Huskies Go 0-for-Michigan on Homestand

The UW falls behind early to Michigan State and can't keep up.

Michigan State's Kur Teng bowls over the UW's JJ Mandaquit on his way to the basket. | Dave Sizer photo

In two games over three days at Alaska Airlines Arena, the only thing that was different was the second visiting team showed up with "State" at the end of its name.

Michigan State or Michigan, it just didn't matter.

This was another upper-bracket Big Ten entry and Tom Izzo's Spartans simply walked in, beat the Huskies to a lot of loose balls and rebounds, and dished out an 80-63 defeat on Saturday afternoon in the prelude to the NFL playoff town across town.

It took 12th-ranked Michigan State (16-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) all of six minutes to assume control, doing it exactly the way the conference's elite teams do this.

Tied at 13, the Spartans inserted a sub named Kur Teng, who immediately dropped in a pair of 3-pointers to create some separation. They never looked back.

Zoom Diallo had his own following in the Dawg Pack. | Dave Sizer photo

Meantime, the Huskies (10-8, 2-5) missed 10 of their first 11 shots behind the line with no one, starter or sub, able to lock in with a Michigan State hand in his face.

The Spartans' Jeremy Fears Jr. led all scorers with 19 points, while Zoom Diallo topped the Huskies with 18. UW freshman Hannes Steinbach supplied 17 points and 9 rebounds.

Sprinkle's guys didn't play all that badly. They were just nowhere near as talented or as motivated to succeed as this deep, Izzo-coached team, which used 11 players in the opening half.

Franck Kepnang and Bryson Tucker keep their eye on the ball. | Dave Sizer photo

Nine of these Spartans scored by halftime, wearing down their hosts in the process.

The 6-foot-5 Tur, a reserve guard from Manchester, New Hampshire, of all places, led his guys with 8 of his 11 points while Michigan went in at the break leading 39-31.

The pace of play by the Big Ten's best is just foreign to a team such as the Huskies, with Michigan State getting up the floor in a hurry and looking for someone, anyone, to shoot it.

Typically, the UW had to get into their offense, move the ball around the key and the settle for a 3 that wasn't going to drop.

To their credit, the Huskies didn't fold up while taking on a storied program known for Izzo, Magic Johnson and multiple national championships.

Hannes Steinbach and Zoom Diallo double up on Michigan State's Jaxon Kohler. | Dave Sizer photo

Seven minutes into the second half, they pulled within 48-43 when JJ Mandaquit hit one of two free throws.

However, Michigan State's Fears, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Joliet, Illinois, took over. He dropped in eight consecutive points, on four free throws and a pair of bank shots, without an answer from Sprinkle's guys and the home team was done.

Franck Kepnang shows off his reach as he drops this shot in. | Dave Sizer photo

The Huskies, after beating only Ohio State on their three-game homestand, now head for a Wednesday night game at Nebraska. Buckle up.

It might as well be another team named Michigan -- the eighth-ranked Cornhuskers are 18-0.

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