There are 364 teams in Division I men’s basketball — and exactly 347 of them make 3-pointers at a better rate than Michigan State. So, of course the Spartans buried a shot from beyond halfcourt to win Wednesday at Maryland.
Of course they did.
Final score: Michigan State 58, Maryland 55.
What the game lacked in beauty it made up for with drama as a capacity crowd inside the Xfinity Center watched two ranked teams battle for 40 minutes without either ever leading by double-digits — and it literally came down to the final second. After Maryland’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie missed a potential go-ahead shot in a tie game with more than 4 seconds remaining, Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler grabbed the rebound and quickly got the ball to Tre Holloman, a 33% 3-point shooter who was, at that point, 0 of 3 from beyond the arc in the game.
Here’s what happened next:
“That was a lucky shot,” acknowledged Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
Lucky shots still count, though.
So Michigan State won and Maryland lost, which means the Spartans are now alone atop the Big Ten race with three regular-season contests remaining, one game ahead of second-place Michigan in the win column of the conference standings. In other words, Holloman’s shot could really end up being the thing that leads to Izzo securing his 11th Big Ten regular-season title. If he gets it, the 70 year-old Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer will move into a tie with Bob Knight (Indiana) and Ward Lambert (Purdue) for most Big Ten regular-season championships by a coach.
Michigan State is No. 6 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn remains No. 1 for the 51st straight day following Wednesday’s 106-76 blowout of Ole Miss. Next up for the Spartans is Sunday’s game with Wisconsin that’ll be followed by next Thursday’s game at Iowa. Then comes the regular-season finale on March 9 against Michigan inside the Breslin Center, and there’s a decent chance the Big Ten race will be decided, one way or another, by the outcome of that game.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
1
Texas A&M
In: Oregon
Out: Ole Miss
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