Michigan State Basketball: Heart-Stopping Win Over No. 22 UConn

Michigan State Basketball

For the second day running, Michigan State Basketball was saved thanks to some players who delivered at the later stages. The Spartans showed tenacity and toughness in the critical moments of the game for the 2nd straight day.

Hoggard scored the go-ahead free throws with barely half a minute left as Michigan State caged the final 9 points to nose past No. 22 Connecticut by 64 to 60 in the semi-finals on Thursday. Michigan State basketball thereby earned a trip to the championship game on Friday.

Michigan State Basketball Team Layed Stress On Making Winning Plays

Michigan State basketball’s Malik Hall said that coach Tom Izzo had stressed making the winning plays from the very beginning. Hall had 2 free throws and a big late steal. It was something that Tom had been talking about for the past 2 days, Hall said.

It was another tense end for both teams as their 1st round games had some intense moments at the very end. The Michigan State basketball team had enough to snatch the momentum and the Huskies were up 60-55 with 101 seconds remaining.

In the final 3 minutes, the Michigan State team held the Huskies to 1-for-9 shooting for the final 3 minutes. Tyson Walker hit a free throw that was a clincher with 2.5 seconds remaining on the board. The moment sparked off waves as the Michigan State team rushed into the tunnel with waving arms to celebrate with their fans behind the bench.

The Michigan State basketball team’s leading scorer was Gabe Brown who led the score. He contributed 16 points. Adama Sonogo scored 18 alone for the Huskies.

Dan Hurley, UConn’s coach, said that the team made mistakes in execution towards the end. The loss wasn’t for lack of trying as the guys gave their best. He said that they made mistakes while the Michigan State basketball team did not.