Michigan State basketball pulls away in second half for 72-62 win ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tom Izzo preached the little things all week as the difference between Michigan State basketball advancing in the NCAA tournament or taking a quick trip home.

A.J. Hoggard listened and responded. So did unlikely hero Carson Cooper.

The seventh-seeded Spartans went on a 28-13 run midway through the second half and turned up their defense to hold 10th-seeded Southern California scoreless for more than five minutes en route to a 72-62 victory Friday at Nationwide Arena.

"We got our mojo back," said Izzo, who improved to 19-6 in the first game of the NCAAs while making his Division I record 25th straight NCAA tournament at one school. "We talked about it for two or three weeks. But no secret that I haven't been pleased with our defense. And I'd say 32 or (33) minutes, I thought it was exceptional."

Joey Hauser scored 17 points with four 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds, while Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins combined for 35 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to lead MSU (20-12) on to Sunday’s second round.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:Reaction to MSU's romp over USC: 'We got our mojo back'

"I don't think anybody wants to go home yet," said senior Malik Hall, who had six points, four rebounds and two steals, "so we're making sure we're doing the best we possibly can to make that doesn't happen."

The Spartans will face the winner of Friday’s second game between No. 2 seed Marquette and No. 15 Vermont. Tipoff time and TV network will be announced once Friday’s games are completed.

Cooper played a pivotal role off the bench with six points and four rebounds in 13 minutes that helped correct MSU’s problems with the Trojans’ interior game and pick-and-roll that caused problems in the first half.

Boogie Ellis, USC's leading scorer this season, had just six points on 3 of 12 shooting as the Trojans shot 34.4% in the second half. Drew Peterson had 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting. Joshua Morgan scored 14 points, while Reese Dixon-Waters added 10 points and four boards for the Trojans (22-13).

"They did a good job," Ellis said of MSU's defense, which held him well under his season average of 18 points. "I let my teammates down today. I didn't make shots, and they made things tough for me. Just team defense - jumping to the ball, being on all the gaps."

The Spartans came out with a strong interior presence early, with Mady Sissoko opening the scoring with a dunk and blocking a shot to set up a Hauser 3-pointer. Then Walker and Akins attacked the basket, and MSU went up 9-4 early.

SPLASH:When Joey Hauser shoots for MSU, we know it's going in. He does too.

The defensive pressure aided the Spartans, limiting the Trojans to a 5-for-15 start while getting another Hauser 3-pointer and Sissoko dunk off a Hoggard bounce pass to extend the lead to 11, 24-13, with 9:08 to go.

The rest of the half belonged to USC. And much like the season, MSU’s defense went from good to bad at the end of the half.

With the shots not falling outside, the Trojans used Peterson and Ellis more as passers in ball-screen actions, over and over to get easy interior looks. Morgan scored eight of his 10 first-half points in the final 6:22 as Peterson and Ellis combined for eight assists and nine points on 3-for-10 shooting. Their passing coupled with the Spartans' inability from Sissoko, Hauser and Jaxon Kohler to stick with post scorers allowed the Trojans to take a one-point lead with 1:43 left in the half on a Kobe Johnson 3-pointer.

"They hurt us on some ball screen slips," Izzo said. "And I think we got a little tired with our bigs there for a stretch."

USC closed the half on a 21-10 spurt in the final nine-plus minutes, but Hoggard refused to let the Trojans overtake MSU. He attacked the paint and hit a pair of layups in the final minute as the teams went to halftime tied, 34-34.

Hauser had all eight of his first-half points in the first 10:16 and went scoreless the rest of the half. Walker had six points in the period but none the last 11:18.

It was Hoggard who refused to let the Trojans overtake MSU, attacking the paint and scoring a pair of layups in the final minute as the teams went to halftime tied 34-34.

The Spartans’ interior defense returned in the second half, largely due to Cooper. The 6-11 freshman, who was a late-added recruit in the spring, made things difficult for Morgan and the Trojans who attempted to get downhill into the paint.

Hauser hit a 3-pointer to spark an 11-2 run, with Cooper getting involved on offense — first with a dunk off a Walker dish on the pick-and-roll and then a follow-jam after Walker’s missed layup. Those two put MSU up 49-40 and prompted USC coach Andy Enfield to call timeout with 13:43 to play.

"My motivation was crazy after those, and my confidence was through the roof," said Cooper, who finished a plus-13. "So I think it got me to play a lot harder."

Yet USC didn’t go away, continuing to chip at the lead and not letting the Spartans pull away until going cold.

It coincided with the Spartans starting to have their way on offense, attacking the basket and getting to the line and then using good ball movement out of it to get 3-pointers from Hauser and Akins. The Spartans went on a 15-4 run to pull back in front, 66-51, with 4:23 to play. They held USC scoreless for a 5:01 stretch, in which the Trojans missed seven shots.

"To win a game like this," Enfield said, "they hit a couple of big 3s on the perimeter, and we missed some."

USC got back within nine, and the Spartans missed three straight one-and-one free throws — two by Hoggard, one by Sissoko — before Hauser split a pair and then made two more with 55.9 left to punch MSU’s ticket to the second round for the second straight season.

"We all gotta look in the mirror and say, 'Are we doing the things that we need to do to really compete at this level and compete during this time of year?'" Izzo said. "And it was rewarding to hear the guys at halftime talking about we've got to get back our defense. We were really good for a lot of the first (half). It was rewarding in the huddles at the end to hear them talking about the defense.

"I think they understand that in this tournament, it's hard to make a bunch of 3s and win on a consistent basis. So if you're looking to win some games instead of a game, you better bring your defense."

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

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