Indianapolis – It is not often that Coen Car is missing a dunk. But he did Friday Michigan State BasketballBig ten tournament warned with Oregon.
Twice. And absorbed a hard fault during a third attempt.
It didn’t matter to Tom Izzo. A bit.
“Coen has grown today,” said the renowned temple coach in the MSU locker room after A 74-64 victory over Oregon. “In many ways.”
Carr finished with 10 points and equaled a career summit with eight rebounds. Of course, its 3-point pointer in the first half was a key element of a solid final in the first half which sent Spartans No. 6 (27-5) in the break with an advance of 10 points. But it was his second half of intensity – especially on the boards – which pushed an MSU to 1 seed in the semi -finals on Saturday against the Wisconsin at 5 seeds (13 hours, CBS).
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And the eighth consecutive victory of the Spartans reminds them of something bigger – by asserting a seeded n ° 1 in the NCAA tournament when the selections are announced on Sunday.
“It’s the speech around the locker room,” said first -year student Jase Richardson, “trying to get a seeded.”
Richardson, who collected 17 points despite the 4 for 13, took one knee at the neck at the end of the victory, but later said that he felt good and would be ready for the semi-final on Saturday.
Friday, MSU’s offensive sprayed with four early reversals to start the second half, and Oregon (24-9) fell back into one point while the pointer of Keeshawn Barthelemy capped a 11-2 race. Izzo called dead time with 15:33 on the left.
“We had some reversals, we took bad shots,” said the first -year leader of Redshirt, Jeremy, Fears Jr. “and we were simply synchronized while they were doing this race.”
Carr took over with an energized and punchy section of 6½ minutes as part of a KO of 15-0.
The second 6 -foot 6 -inch swingman has torn five rebounds in this section, including a decline after a Frankie Fidler jumper in painting. Then, after a 3 -point fidel in transition, Carr hung on another board and broke out, being hung hard by Oregon Bittle’s star while going for a thunder dunk. He did one of the two on the line, but the pro-MSU crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse broke out with the game from start to finish.
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“I mean, you just have to play hard. That’s all I was trying to do, it’s playing hard, “said Carr, who had three offensive rebounds and two interceptions. “The coaches told me to play hard, go out and play without fear, to play reckless, to play for free. So that’s what I tried to go there and do.
Carr was not the only one to help Spartans to a score of 27-12. Carson Cooper had his six points and four of his five rebounds in the first half, including a late key section after the Ducks took their advance of the day at 28-27.
The 11-inch 6-foot junior center had a pair of putback buckets and another arrival shortly after its third offensive board of the first half. MSU 7-0 edge on offensive glass resulted in the upgrade of Oregon, 13-0, in the second chance in the construction of an advance of 42-32 at the break.
“You had to keep your foot on your neck throughout the game and continue to be aggressive. And that’s what we did, “said Cooper. “We are somehow complacent and stagnated at the end, then we had this little shock.”
The Spartans needed these contributions from Carr and Cooper. Despite the 40 -point combination, the Richardson (17) guards, Jaden Akins (12) and the fears (11) went to only 12 for 33 of the ground and only succeeded 12 of the 20 attempts to launch free. As a team, MSU – which entered the classified qualifying series No. 12 at the national level at 78.9% on free throws – reached 17 out of 29 on Friday line.
This continued a recent trend for the Spartans, who closed the regular season by only making 69.5% on the line in the last seven games after hit 81% in the first 24 games. Most of them were tight competitions, but all ended in MSU victory. Just like the match against the Ducks.
“They missed a few free throws they made all year round,” said Izzo. “I will lose sleep on a lot, it will not be one of them.”
He also does not push the internal conversation on a seeded n ° 1 – “I’m never talking about things I have no control,” said Izzo – and thinks that the NCAA support will be essentially wrapped before Sunday. This would give the Spartans a last opportunity to make a statement in the semi-final match on Saturday against the badgers, which they beat 71-62 on March 2.
But they also want to add another banner before leaving Indianapolis.
“We have the impression that we have to win this tournament to have a chance to (get a seeded),” said Akins.
Chris Solari’s prediction for michigan state basketball against Wisconsin
Badgers took nine years in the 86-70 Friday victory against the UCLA and will seek revenge for their loss at East Lansing two weeks ago. But the defense of the Spartans withdrew again and sends them in the championship match on Sunday for the first time since he won everything in 2019. The choice: MSU 78, Wisconsin 68.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State Basketball: Coen Carr Sparks wins in the Big Ten tournament
