It started exactly how Tom Izzo wanted: with Michigan State basketball’s defense.
After Baylor won the opening tip Saturday afternoon, the Spartans proceeded to lock down the Bears and force a tone-setting shot-clock violation.
Not even Izzo could have predicted the utter and thorough domination that came next.
Tyson Walker splashing in 3-pointer after 3-pointer, his teammates making shot after shot. The senior and MSU’s other guards using their quick feet and hands to pluck steal after steal. Coen Carr delivering windmill dunks, Xavier Booker getting a loud cheer and hitting a shot.
Izzo’s team defending at an elite level, owning the boards against a bigger team, running the break with reckless abandon. Just as everyone projected coming into the season.
The Spartans shook the doldrums of a two-loss start to Big Ten play by putting together its best performance of the season that left No. 6 Baylor stunned and delivered MSU an equally stunning 88-64 blowout win at Little Caesars Arena.
“That was one of our better performances in a long time,” Izzo said. “And I know (Baylor) has a hell of a team. Man, if you watch them on film, that wasn’t the team that played today. Did we have something to do with it? Maybe.”
A near-perfect game
Walker had 18 of his 25 points in the first half with five steals for MSU (5-5), which improved to 4-8 against top-10 teams over the past three seasons and got their first marquee win after falling in November to then-No. 9 Duke and then-No. 3 Arizona last month.
A.J. Hoggard added 14 points, five assists and three more of the Spartans’ 15 steals. Tre Holloman added 11 points and two steals, while Carson Cooper and Mady Sissoko combined for 12 points and 12 rebounds.
RayJ Dennis and Yves Missi each scored 11 points for Baylor (9-1), which entered as the nation’s No. 4 scoring offense and averaging 91.1 points per game. The Bears committed 21 turnovers that led to 29 points for MSU, which shot 63.3% from the field and went 8-for-12 from 3-point range. Baylor went just 6-for-19 from deep.
The Spartans, now 5-1 at Little Caesars Arena, hope to build off the momentum as they make a quick turnaround to host Oakland at 7 p.m. Monday at Breslin Center in East Lansing (BTN).
Izzo challenged his team after Sunday’s 77-70 loss at Nebraska, their second conference defeat of the week and third in the past four games. MSU’s defense had gone into a slide, and Izzo wanted his players focused more on that and rebounding — both crashing the glass and preventing offensive boards — than worrying about shots that weren’t falling.
Turns out, he pinpointed the problems perfectly.
After that initial stop, Walker drained a 3-pointer. Hoggard got a steal on Baylor’s next possession, then Mady Sissoko hit the boards to grab an offensive rebound off a Jaden Akins miss and put it back, part of a 7-2 start.
Jeremy Fears’ alley-oop to Carson Cooper after the first media timeout kickstarted MSU’s 24-4 pullaway run in which everything started to click.
“We knew coming (that) Michigan State’s a lot better then the record indicated,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Coach Izzo is a Hall of Fame coach, and they got top-five preseason ranking for a reason. … Coach Izzo had them prepared. Desperate or not, they kicked our butt in the first half. Period.”
Pouring it on
Walker drained his third and fourth 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions that forced Drew to call timeout. Hoggard attacked in the lane and scored. Booker, after checking in for the first time in three games, confidently hit a foul-line jumper. Then Hoggard got a steal, raced out on a 3-on-2 break and lobbed it to Carr to bring the house down and got Drew to burn his second timeout with the Spartans up 19.
Walker completed MSUs big run with a layup on the break, making it 36-11 and getting Drew to call a third timeout with 4:39 left before half. It didn’t matter. The Spartans closed the half on a 9-2 run, capped by a three-quarter-court, thread-the-needle pass from Walker to Carr for a windmill dunk.
MSU’s lead was 45-17 at halftime, making 63% overall and 5 of 7 from 3-point range while owning an 18-9 edge on the glass. The Spartans’ defense bottled up the Bears to just 7-for-22 from the field and just 2-for-10 from deep.
Baylor got no closer than 20 in the second half, though the Bears shot 61.5% and made 4 of 9 from 3-point range in the second half.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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