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Purdue Fort Wayne
Michigan State
Mastodons Throw Scare at No. 5 Michigan State
11/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2008
Fort Wayne, IN - No. 5 Michigan State needed a 13-0 run in the second half to shake free of an upset minded IPFW Wednesday night at the Memorial Coliseum.
Michigan State junior forward Raymar Morgan tossed in eight of those points as the visiting Spartans went from down two to up 11 with just six minutes left to play.
MSU held a 32-24 halftime lead, but IPFW came out and put together an 11-0 run to begin the second stanza.
Senior forward David Carson got the ball rolling with a triple from the top of the key.
Sophomore guard Ben Botts took the ball strong to the rack and got a layup to go while getting fouled. He converted, and then ran off five more points before junior forward Deilvez Yearby slashed to the hoop to give IPFW a 35-32 advantage.
Unfortunately for IPFW, they failed to take care of the ball during that crucial 13-0 MSU run, turning the ball over on three straight possessions.
Michigan State held their double-digit cushion the rest of the way and hit all their foul shots when they needed to down the stretch to win by 11.
"It was a strange game," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. "We did not come out with the pressure that we have been applying, and I thought they took the tempo to us. I thought our freshmen saved us, Delvon (Roe) definitely. All-in-all, a good game for Dane (Fife) and his team. I thought his kids competed and played awfully well."
IPFW head coach Dane Fife was equally impressed with the Spartans.
"Michigan State did an outstanding job of coming into this environment and coming out with a victory," he said. "On the other hand, I'm very proud of our players. They worked very hard against a Top-Five team in the country."
Raymar Morgan led Michigan State with 22 points. Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas added 17 for the Spartans who move to 2-0.
Botts equaled Morgan's 22-point effort, going 4-7 from behind the arc. Carson knocked down a career-high three 3-pointers and finished with 17.
Yearby was the only other 'Don in double figures with 10 points. He also grabbed six rebounds.
IPFW outshot MSU 46.0% to 42.9%, but it was the Spartans advantage at the foul line that pushed them to the win.
Michigan State hit 19 of 28 attempts. IPFW made six of their seven freebies.
The Spartans also won the battle on the boards, 38-28.
With the loss, IPFW falls to 0-2. They will look to snap the two-game skid when the host Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
~Dons~
