What a difference a half makes.
In the battle of the Toms, it was Izzo’s bunch getting the best of the Crean crew as Michigan State held off Georgia and soon-to-be top pick Anthony Edwards 93-85 in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational consolation round.
A day after the Spartan offense was perpetually stuck in the mud, MSU came out flying on offense in the first half en route to a 52-31 lead. Aided by some questionable Bulldog defense, Michigan State looked like a completely new team compared to the group that saw its run through Maui end early at the hands of Virginia Tech. The turnovers and fouls were down and the shooting and passing were much improved.
The second half was a different story with the Spartans first extending their lead only to see it chipped away by the other-worldly play of Edwards. Combine that with the MSU offense getting bogged down after Georgia switched to a zone and things went from boring to tense in short order. Led by hot shooting of the highly-touted freshman Edwards, Georgia strung together a scoring surge that shrunk a 28-point lead down to just two with five minutes left in the game. The steady hand of Cassius Winston and timely threes from Aaron Henry and Xavier Tillman would ensure Georgia would get no closer.
Still, it was hard to watch the game without Edwards being the big story. Full-court bounce passes, thirty-foot jumpers and everything in-between, Edwards did it all and showed everyone watching why he is projected to be taken in the top three of the 2020 NBA Draft. He led all scorers with 37 points including 33 in the second half. Edwards also chipped in 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
It was an incredible display and the fourth time in this short season that Michigan State has felt the full-powered wrath of an opposing star player.
In the first half Cassius Winston–a few hours after scoring just seven points on ten shots–looked like his usual self hitting shots from deep and making smooth dishes to teammates for easy buckets on his way to 28 points and 8 assists. Aaron Henry was aggressive from the jump, getting to the cup with ease and even hitting a silky sky hook, finishing with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Tillman would finish with a double double notching 15 points to go with 11 rebounds. Even Foster Loyer had it going early, bouncing back from a disappointing outing with two big threes to help spur an extended 34-9 Michigan State run the paved the way for the big halftime lead.
First-Half Michigan State was the team many of the Spartan faithful that made the 4,346 miles journey from East Lansing to Maui expected to see. The Spartans had energy and were much more aggressive from the jump even on plays that didn’t fully pan out, like Gabe Brown getting fouled while attempting to posterize a Georgia Bulldog, but coming up just short or Malik Hall actually cashing in on a hammer dunk, but getting a technical foul for taunting his victim.
They just couldn’t keep it up for two halves, something that has become a theme early in the season and will certainly need to be cleaned up.
Michigan State moves to the fifth place game where they will play the winner of Chaminade vs. UCLA.
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