Freshman guard Jase Richardson scored a career-high 20 points and No. 8 Michigan State rolled to its 12th consecutive victory, beating Rutgers on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, 81-74.
Coen Carr added 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting for the Spartans (17-2, 8-0 Big Ten) and had eight rebounds. Michigan State is riding its longest winning streak since a 13-game run during the 2018-19 season — the most recent of its eight teams to reach the Final Four under Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
Jordan Derkack scored a season-high 26 points off the bench in a home game for Rutgers (10-10, 3-6), played before a crowd of 17,480 about 38 miles from its New Jersey campus. Ace Bailey had 18 on 4-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds.
Rutgers star freshman Dylan Harper, limited by a sprained ankle, came off the bench for the first time this season and finished with six points in 13 minutes. He played for about two minutes in the second half. Harper, who averages 19.3 points, sprained an ankle in Monday’s loss at Penn State.
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Takeaways
Michigan State: Richardson, the son of Spartans great Jason Richardson, and Carr came off a deep bench that’s an enormous strength for the Spartans. Michigan State’s second unit outscored Rutgers reserves 50-34.
[Read more: Like father, like son: Sons of former NBA stars in college basketball this season]
Rutgers: Another disappointing performance for a banged-up team with two highly touted freshman recruits and top NBA prospects in Bailey and Harper that began the season ranked in the AP Top 25.
Key moments
Carr threw down a couple of soaring, thunderous dunks — one that gave Michigan State a 58-46 lead with 8:38 left.
Key stats
Michigan State is 12-0 since Tre Holloman moved into the starting lineup. MSU held Rutgers to 34% shooting and led for more than 33 minutes.
Up next
Michigan State hosts Minnesota on Tuesday, after winning the first meeting 90-72 on the road in their Big Ten opener Dec. 4. Rutgers visits Northwestern on Wednesday.
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