Jaylen Crocker-Johnson recorded 22 points and seven rebounds and Minnesota halted a seven-game slide with an impressive 76-73 upset victory over No. 10 Michigan State on Wednesday night in Big Ten play at Minneapolis.
Cade Tyson scored 17 points and Langston Reynolds added 14 points and eight assists as the Golden Gophers (11-12, 4-8 Big Ten) never trailed during the surprising takedown of the Spartans. Bobby Durkin had 13 points and eight rebounds and Isaac Asuma added 10 points for Minnesota, which got its first victory since Jan. 6.
Coen Carr scored 16 points, Jordan Scott added 15 and Trey Fort had 12 on four 3-pointers for Michigan State (19-4, 9-3), which lost its second consecutive game. Jeremy Fears Jr. had 10 points and 11 assists for the Spartans.
Michigan State trailed by 16 with just over four minutes remaining before closing the gap with a 20-6 surge.
Carr’s putback dunk got the Spartans within single digits with 1:35 left and Scott drilled a 3-pointer to bring Michigan State within 69-63 with 59.6 seconds left.
After Tyson split two free throws, Fort knocked down a trey to bring the Spartans within 70-66 with 46.9 seconds to play.
Fort drained another trey with 19.6 seconds left as the Spartans crept within 73-71.
Asuma made two free throws with 15 seconds left to give Minnesota a four-point lead. Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler missed a 3-pointer with just over seven seconds left. Reynolds got the rebound, was fouled and split two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining as the Golden Gophers held on.
Minnesota shot 47.8% from the field, including 10 of 21 from behind the arc.
The Spartans held a 39-23 rebounding edge while shooting 44.8% and making 9 of 24 from behind the arc.
Michigan State trailed by 11 at the break but later used an 11-5 run to move within 43-38 on a 3-pointer by Scott.
Minnesota scored 12 of the game’s next 17 points. Tyson capped it with a 3-pointer to give the Golden Gophers a 55-43 advantage with 8:51 left.
Tyson’s three-point play and a driving basket by Reynolds pushed the Minnesota lead to 60-47 with 7:01 left.
Reynolds later converted a three-point play to give Minnesota a 67-51 lead with 4:08 to play.
Durkin hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to give Minnesota a 32-21 halftime advantage.
The Golden Gophers started fast and led 12-3 after Durkin’s trey with 15:12 left in the half.
Fort hit a 3-pointer to bring the Spartans within 26-21 with 2:09 left. However, Asuma converted a three-point play with 1:39 to go prior to Durkin’s trey to push the margin to 11.
–Field Level Media
