MSU Can't Complete Colossal Comeback against UConn in Sweet 16
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The clock has surpassed midnight in multiple ways for Michigan State.
The third-seeded Spartans overcame a 19-point deficit at one point, but they didn't have enough juice towards the end in a 67-63 loss to 2-seed UConn in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday night (and a bit of Saturday morning).
Early Blitz from UConn
The first 10 minutes or so of this game is peak burn-the-tape material for MSU. Things seemed to start out fine: Jaxon Kohler got an easy look on the game’s opening possession. Not long after that, Jeremy Fears Jr. hit an off-the-dribble mid-range shot that gave the Spartans a 4-3 lead.
What followed after that was the most horrific eight minutes or so of the season for the Spartans. Connecticut rattled off a 22-2 run, blasting the game open and jumping out by 19 points at the midway point of the first half. That mid-range shot from Fears was followed by a field goal drought of 8 minutes and 47 seconds of game time.
To Michigan State’s credit, it had a response. The Spartans outscored the Huskies 21-10 across the final 10 minutes, with MSU netting separate runs of 6-0 and 7-0.
That brought UConn’s massive lead down to eight at halftime, putting Michigan State back within realistic striking distance.
Fast Start out of Locker Room
The start of the second half was much better. MSU had already pulled itself back into the game with the end of its first half, but this thing really got interesting after the Spartans rattled off the first seven points of the final half to pull within one.
Coen Carr actually had the chance to tie the game up at 35-35 with an and-1 free throw, but he missed. UConn then scored the next five points to suddenly go back up by six at 40-34.
Michigan State responded to that, too. An 11-4 spurt suddenly had the Spartans out ahead for the very first time since it was 4-3 on the early jumper from Fears.
What remained to be seen, though, was whether MSU had expended all of its reserves in an effort to get back in the game. The flow of the game at the second half's under-8 timeout was not unlike the first game against Michigan, when the Wolverines jumped out way ahead, but with Michigan State fighting back to briefly take a second-half lead, but running out of gas down the stretch.
The Home Stretch
Michigan State trailed by three with a little more than three minutes to go at the final media timeout. The clock struck midnight in the nation's capital a few real-world minutes later with the Spartans down by one.
Both teams then traded threes, one for UConn's Alex Karaban, one from Fears. The Huskies made the lead three in the final minutes with a massive 2-for-2 trip from Tarris Reed Jr., a 59% foul shooter. Fears then got those two back at the line with 32.3 seconds to go. Karaban, an 85% shooter, came through again for UConn at the line with two free throws with 22.5 left.
MSU then bled almost all of the remaining clock. Kur Teng chucked up a three with about six seconds left to tie, but that glanced off, but Carson Cooper was fouled with 4.6 seconds to go. He made the first, but missed the second.
Fears could only foul Reed with 4.0 seconds left. Reed cooly made both free throws yet again, effectively ending the game.
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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