No. 7 Spartans Unable to Climb Back Against Trojans, Handed First Loss Since November

No. 7 Michigan State's month of February started off on a sour note on Saturday, as the Spartans fell 70-64 to USC at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Michigan State never led the contest, occasionally coming within a possession, but ultimately, the Trojans controlled it all the way through.

There were a couple of factors that could have made the difference in this meeting, most glaringly, Michigan State's 13 turnovers, along with its 11-of-19 efficiency from the charity stripe. But ultimately, the Trojans just had the better performance.

Only two players finished in double figures in the scoring column for the Green and White, as redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12, while senior guard Jaden Akins recorded 11.

Meanwhile, USC junior guard Desmond Claude, redshirt freshman guard Wesley Yates III and graduate guard Chibuzo Agbo led the Trojans with 19, 15 and 14, respectively.

The Spartans went down 6-0 early, partly due to back-to-back turnovers on their first two possessions. They would eventually find themselves in a 13-4 hole.

Michigan State showed signs of life when freshman guard Jase Richardson drained a 3 to make it 13-7 with just under 5-and-a-half minutes gone.

But trouble continued to pursue for the Spartans, as a 9-0 run by USC would give the Trojans a 15-point lead, their largest of the contest, with just under 13 minutes to go in the half.

But Michigan State answered with a 9-0 run of its own, one that included a momentous converted and-1 from senior forward Frankie Fidler.

The Spartans trimmed USC's lead to as little as 3, but the Trojans kept punching, holding off the determined Spartans.

Michigan State was finally able to make it just a 2-point contest late in the half when senior center Szymon Zapala converted an and-1 after being fouled on an alley-oop jam, the lob having been thrown by Fears.

The Spartans would trail by just 3 points at the break.

USC came out with a strong start to the second half, stringing together 5 straight points to go up 8. The Spartans would find their fight again, eventually climbing back to within 3 with a triple from Fears with just over 4-and-a-half minutes elapsed in the half.

But USC was just as resilient, eventually extending its lead back to 10 with just under 13-and-a-half minutes to play.

The Spartans then put together a 7-0 run, capped off by a corner 3-pointer from Akins, which cut the lead back down to just 3 with 8:37 remaining.

The Trojans continued to hold off the visitors, though, eventually pushing their lead back up to as many as 9 with less than 4 minutes remaining.

Michigan State would find itself down 66-61 with a chance to make it a one-possession game in the final minute. But a costly shot clock violation by Akins would all but seal the deal for USC, which hung on for the upset victory at home.

The Spartans will look to bounce back with another matchup in Los Angeles on Tuesday, this time against a hot UCLA team that has won five straight.

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