Michigan State basketball can't find late shots in 61-55 loss to Rutgers in NYC

NEW YORK – Tom Izzo on Thursday said Michigan State basketball spent much its extra time off working on improving its offense.

Back to the drawing board.

In a game that at times sent Madison Square Garden back to the chicken wire and peach basket era, the Spartans and Rutgers engaged in a nasty back-alley brawl that featured missed shot after missed shot almost all afternoon.

That was before the Scarlet Knights used a clutch closing stretch from guard Paul Mulcahy, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 10 minutes to hand MSU a 61-55 defeat on Saturday.

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Mulcahy scored five straight points after the Spartans pulled within 46-44, including back-to-back layups in the final three minutes that proved to be a knockout punch in a game in which neither team sustained any rhythm or found any success shooting from long range. From there, the Scarlet Knights put it away at the free throw line, where they were 22-for-34 in the game and 18-for-27 in the final half.

"They got downhill and got to the hole," Izzo said. "I mean, it's not bad enough they didn't (just) get fouled, they got to the hole and got layups. And that's not very good (defense). And yet, with all that being said, they still shot 37%, so it's hard for me to complain too much about my defense until that (end-of-game) part of it.

"There's a lot of reasons to complain about the offense and the turnovers, and I'll do that for the next couple of days."

Tyson Walker had 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting to lead MSU (14-9, 6-6 Big Ten), which faces Maryland for the only time this season Tuesday night in East Lansing.

Tipoff is 9 p.m. at Breslin Center (ESPN2).

Joey Hauser added 10 points but went just 4-for-11, Jaden Akins scored nine with six boards, while A.J. Hoggard was 3-for-10 for eight points and committed five of the Spartans’ 14 turnovers.

MSU made just 34.5% from the field and went 4-for-21 from 3-point range. The Spartans did manage a 44-34 rebounding advantage, with Malik Hall grabbing 13, but the senior also made just one of nine shots to finish with four points.

"I think we did everything we were supposed to do in our game plan," Hoggard said. "We just didn't make shots. And then we didn't do what we were supposed to down the stretch. There's always something to learn from."

Clifford Omoruyi had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Rutgers (16-7, 8-4), which won despite going 3-for-16 from 3-point range. The Scarlet Knights shot 57.9% in the second half to finish at 37.5%.

"I mean, it wasn't a thing of beauty, that's for sure. But that was beautiful to me," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. "We figured out a way to win."

Garden of rocks

MSU won the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 19, 70-57, in East Lansing. Izzo described it as “a rockfight” before that game.

Saturday began as a brick-fest.

Both teams struggled with the MSG sightlines and depth of the crowd early, starting a combined 4-for-23 in the opening 8 minutes. Refs allowed physical play inside, which compounded the outside shooting problems with errant flips and floaters around the rim.

Hauser struggled early from deep, missing his first five shot attempts before hitting a pair of layups. Hall also kept drawing iron in and around the paint.

"I feel like some of them weren't bad shots," Hall said. "Some of them, on my behalf, I forced. But I feel like overall, we didn't have many bad bad ones. ... I think it's just part of the game. Everybody has an off shooting night."

But MSU’s defense bothered the Scarlet Knights, holding them to 1-for-10 from 3-point range and just 24.1% overall in the half. And the Spartans fought to own a near-even battle on the boards, 22-20 — rebounding was a major emphasis for Izzo coming into this game after Rutgers dominated the first game.

MSU wasn’t faring much better. The Spartans went 1-for-9 from 3-point range and shot 37.9% in the half.

"It was tough. We had some really good looks early that I thought would go down," Hauser said. "I missed my first five shots, and all five of them I thought were good shots. So it's not easy when you're not making shots. But you gotta find a way."

Key moments

MSU center Mady Sissoko went to the bench with two fouls and sat the final 12:54 of the period. But the Scarlet Knights suffered a big loss when Mawot Mag collided on a drive with Akins and appeared to suffer a knee injury with 6:25 left before halftime. Mag had seven points on 3-for-4 shooting at the time, the only Scarlet Knight who made more than half his shots in the opening period.

Rutgers would score just six points and make two field goals the rest of the half, the last a Spencer jumper to tie the game at 19-19. The Spartans then scored the final three buckets in the last 1:49, starting with a Jaxon Kohler up-and-under layup and Hauser’s second layup.

Akins missed a jumper with about 20 seconds to go, giving Rutgers one final chance for a shot. But Walker plucked a steal and flicked the ball ahead to Akins on a breakout, who released his layup just as time expired to send MSU into half with a 25-19 lead.

Walker had seven first-half points — a short jumper to open the game then back-to-back buckets with a short floater and a 3-pointer with 4:27 before halftime. He appeared to suffer a right hand injury after making the deep shot but played through it.

Back and forth

The offensive misery remained in the second half, and some of it continued because of the scrappy, physical defense both teams applied. But much of it came due to the Spartans and Scarlet Knights suffering bouts of poor shooting, puzzling decision-making and imprecise attempts at execution.

MSU attacked inside to go up eight early, with Hoggard and Walker penetrating for driving layups. Yet Rutgers countered with a 7-0 run and tied it on Mulcahy’s 3-pointer with 13:30 to go.

Akins drained a 3-pointer — just the second of the game for MSU — and Hoggard’s two free throws pushed the cushion back to five. But the Scarlet Knights ripped off a 13-2 run after that, going on a 9-0 run over a 2:50 span capped by five free throws to make it 46-40 with 4:55 left, whipping the pro-Rutgers crowd in the Garden into a frenzy.

"I thought the second half, they got downhill and got to the free throw line," Izzo said. "And we didn't cover that with a fishnet. So some of that's our fault."

But Hall hit a pair of free throws, then set up Sissoko for a dunk to make it a one-possession game and get the Spartan fans back into it for another close late-game finish for MSU.

And another close loss in the tightly contested Big Ten standings behind first-place Purdue. The Spartans have lost five of their past seven games, with eight games left in the regular season.

"It's a major concern," Hauser said. "We gotta have those wins if we want to get to where we want to go. Those are wins we have to have."

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

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