Michigan State basketball falls to North Carolina in NCAA tournament, 85-69
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the end, all of the problems Michigan State basketball experienced since November proved too much to overcome Saturday.
Blowing another big lead, this one 12 points in the first half.
Getting inconsistent play from its guards, with A.J. Hoggard and Jaden Akins reverting into their struggling selves after a dynamite NCAA tournament debut Thursday.
Failing to stop another talented post player, with North Carolina’s Armando Bacot getting whatever he wanted in the paint.
Watching as all the luck went to the opponent. (Albeit with a little help from essentially a UNC home crowd seemingly willing a banked-in 3-pointer to fall and any shot spinning around the rim to drop through.)
This time, it means the Spartans are heading home after a season filled with failed potential and unmet expectations they placed upon themselves.
The Tar Heels rallied from an early deficit, withstood No. 9 seed MSU’s comeback attempt and then pulled away to an 85-69 victory. That eliminated the Spartans (20-15) from the second round of the NCAA tournament with their largest margin of defeat of the season (16 points) and ended the careers of Tyson Walker and Malik Hall, and potentially others.
"It was kind of a microcosm of the year," Izzo said in the hallway outside of MSU's locker room.
No. 1 seed North Carolina (29-7) advances to the Sweet 16 of the West Region on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Tar Heels will face the winner of Sunday’s second-round game in Spokane, Washington, between 4-seed Alabama and 12-seed Grand Canyon (7:10 p.m./TBS)
Walker ended his three seasons at MSU with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting, crying after going to the bench in the waning seconds, while Hall’s career came to a close with a 17-point, nine-rebound effort.
"Been in college for a little while, so it's going to be weird. No more practice, no more games," Walker said. "But we played well in the beginning, just didn't execute, and they did. They made big plays. We didn't.
"For the underclassmen, it will be something for them to learn, just how the game goes. You can't have big mistakes, and the game is fragile."
Hoggard struggled all game, going 1-for-10 for just three points with four assists, three turnovers and three shots blocked on driving layup attempts. Akins scored 11 points and fouled out while making just four of 12 shots. The Spartans were just 6-for-16 from 3-point range.
"I think we definitely thought we had a chance" to make a deep NCAA run, Hoggard said. "We just didn't finish how we thought we would."
RJ Davis had 20 points for UNC on 7-for-15 shooting. Bacot added 18 points and seven rebounds, making eight of 10 free throws. And the Spartans had no answer for Harrison Ingram, who scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers as the Tar Heels finished 10-for-26 from deep and shot 46.7% overall.
It ends the careers of Walker, Hall and MSU coach Tom Izzo’s walk-on son, Steven. Fourth-year seniors Hoggard and forward Mady Sissoko (four points, three rebounds) have one year of eligibility remaining, as does walk-on Davis Smith.
Tom Izzo falls to 3-10 all-time against UNC and 0-5 in the NCAA tournament against the Tar Heels. The Spartans are now 4-13 all-time and 0-6 in the NCAAs against UNC.
Hot start turns sour
With a decidedly Carolina blue-clad crowd making its voice heard immediately, the Spartans made their presence felt on the court with a big-time first punch.
Sissoko came off the bench and delivered a pair of deep-paint buckets and three rebounds. That sparked MSU on a dominating 20-9 run in which the defense bottled up UNC’s Bacot and Davis and silenced the Tar Heels’ crowd at almost every turn.
Hoggard drained a 3-pointer that made it 17-7 with 12:46 to go, but UNC found some mojo with a Davis 3-pointer over Walker and a Jalen Washington jumper. That got the Heels fans going, but the Spartans quickly ripped off eight straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Walker. His second, off a poke-away by Hoggard, that Walker caught in rhythm and pulled up on the break, made it 26-14 MSU with 9:37 to play.
That’s when everything shifted.
UNC, which was 6-for-18 over the first 8:51, got hot on offense as MSU struggled to close out. A three-point play by Elliot Cadeau started a 26-5 closeout before halftime. Ingram hit a 3-pointer with 7:56 that started a 20-0 burst in which the Tar Heels overtook the lead. Bacot began dominating inside against Carson Cooper, Ingram rattled in another 3-pointer, and Davis and Ryan each drilled another. It was 37-29 UNC with 2:01 to play.
"They punched first. Their physicality, their will, their want to, the first 10 minutes of the game just overwhelmed us," UNC coach Hubert Davis said of the Spartans. "They were catching the ball wherever they wanted to, close to the basket on the block. They were getting layups, second-chance opportunities. Defensively they were pushing us off our screens, our spots. They were just playing better than us.
"We came into the huddle and said, 'Look, we can't talk about any basketball stuff until we join the fight.' Once that started, the level of play in terms of the energy and effort, the attention to detail rose. Then that's when things started to change."
The Spartans went 11-for-17 with Hall’s layup with 8:08 before halftime. They went 1-for-8 the rest of the way, including a 6:21 stretch between Hall’s bucket and Jaden Akins’ elbow jumper with 1:44 to go before the break.
Hoggard lost Ingram with 7 seconds to go before half for another 3-pointer. Then as MSU pushed the ball up court, Hoggard got doubled, tried to force a bounce pass to Sissoko that he bobbled as time expired. Hall, who was open trailing on the right wing, called for the ball and didn’t get it.
Instead, Hoggard started yapping at his fellow senior teammate. Izzo had to step in as they walked back to the locker room, trailing 40-31.
Walker had just one free throw after his start, splitting a pair with 2:17 to go before the break, and had 12 points at halftime. Hall had seven points and five rebounds as the Spartans had an 18-12 rebounding advantage. They shot 48% overall and were 3-for-7 from deep.
Bacot had 11 points, including 7-for-8 at the free-throw line after drawing four MSU fouls. Davis, after a slow start, had 10 points at the break. Ingram hit all three of his 3-point attempts for nine points. The Tar Heels benefitted from 11 points off six Spartan turnovers, and MSU was only able to force two UNC giveaways but scored five points off them.
Can't overcome the slump
Hoggard came out of halftime and immediately missed a pair of shots on the Spartans’ first possession of the second half, a pull-up jumper and a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound. That led to a 3-pointer by Ryan at the other end that extended UNC’s lead to 12 just 53 seconds into the half.
But as it has done all season against elite competition, MSU put together another comeback and wouldn’t go away.
Akins drilled a pair of 3-pointers after Ingram’s fourth triple in four attempts. Then the junior guard attacked in transition on a push-ahead pass from Tre Holloman and converted through contact. Akins’ three-point play cut the deficit to 48-46 with 15:58 to play.
UNC remained unfazed. Ingram continued his attacking with a fadeaway over Hall in the paint, and Davis followed with a floater. A Bacot free throw and baseline jumper, with a Walker steal and layup between for MSU, pushed it back to a seven-point Tar Heels cushion.
Xavier Booker hit a 3-pointer off a Hoggard assist, and MSU stayed within two possessions as Hall hit a pair of free throws and a jumper from the wing. It was 60-55 with 8:52 to play.
That’s when Davis launched a long 3-pointer from the top of the key. It smacked off the backboard and fell through. Izzo turned around on the sideline and smacked the scorer’s table with two hands. It was more of the momentum-swinging luck that seemed to curse the Spartans all season.
"It's never a good omen when a shot banks in at the end of the shot clock," Izzo said, "and it happened a couple times this year."
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball falls to UNC in NCAA tournament, 85-69
