UConn men’s basketball holds on for 67-63 Sweet 16 win over Michigan State
· Yahoo Sports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It came down to Tarris Reed Jr. at the foul line with a one-and-one opportunity and four seconds to play. And the Huskies’ senior, a 58.6% free throw shooter this season who’s said his days in college basketball are numbered, answered the moment.
He made both, putting the UConn men up four, and Jayden Ross stole the inbound pass to hold on and secure a 67-63 win over No. 3 seed Michigan State in Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup.
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The No. 2 seed Huskies – who led by as many as 19 points in the first half – will meet No. 1 overall seed Duke in the Elite Eight at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday. The Blue Devils held on for an 80-75 win over No. 5 seed St. John’s in the first game Friday night.
Reed finished with a game-high 20 points with five rebounds and four assists. Alex Karaban nailed a clutch 3-pointer in the final two minutes and a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to finish with 17 points and seven rebounds and improve to 16-1 in the NCAA Tournament over his historic career.
Solo Ball came out of his slump for 12 points and freshman Braylon Mullins added eight.
It will be UConn’s 14th appearance in the Elite Eight.
The Spartans were all over the offensive glass to start – they finished with a 39-30 rebounding advantage – and got out to a 4-3 start before missing their next 13 shots from the field. Michigan State has one of the best dunkers in the nation in Coen Carr, but it was UConn hanging on the rim early with dunks from Reed and Mullins making it a 10-5 Huskies’ lead.
Malachi Smith checked in and immediately got himself going with a 3-pointer, then deflected a pass on the other end and found Karaban for a layup to make it double figures. He assisted Ball on a 3-pointer and Jaylin Stewart announced his return – playing for the first time since Feb. 21 – with a triple as the Huskies made five of their first six from beyond the arc and stormed out to a 21-6 lead in the first nine minutes.
Ball hit another triple and Stewart added a free throw before the Spartans finally saw the lid come off the basket with their first field goal in almost nine minutes to end a 22-2 scoring run.
UConn’s lead held around 15 for about five minutes until Jaxon Kohler made Michigan State’s first 3-pointer of the night, Carr finished inside and Kohler added a pair to cut it to single-digits with about 90 seconds left in the half.
The Spartans came out of the break on a roll, scoring seven straight points to get the score to within one before Mullins knocked down a 3-pointer in front of the Huskies’ bench. Then Reed made a steal in the backcourt and went coast-to-coast for a one-handed jam to turn the momentum.
But UConn started the second half just 4-for-19 from the field and Kohler gave Michigan State its first lead since the score was 4-3 with a three-point play around the 10-minute mark.
Reed answered with a pair of baskets inside and Karaban hit a massive 3 in front of the Huskies’ bench to regain the lead, but they wouldn’t pull away again.
A dunk from Carson Cooper made it a one-point game with two minutes left and forced Dan Hurley to call a timeout. Karaban answered the bell, nailing a 3 from the March Madness logo, but Fears responded with one of his own. Reed made a pair of critical free throws, Fears answered again with a pair of his own.
In the single bonus, Karaban made both on a one-and-one with 22.5 seconds to play. The Spartans had to heave a 3-pointer as the clock ticked down at the other end but a foul was called on the rebound attempt, sending Cooper to the line for a pair. He made the first but missed the second and Reed grabbed the rebound before he was quickly fouled. The Huskies’ center