SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It will be easy to say the travel and injuries caught up with Michigan State on Wednesday night at Notre Dame.
But the reality was the 20th-ranked Spartans didn’t defend the entire first half, couldn’t make a shot early and never truly had the energy to muster much of a comeback bid as Notre Dame crushed Michigan State, 70-52, at the Purcell Pavilion, burying the Spartans in a barrage of 3-pointers in the final playing of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Fighting Irish (6-1) were 11-for-26 from 3-point range, including 8-for-13 in the first half as they blitzed the Spartans in the opening 20 minutes, leading by 23 at one point. Cormac Ryan scored 23 to lead Notre Dame, making six of his seven attempts from 3-point range. JJ Starling added 14.
Michigan State (5-3) was just 4-for-12 from 3-point range and got 15 point from A.J. Hoggard and 12 from Joey Hauser. The Spartans got few good looks against an average Notre Dame defense, finishing 21-for-54 from the field (38.9%).
The Spartans were coming off a three-game trip to Portland, getting back early Monday morning before traveling to South Bend on Tuesday. Senior forward Malik Hall missed his fourth straight game, as did sophomore guard Jaden Akins, though he was dressed and went through limited warmups.
It left the shorthanded Spartans relying on walk-on Jason Whitens to play 14 minutes and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo even turned to walk-on Davis Smith early in the second half.
Hoggard hit the first shot of the game, and that’s the point Michigan State’s good fortune ran out.
Notre Dame answered by scoring the next 10 points then hit five 3-pointers in a span of six made shots, pushing the advantage to 24-11 with nine minutes to play as Michigan State couldn’t buy a shot, making just four its first 15 shots as nearly every look was contested by the Notre Dame defense.
On the other end, the Irish weren’t getting nearly the same defensive pressure as the Spartans were routinely beat off the dribble and couldn’t close out on shooters. Ryan did his best to make Michigan State pay, hitting all five of his 3-point attempts with Notre Dame going 8-for-13 from long range in the first half.
The lead eventually grew to 23 as the Fighting Irish went up 39-16 on Ryan’s fifth triple. Michigan State scored six in a row late in the half to pull withing 40-24, but Starling then blew past the defense to hit a running jumper in the final seconds to give Notre Dame a 42-24 lead at halftime.
The Spartans had a bit more energy to open the second half, cutting the Notre Dame lead to 47-32. But on four straight possessions, Michigan State couldn’t pull any closer, and when Ryan nailed his sixth triple, the lead was up to 18 and stayed that way until Michigan State pulled within 54-40 with 9:20 to play.
But that was it as far as a second-half comeback was concerned. Notre Dame seized control once again, pushing the lead to 22 in the final minutes to cruise to the victory.
