by CLEVELAND, OH – The Michigan State Spartans battled back from a 10-point first half disadvantage to come back and defeat the New Mexico Lobos 71-63 in a thrilling second round victory from Cleveland tonight. The Spartans held the Lobos to 30% shooting from long range, and that proved to be the difference. They also outrebounded them 31-28 and had 36 points off the bench which proved to be the difference.
In fact, two of the three leading Spartan scorers came off the bench as Tre Holloman scored 14 and Frankie Fidler checked in for 10, while their starter Jaden Atkins led them in scoring with 16. The Lobos only received 6 points from their bench, and it proved to be the death blow.
New Mexico raced out to a shocking 24-14 lead with 7:57 to play in the first half. It took the Spartans most of the remaining time to cut it down to 2 points by halftime as the Lobos took a 31-29 lead into the break. The Spartans were able to get back into it thanks to a strong contribution from their bench that outscored New Mexico 17-4 for the slate.
The Spartans came out hot in the second half by scoring the first six right out of the gate for a quick 4-point lead. The Lobos kept it close for a long stretch after that as the score went back and forth for the majority of the next 15 minutes. With 6:38 to go, the Spartans led 56-51 but the Lobos were still in it.
The Spartans used the next 3 minutes to pull away for good however as they built their lead to 63-54 with 3:50 left to play, and went on to hang on for the 71-63 victory. Michigan State will now match up with Ole Miss on Friday night as they knocked off Iowa State about the same time the Spartans were wrapping up their game.
