Gophers men’s basketball falls to No. 7 Michigan State 73-51

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo was fist-pumping on the sideline. Tre Holloman was having an incredible first-half shooting barrage against his hometown team.

Michigan State was fired up to stay undefeated in Big Ten play in front of a rowdy home crowd. The Gophers looked like a basketball team not ready for an opponent to treat them like they’re legit.

Before the first half was over, the tone was set for the Gophers’ three-game winning streak to end abruptly Tuesday night in 73-51 loss against the No. 7-ranked Spartans at the Breslin Center.

“You just felt like the energy in the building got everything ignited,” Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. “This is the first time this team has been in a position where I know they didn’t take us lightly. When you beat two ranked teams and you get a win on the road, that staff is going to have their team on 10 to get ready.”

The Gophers (11-10, 3-7 Big Ten), who haven’t won in East Lansing since 2015, were held scoreless for the first 5 minutes 50 seconds, but the game didn’t run away from them until Holloman couldn’t miss from long range.

Holloman finished with all of his team-high 12 points in the first half. The former Cretin-Derham Hall star drilled back-to-back-to-back shots from deep during a game-changing 13-0 run that led to a 36-16 Spartan halftime lead.

Dawson Garcia finished with 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting, but he was the only player in double figures for the Gophers, who had 11 turnovers in the first half. Michigan State won the rebounding battle 40-22 and had 11 of its 17 fast-break points in the first half.

Michigan State (18-2, 9-0) won its 13th straight game Tuesday, which coincided with Holloman entering the starting lineup Nov. 27 in an overtime win against North Carolina.

Garcia, who was coming off Monday’s Big Ten player of the week honor, kept his streak going with a sixth straight 20-point game.

But the 6-11 senior didn’t score his first points Tuesday until consecutive field goals to pull the Gophers within 21-12 with 3:26 left in the first half. That’s when Holloman caught fire. He hit three-pointers on Mike Mitchell Jr., Garcia and Isaac Asuma to extend it to a 32-12 margin. Holloman also played well in an 18-point Michigan State win Dec. 4 in Minneapolis.

“I don’t think we played with a whole lot of force,” said Asuma, who finished with eight points. “[Holloman] definitely came out firing. Last time we played them, he was out firing, too.”

BOXSCORE: No. 7 Michigan State 73, Gophers 51

In the second half, Garcia helped the Gophers cut a 22-point deficit to 13 points twice, including with two free throws to make it 56-43 with just under seven minutes to play.

But in a blink, Michigan State’s crowd erupted after Coen Carr’s alley-oop dunk on Parker Fox, plus the foul. Carr’s three-point play extended it back to a 20-point game.

In wins at Iowa and against ranked Michigan and Oregon at home, Johnson’s Gophers were aggressive and showed the toughness needed to win in the Big Ten.

The surging Spartans saw that and came ready to take the fight to them right away.