State held a 45-27 advantage in rebounding, the 19th time holding the edge on the boards.
- The Spartans are 16-3 when controlling the boards.
- MSU connected on 84.2 percent of its free throws (16-of-19), the 14th time hitting at least 80 percent from the line.
- The Spartans received 26 points from the bench, the 21st time in 22 games this season with at least 25 points.
- Jaden Akins scored 15 points, his 12th game in double figures in the last 13 games.
- Akins has scored in double figures 18 times this year and 52 times in his career.
- This was his eighth time leading the team in scoring this year.
- Akins now has 1,076 career points, passing Johnny Green (1956-59) for 50th place all-time at MSU … He needs 6 more points to pass Goran Suton (2005-09) for 49th place.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 6 points, while handing out a game-high 5 assists.
- This was his 14th time this season leading the team in assists.
- Junior forward Jaxon Kohler grabbed a game-high 7 rebounds, leading the team in rebounds for the 11th time this season and the 14th of his career.
Michigan State returns home to the Breslin Center on Saturday, Feb. 9, hosting Oregon (noon, Peacock).
Team Stats
MSU
UCLA
FG%
.377
.350
3FG%
.227
.250
FT%
.842
.737
RB
45
27
TO
16
3
STL
3
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
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