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Saturday, December 4
East Lansing, Mich.
1:30 pm
Bowling Green State University
39
at
74
Michigan State
No. 6 Spartans Pull Away From Falcons In Second Half
December 04, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Boxscore
Louis Orr Postgame Audio
Photo Gallery
East Lansing, Mich. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team trailed No. 6 Michigan State by just two points early in the second half but the Spartans used an 11-0 run to pull away from the upset-minded Falcons Saturday afternoon. Michigan State picked up a 74-39 win in front of a sell-out crowd of 14,797 in the Breslin Center.
Bowling Green's 2-3 zone gave Michigan State trouble throughout the first half and the Falcons forced the Spartans into 12 turnovers and 29.6 percent shooting during the opening 20 minutes. That defensive effort helped Bowling Green to hang around despite shooting an identical 29.6 percent in the first half.
Dee Brown's steal and basket put Bowling Green on top 2-0 and a Scott Thomas three-pointer gave the Falcons a 5-4 lead three minutes into the game. But that would be the last time the Falcons were ahead.
Michigan State answered with back-to-back three-pointers but Thomas and Luke Kraus followed with buckets to make it 10-9 Spartans. Bowling Green still trailed at 12-11 but the Falcons had three opportunities to go on top and were unable to score on any of those possessions. Michigan State had another pair of three-pointers to take an 18-11 lead.
Bowling Green again inched back into the contest with an 8-2 run on five Kraus points and a Jordon Crawford three-pointer to make it 20-19. Once again, the Falcons had two possessions with a chance to take the lead and were unable to score. Michigan State took the opportunity to finish the half with five straight points for a 25-19 edge.
As the second half began, Bowling Green got right back into the contest as Crawford scored on a lay-up and was fouled. He missed the free-throw but got the offensive rebound and eventually Brown knocked down a jumper to get the Falcons back within two with 18:44 to play.
With the game hanging in the balance, Michigan State stepped up and found its offensive rhythm. Durrell Summers, Korie Lucious, and Keith Appling hit three-pointers during an 11-0 run in a two-minute spurt that gave the Spartans the cushion they needed.
From there, Michigan State outscored Bowling Green 38-16 the rest of the way for the 74-39 victory.
Thomas was the only Falcon to score in double-figures, finishing with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Crawford had seven points, three rebounds and three steals, while Kraus added seven points.
Michigan State shot 60 percent in the second half and made 7-of-15 three-pointers. The Spartans also held a 51-26 rebounding advantage. Bowling Green forced 21 MSU turnovers but only scored 13 points off of those miscues. The Falcons did a solid job in transition defense, holding a 7-4 edge in fastbreak points and was outscored by just two points in the paint.
Michigan State improves to 6-2 on the year and Bowling Green falls to 1-7. The Falcons will host Western Kentucky Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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