MSU Lays Flat in Loss at Minnesota, Takes Second Straight Loss
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Michigan State played as poorly as it has ever played all seeason.
The 10th-ranked Spartans got embarrassed on Wednesday night at Minnesota, looking flat nearly the whole way in a 76-73 loss. They never led once the entire game, in fact, and the score is not really indicative of how this game went. Minnesota was the much better team. This is suddenly MSU's second consecutive loss, snapping the Golden Gophers' seven-game losing streak and the Spartans' 21-game win streak against unranked opponents.
Offense was poor. Defense was poor. It all added up, pretty clearly, to Michigan State falling to 19-4 overall and 9-3 during Big Ten play. Minnesota is a team that's better than its record, but the Golden Gophers only went to 11-12 and 4-8, respectively.
It only gets more difficult for MSU from here. The Spartans host fifth-ranked Illinois on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, FOX) in East Lansing. Pretty brutal time for a two-day prep.
First Half
The start was ugly once again for Michigan State. MSU started its game poorly last Friday against then-No. 3 Michigan, going down 15-5 to start the game. The Spartans did the exact same thing here in this one, with Minnesota splashing a few threes while Michigan State kept settling for jumpers that found iron instead of nylon. MSU also turned it over several times.
MSU's offense was sputtering for most of the first half, only scoring 21 points on 33% shoting from the field. Shots just weren't falling, which was partially a credit to the Golden Gophers' defense for usually contesting them relatively well. But Coen Carr just straight up missed an open layup once --- the issue seemed to be a lack of shot-making, rather than Minnesota doing so much well on defense.
Threes kept falling for the Gophers, with one dropping with 23 seconds to go in the first half to extend Minnesota's advantage to 11. The Golden Gophers only make 8.0 of them per game, but the home team ended up drilling seven of them on 14 attempts during the first half. Michigan State, on the other hand, was just 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.
No Spartan had more than five points at halftime. Actually, the only MSU player with five was Cam Ward. Everybody else had three points or fewer, as Minnesota entered the break with a 32-21 lead.
Second Half
Michigan State's offense looked a lot stronger early on in the second half, scoring 12 points in the first four minutes. It didn't help much, because the Golden Gophers kept knocking down a couple more threes to keep their lead at 10 at the first media timeout.
Jordan Scott was the one who provided the spark for the Spartans, scoring eight of his points during the early portions of the second half. That helped MSU get back into the contest, drawing within five.
Right when it seemed Michigan State was gathering some momentum, Jeremy Fears Jr. made, to put it nicely, a big mistake. Officials took a look at him backwards-kicking a Minnesota player in the midsection. Fears was fortunate to only get a deadball technical foul and not to get ejected from the game. The play is especially amplified after Michigan head coach Dusty May said Fears made some "very dangerous" plays during the two teams' meeting this past Friday.
Michigan State was only down by five when Fears made that play. Minnesota began to run away with it, leading by as much as 16 with four minutes to go. MSU put up a last-ditch comeback attempt that brought itself within two in the final minute, partially because of several mistakes by the Golden Gophers, but it didn't have enough. The ditch it dug was too deep.
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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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