Michigan State Blows Out UCLA Behind Threes, Dominant First Half
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- No. 15 Michigan State left no doubt on which team was better early on in this one.
An extended 31-5 run during the first half for the Spartans separated themselves from UCLA at the Breslin Center on Tuesday night, as MSU cruised from there to a 82-59 victory. The win is a much-needed win for Michigan State, which had lost three of its last four. The Spartans improved to 21-5 overall and 11-4 during Big Ten play, while the Bruins dropped to 17-9 and 9-6, respectively.
Threes rained from the sky for Michigan State in this one. The Spartans ended up making a season-high 14 three-pointers, despite UCLA entering with the top three-point defense in the Big Ten during conference play. Jeremy Fears Jr. led MSU's scoring attack, dropping 16 points (with four made threes) and completing another double-double with 10 assists.
MSU will end up getting four days of rest and preparation for its next game, which is another home game against Ohio State on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
Game Recap
First Half
The offense looked relatively promising to start the game. Michigan State was doing a better job than the start of some other games at protecting the basketball. It also helped that a couple of early threes went down.
MSU was able to build that lead up to double digits a bit before the middle point of the first half on the backs of a 18-0 run and a longer 26-3 spurt, spurring UCLA head coach Mick Cronin to use one of his timeouts. This stretch of basketball was going so well that a missed alley-oop dunk from Coen Carr bounced right to Trey Fort on the perimeter, who knocked down a three instead, making it 27-12.
Nothing was working for the Bruins. They had a 2-on-1 fastbreak that they didn't score on. They tried a 2-3 zone for a possession, but stopped that when MSU's Jordan Scott hit a three. There were shot-clock violations. The scoring drought ended up lasting eight minutes and one second.
Michigan State's lead ballooned up to as high as 24 points (40-16) with a little less than four minutes left to go in the half. The Bruins were able to cut into that lead just a bit in the half's final moments, but were still down by 20 at 43-23, Spartans. Jeremy Fears Jr. continued to lead things for MSU, scoring 11 points (3-for-5 on threes) with five assists.
Second Half
Things hit a bit of a stalemate in the second half, which is good news for the team that began it up by 20. UCLA opened the scoring with a four-point play by Tyler Bilodeau (who scored quite a bit in the second half) but Michigan State had a counter to every bucket the Bruins had.
Then, MSU hit the Bruins with another run. The Spartans went on a 10-0 that opened their lead all the way up to 31. Calling it a "run" would be a little misleading. It was more of a light jog, since UCLA was held without points for more than six minutes across this stretch. People were basically jus going through the motions from that point onwards, besides one flagrant foul committed by UCLA's Spencer Jamerson II, as Michigan State put the finishing touches on a needed victory.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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