Richardson Scores Career-High 20 Points, No. 8 Michigan State ...

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• MSU 81, Rutgers 74
• MIchigan State 81, Rutgers 74

NEW YORK CITY – Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored a career-high 20 points and three players scored in double figures as No. 8 Michigan State won its 12th-straight game, beating Rutgers, 81-74, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.

Richardson hit 6-of-9 shots from the floor, tying a career-best with three 3-pointers, while adding four rebounds and one assist as 10 different players scored for the Spartans.

Sophomore forward Coen Carr scored 14 points and tied his career-high with 8 rebounds and senior guard Jaden Akins finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Junior guard Tre Holloman scored 9 points and handed out a game-high 6 assists.

Records Michigan State, winners of 12-straight games, improves to 17-2 overall and 8-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Rutgers falls to 10-10 overall and 3-6 in league play.

Recap

• Michigan State led by three points, 35-32, at halftime and held the advantage through the early goings of the second half, extending their advantage of eight points, 47-39, on a hook shot from junior center Carson Cooper with 13:34 left in the game.
• The Scarlet Knights pulled to within four points, 47-43, on a jumper from Lathan Sommerville and the Spartans responded with a 14-5 run over 4:35, taking a 61-48 lead when Holloman fed Richardson for a 3-pointer with 7:57 to play.
• MSU still led by 12 points, 66-54, after a layup from senior center Szymon Zapala with 3:41 left and a driving layup from Richardson with 2:28 left made it 69-56.
• Rutgers hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minutes to get as close as seven points twice, the latter at 65-58 with 49 seconds left, but the Spartans were 10-of-10 from the line in the final 1:55 to seal the win.
• The Spartans went into the break with a 35-32 lead, a 3-pointer from Richardson with 36 seconds left providing the difference.
• After hitting the first basket of the game – a 3-pointer from Holloman – Rutgers took a 10-3 lead on a pair of free throws from Ace Bailey at the 16:18 mark.
• Michigan State responded with a 14-1 run over 5:07 and scored 9-straight points – capped by a 3-pointer from Richardson off a feed from Fidler to take a 17-10 lead with 11:24 to play.
• MSU held Rutgers without a field goal for more than nine minutes before a jumper from Bailey pulled the Scarlet Knights to within 23-15.
• The Spartans led by eight points, 26-18, when Richardson hit a driving layup, was fouled and converted a free throw, but the Scarlet Knights scored seven-straight points and pulled to within one, 26-25, on a jumper from Derek Harper at 3:44.
• Rutgers tied the game at 28-all on a three-point play from Jordan Derkack with 1:51 left but an alley-oop from redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. to Carr gave MSU the lead back (30-28) before Richardson's 3-pointer pushed the lead to 35-30.

Key Stats

• Michigan State shot 48.2 percent from the floor (27-of-56), including 60.0 percent (15-of-25) in the second half.
• The Spartans out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights, 44-34, including 22-15 in the second half.
• MSU hit 84.6 percent of its free throws (22-of-26), including 87.5 percent in the second half (14-of-16).
• The Spartans received 50 points from their bench.
• Michigan State out-scored Rutgers, 42-26, in the paint and 21-15 on the fast break.

Notes

• Michigan State leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 14-3, and has won the last two meetings.
• MSU is 5-3 on the road against RU, including a 1-1 record at Madison Square Garden.
• The Spartans have a 5-16 record at the World's Most Famous Arena, including a 5-12 mark under Head Coach Tom Izzo.
• Izzo's career record improved to 724-297.
• Izzo's career Big Ten record improved to 351-170 and he needs three more wins to pass former Indiana coach Bob Knight (353) for the all-time lead in conference wins by a head coach.
• The 12-game win streak for the Spartans is the longest since winning 13-straight in 2018-19.
• The 8-0 start in Big Ten Conference play is the first time MSU has started at least 8-0 since winning its first nine conference games in 2018-19.
• Michigan State is 5-0 on the road this season, 4-0 in the Big Ten.
• Michigan State scored 81 points, the 13th time this season with at least 80 points.
  • MSU is 13-0 when scoring at least 80 points.
• Michigan State is 15-0 when tied at the half this season.
• The Spartans out-shot Rutgers (48.2% to 33.8%), the 16th time MSU has out-shot its opponent.
  • MSU is 16-0 when out-shooting its opponent.
• Michigan State held a 44-34 advantage in rebounding, the 16th time holding the edge on the boards.
  • The Spartans are 15-1 when controlling the boards.
• Michigan State hit 84.6 percent of its free throws (22-of-26), the 13th time this season hitting at least 80.0 percent of its free throws.
• The Spartans received 50 points from the bench, the second time this season with at last 50 points.
  •  MSU has scored at least 30 points 16 times in 19 games and at least 40 points nine times.
• Jase Richardson scored a career-high 20 points.
  • This was his ninth time scoring in double figures and his third time leading the team in scoring.
• Jaden Akins scored 12 points, his ninth game in double figures in the last 10 games.
  • Akins now has 1,040 career points, breaking a tie with Kevin Smith (1979-82) for 54th place all-time, and needs 15 points to pass Marcus Sanders (1962-65) for 53rd place all-time.
• Coen Carr scored 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
  • He scored in double figures for the seventh time this season the ninth of his career.
• Junior guard Tre Holloman finished with 9 points and a team-best 6 assists.
  • It was his fourth time leading the team in assists this year and the 13th of his career.
• Frankie Fidler handed out a season-high 5 assists, adding 4 points and 3 rebounds.

Up NextMichigan State returns home to the Breslin Center to host Minnesota on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The game tips off at 8 p.m. on Peacock, with Paul Burmeister and Robbie Hummel calling all of the action.  Read Full Article