No. 9 Michigan State Falls Short at No. 13 Nebraska, 58-56

LINCOLN, Neb. – No. 9 Michigan State had a 3-point lead late in the game and a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but fell short in a 58-56 loss to No. 13 Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday night.

Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had his fifth-straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead three players in double figures.

Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 14 points and seven assists and sophomore guard Kur Teng added 12 points and five rebounds.

Records
Michigan State falls to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference, while Nebraska improves to 14-0 overall and 3-0 in league play.

Recap

Michigan State had taken a 55-52 lead with 4:41 to play on a jumper from Fears but Nebraska tied the game after two free throws from Sam Hoiberg and one from Rienk Mast.
Mast followed with a 3-pointer with 1:54 to play before senior center Carson Cooper hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:19 left.
The teams traded possessions in the final minute before Cooper was fouled with less than a second on the clock and he missed the first and intentionally missed the second as Nebraska hung on for the win.
The game was tied at the half and the teams exchanged the lead six times over the opening five minutes of the second half.
A layup from Cooper (15:22) gave MSU a 38-37 lead but the Huskers went on a 10-0 run over 4:56, taking a 47-38 lead on a 3-pointer from Braden Frager with 9:31 to play.
Trailing 50-44 after a Frager 3-pointer with 8:28 left, the Spartans tied the game with back-to-back treys from Kohler and Teng, the latter with 7:50 left.
That triggered an 11-2 MSU run over 3:37 as the Spartans took a 55-52 lead on the jumper from Fears with 4:41 to play, setting up the wild finish.
The first half was just as dogged, with seven lead changes and eight ties.
MSU took its biggest lead, 14-10, on a jumper from Fears near the mid-point (10:08) of the opening half before Mast hit a 3-pointer – the last of his five in the first half – as Nebraska took a 28-22 lead with 4:10 to play.
The Spartans used an 8-0 run to take a 33-31 lead on free throws from Fears with 1:49 to play before going into the break tied at 33-all.

Key Stats

Michigan State turned the ball over a season-high 19 times.
The Spartans scored a season-low 56 points.
MSU connected on just 34.0 percent of its field goals (17-fo-50).
The Spartans had a 45-31 edge in rebounding and collected 11 offensive rebounds but scored just nine second-chance points.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 24-11.
- The Spartans are 9-8 all-time on the road in the series and have lost the last two games played at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is now 16-5 all-time vs. Nebraska.
Izzo's career record is now 749-304 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
The Spartans have an all-time record of 170-42 under Izzo in December.
Michigan State scored a season-low 56 points.
- The 56 points were the fewest scored by MSU since March 6, 2024 in a 53-49 win over Northwestern at the Breslin Center.
MSU is 1-1 on the road and this was just the third game all season when the Spartans had not led at the half.
The Spartans shot just 34.0 percent from the floor, the second-lowest output all season and just the second time this season shooting below 40 percent.
- This was the first time all season MSU out-shot its opponent (34.0 percent for MSU to 31.6 percent for Nebraska) and lost.
The Spartans hit a season-low 17 field goals and took just 50 shots, the second-lowest all season.
MSU controlled the battle of the boards (45-31) for the 12th time this season.
- The Spartans are 12-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
- The Spartans collected 11 offensive rebounds, the 13th game with at least 10 on the offensive glass, but scored only nine second-chance points.
Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 14 points and handed out a game-high seven assists.
- He has scored in double figures eight times this year and 20 for his career.
- Fears has 12 games this season with at least seven assists.
- He has led the team in assists 13 times this year and 35 for his career.
Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
- This was his ninth double-double of the season and his fifth-straight.
- Kohler is the first MSU player to have at least 10 rebounds in five-straight games since Xavier Tillman Sr. had six-straight games with at least 10 in 2019-20 (14 at Wisconsin, 2/1/20; 11 vs. Penn State, 2/4/20; 12 at Michigan, 2/8/20: 11 at Illinois, 2/11/20: 11 vs. Maryland, 2/15/20 and 11 at Nebraska, 2/20/20).
- Kohler has nine games this year with at least 10 rebounds and 21 for his career.
- He has scored in double figures 14 times this year and 26 for his career.
Carson Cooper grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
- This was his second game with at least 10 boards this year and the fifth of his career.
- He has led the team in rebounding four times this year and 20 for his career.
Kur Teng scored 12 points, his sixth game in double figures this year and for his career.
- He grabbed a career-high five rebounds.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home for the first of three games at the Breslin Center, hosting Southern California on Monday, Jan. 5 (8:30 p.m., FS1).

No. 9 Michigan State Falls Short at No. 13 Nebraska, 58-56

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