Second Half Push Not Enough As Kansas Falls At No. 8/12 Michigan State

Jan. 10, 2009

Box Score | Notes

EAST LANSING, Mich. –

Despite 25 points from junior Sherron Collins and outscoring Michigan State 44-38 in the second half, the Kansas men’s basketball team fell to the No. 8/12 Spartans, 75-62, at the Breslin Center Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, KU fell to 11-4 overall, while MSU improved its record to 13-2, while recording its 27th straight win at home, the third longest streak in the nation.

Kansas opened the second half with a seven-point run from Collins to cut its 19-point deficit to 12 with just over three minutes into the half.

The teams continued to trade points for much of the half until a Tyrel Reed three-pointer put the Jayhawks within 15 at 60-45 with 6:08 left to play. Not long after, Reed hit another shot from beyond the arc along with a deuce from the elbow, while Collins added a pair of free throws to close the gap to nine points with just over four minutes to go.

Collins, who scored 21 of his 25 points in the last 20 minutes, kept KU in the game going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and adding another bucket, but the Jayhawks were forced to foul as time expired and the Spartans went 9-for-10 at the free throw line in the last two minutes of the game to hold onto the lead.

Sophomore center Cole Aldrich added 14 points and 11 rebounds in the effort for his third straight double-double. Sophomore Tyrel Reed also finished with double-digit points scoring 10, all in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Sophomore Brady Morningstar opened the game with a steal then dished the ball up the court where freshman Tyshawn Taylor threw down a dunk for the first score of the game. Over the next five minutes, Kansas would expand its lead by as much as six. With 15:13 left on the clock, Aldrich layed one in to put KU up 11-6, but Michigan State would go on a 19-3 run over the next 10 minutes to takeover the lead, which it kept for the remainder of the contest.

After the first 20 minutes, Michigan State led 37-18, holding KU to its fewest points in a half since Feb. 28, 1999, when KU also scored 18 points in the second half at Iowa State.

The Spartans outrebounded KU 42-31 in the contest and finished 26-for-35 (74.3 percent) from the free throw line, while the Jayhawks hit just 17-of-28 (60.7 percent).

Four-time defending Big 12 regular-season champion, will return to the friendly confines of Allen Fieldouse when it hosts Kansas State in its conference opener on Jan. 13. That game will tip at 7 p.m. and be shown on the Big 12 Network.