Four things learned: Gophers’ Cam Christie makes case as one of Big Ten’s best freshmen

Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo wanted to blame himself Tuesday after the Gophers erased a nine-point, second-half deficit, but he had to state the obvious.

The Spartans couldn’t stop freshman Cam Christie down the stretch in the Gophers’ 59-56 victory at Williams Arena. Christie had 14 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, including four of his season-high five three-pointers.

“Give Cam Christie credit. He made some big-time shots,” Izzo said. “You can’t do what we did and win against good teams. Don’t kid yourself. That’s a good basketball team.”

Christie was heckled by Michigan State fans in East Lansing on Jan. 18, when he fouled out in a 76-66 loss. They jeered him about his older brother and former Spartans guard being better. Max is now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, but the younger Christie’s massive talent is unquestionable as well.

“It definitely fueled me,” Christie said. “I went into that game with a chip on my shoulder, excited to play there. … Obviously, I had to make some adjustments. Make sure not to foul out in this game again. That would’ve been tragic.”

Christie got his revenge, but here are four more things learned from the win vs. Michigan State:

Gophers coach Ben Johnson decided not to fly home after a 20-point loss at Northwestern last season. Instead, he drove 20 minutes from Evanston to Glenview, Ill., to watch his future freshman standout.

Christie’s Rolling Meadows squad got clobbered by a Moline team led by current Iowa freshman Owen Freeman. Now Christie and Freeman might be the best two freshmen in the Big Ten this season. They’ll face each other in college for time Sunday, when the Gophers visit Iowa.

Only Indiana’s Mackenzie Mgbako has a higher scoring average (10.9) through Tuesday, but Christie and Freeman are right behind (10.7) and more efficient. They’re also making a bigger impact on winning. Christie, the reigning Big Ten freshman of the week, is averaging 17 points on 57% shooting from the field (17-for-30), including 47% from three (9-for-19) during the U’s first three-game Big Ten win streak since 2017.

Former Cretin-Derham Hall star Tre Holloman hit a floater to give Michigan State a 45-36 lead with 13:16 left in the second half Tuesday. But the Gophers used a 10-0 run to snatch the momentum with Christie’s consecutive threes as the spark.

Christie also hit his fifth three with 4:03 left for a 51-50 lead and two free throws with 18 seconds to play to make it a 57-54 game.

Whatever happens on Sunday in Iowa City, Christie is solidifying his case to be the first Gophers player to make the All-Big Ten freshman team since Amir Coffey in 2017.

As well as Christie and his teammates played offensively with clutch baskets in crunch time Tuesday, the Gophers arguably won the game with defense.

The Gophers held a Michigan State offense that averaged 75 points to its lowest point total of the season. Izzo’s squad had a previous season-low scoring game in a 70-57 loss against Wisconsin in December.

After allowing their opponent to shoot 57% in the first half, the Gophers held the Spartans to 35% (9-for-26) in the second half, including 2-for-10 on three-pointers. Tyson Walker, who left the game for a few minutes banged up in the second half, had six points in the final 18:47, including no threes. Big difference from when Walker scored 12 of his 21 points with under four minutes in the Jan. 18 Gophers loss at Breslin Center.

“I thought our defensive effort was phenomenal,” Johnson said. “To win a toughness game, to win ugly and to win with our defense, that was phenomenal.”

Christie fouled out with eight minutes left in that previous game in East Lansing, but his defense and rebounding presence at 6-6 in the backcourt was a benefit Tuesday. He finished with six rebounds.

Dawson Garcia and Pharrel Payne didn’t have a huge game offensively (18 points combined), but they were battling on defense with things that don’t show up in the boxscore. Changing shots. Getting to loose balls. Deflections. Walling up.

Parker Fox’s energy is contagious for the Gophers. If he plays most of the game or only a few minutes, he’s going to make sure his presence is felt. That was definitely the case Tuesday.

The 6-8 senior from Mahtomedi entered the game with the Gophers trailing early against the Spartans, but he sparked a 16-6 run. His big block on Walker made the crowd feel as raucous as it had all season.

Two of Fox’s baskets surrounding a three-pointer from Braeden Carrington put the U up 20-13 midway through the first half. Fox had a team-high seven points on 3-for-4 shooting, two rebounds, one steal and one block in only 10 minutes in the first half.

Fox did his part to lift the Gophers in the opening period, but the rest of the team didn’t match his intensity and trailed 32-27 at halftime.

This is a second-half team. Fox wasn’t needed as much when others picked up their play later in the game. Payne had six points and five rebounds in 16 minutes in the second half after sitting with early foul trouble.

Games can be won or lost from the foul line when they come down to one or two possessions. Ask Izzo how that turned out for Michigan State.

The Spartans were 7-for-17 from the foul line, including Malik Hall going an abysmal 1-for-6.

Hall’s back-to-back misses at the line kept the Gophers down 50-48 when Jaden Akins nailed a three-pointer with 5:01 to play.

Payne followed that up with two missed free throws for the Gophers. But Carson Cooper made it four consecutive misses at the charity stripe for Michigan State after he came up empty at the 4:12 mark. That set up Christie’s three-pointer for a 51-50 Minnesota lead.

The Gophers shot 12-for-19 on free throws, but four misses were from Payne. Clearly, the talented 6-9 sophomore has struggled at the line this season at 40%, but he did make one of two to tie the score at 52-52 with 2:25 left. Every point is critical in close games.