Michigan State Held Off by Memphis, Falls 71-63 in Maui Invitational Semifinals
Michigan State's hopes of taking home a Maui Invitational title were put to rest on Day 2 of the tournament when they fell to the rising Memphis Tigers, 71-63.
The Spartans hung around after facing a significant second-half deficit, but it wasn't enough to overcome a hot Memphis team that, a day after upsetting No. 2 UConn, advanced to a perfect 6-0 and stamped its ticket to the Maui Invitational championship game.
Michigan State turned in a much better 3-point shooting outing, making seven triples on the night, but it unintentionally sacrificed its prior success from the free throw line and the paint, going 12-of-19 from the charity stripe and scoring just 22 of its 63 points in the lane.
Spartan freshman guard Jase Richardson led Michigan State in scoring yet again with a career-high 18 points. Senior guard Jaden Akins and senior forward Frankie Fidler also scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Spartans started off slow, committing back-to-back turnovers while falling into a quick 5-0 hole.
But the early deficit didn't last long, as Michigan State went on a run of its own, capped off by a triple from Akins to give the Spartans their first lead of the game.
Shortly after, Michigan State junior point guard Tre Holloman knocked down a 3 of his own, matching his team's total from deep from Monday's game against Colorado.
A bit over a minute later, Michigan State made its third triple of the contest, this time from the star of Monday's contest, freshman guard Jase Richardson. That gave the Spartans their largest lead of the game (3). They wouldn't lead again.
Memphis then went on an 8-0 run, largely thanks to two 3-pointers from senior guard Tyrese Hunter. The Tigers went back up 5 just over midway through the first half.
Michigan State then cut back into the lead with a second triple from Akins, the Spartans' fourth made basket from beyond the arc.
But the Spartans could not cool down Hunter, who made his third 3-pointer of the half, igniting an 11-4 run from Memphis. The Tigers took a 9-point lead, their largest of the contest until that point, with less than 4 minutes to go before halftime.
Michigan State was able to string together 6 straight points, though, 4 of which came from redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. That was part of an 8-2 run for the Spartans to close the half, one that concluded with a momentous 3-pointer from Richardson as the clock wound down.
Michigan State trailed, 34-31 at halftime.
The Spartans' success from deep carried quickly carried over into the second half as junior forward Jaxon Kohler drilled a triple to make it a 2-point game.
Meanwhile, Michigan State was making things happen defensively, forcing back-to-back turnovers, one of which led to a breakaway basket from Fears, who evened the game at 36 apiece, the first tie since the 12:36 mark of the first half.
But the Tigers wouldn't fret, as they answered with a 10-2 run that was capped off by yet another bucket from distance from Hunter. Shortly after, they put together an 11-0 run, which ultimately made the difference in the outcome. That put Memphis up 15, its largest of the night.
Michigan State kept fighting, though and eventually trimmed the lead to 7 with just over 5 minutes remaining. But Memphis halted the 9-2 Spartan run with a converted and-1 off another triple from Hunter. He finished with a game-high 23 points, with five of his seven field goals coming from beyond the arc.
The Spartans still kept punching, however, and even came to within 5 points. But that was as close as they would come down the stretch.
Michigan State suffers just its second loss of the season and now has to settle for either a third- or fourth-place finish in the tournament. It will look to finish strong when it takes on the loser of the other semifinal matchup between No. 4 Auburn and No. 12 North Carolina on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.
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