Tre Holloman scored all 12 of his points in the first half, Jaden Akins had 10 and No. 7 Michigan State routed Minnesota 73-51 on Tuesday night.
The Spartans (18-2, 9-0 Big Ten) have won 13 straight games for the first time since the 2018-19 season that ended with Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo’s eighth and most recent Final Four appearance. This is the first time in Izzo’s 30-year tenure that his team has gone undefeated in December and January, according to MLive.
The Golden Gophers (11-10, 3-7) had won three straight Big Ten games, including against then-No. 15 Oregon and then-No. 20 Michigan.
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Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia scored 21 points and didn’t get much help. The Gophers didn’t have another player with more than eight points.
The Spartans led by 22 points in the first half and were ahead 36-16 at halftime. They didn’t have trouble staying ahead in the second half and coasted to another victory.
Takeaways
Minnesota: After matching their longest conference winning streak in four seasons under coach Ben Johnson, the Gophers are set up to potentially have some success with eight of the final 10 games on schedule against teams in the bottom half of the conference.
[Related: Tom Izzo says approaching Big Ten wins record “Supersedes all my dreams”]
Michigan State: Izzo’s team is as balanced as any in 30 seasons with the Spartans. They’re the only team in the AP Top 25 with only one player averaging at least 10 points. Michigan State has seven players scoring seven-plus points per game.
Key moment
Holloman made three 3-pointers in a 53-second stretch of the first half, turning an 11-point lead into a 20-point cushion.
Key stat
The Gophers were scoreless until the 14:10 mark of the first half.
Up next
Michigan State plays at USC and Minnesota hosts Washington on Saturday.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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