Foul Trouble is Costly in Loss at Michigan State

Friday, December 30

East Lansing, MI

6:00 pm

6-7,0-0MAC

Michigan State

9-4,1-1Big Ten

Buffalo

Michigan St.

Foul Trouble is Costly in Loss at Michigan State

12/30/2022 8:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (6-7, 0-0 MAC) fell to the Michigan State Spartans (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten), 89-68 on Friday evening. Isaiah Adams finished with a team-high 15 points as Curtis Jones (12), LaQuill Hardnett (12), and Armoni Foster (10) also finished in double-figures. Jonnivius Smith crashed the glass, grabbing eight rebounds.

Foul trouble was costly for the Bulls as they finished with 23 fouls, compared to the Spartans' 13. Hardnett fouled out as Isaac Jack and Smith had four fouls each. Michigan State entered the contest 325^th in the nation in free throw attempts per game at 14.0. The Spartans finished 21-for-30 from the charity stripe. The Bulls were 7-of-10 from the free throw line.

The Bulls took an early 4-2 lead after blocking three Spartan shots just three minutes into the game. The lead lasted 1:13 as the Spartans took a 9-6 lead. The Bulls then tied it off a Curtis Jones three to make it 9-9. Buffalo kept it within single digits for the majority of the half.

At the half, Buffalo trailed 41-30 after shooting 12-for-34 (35.3%) from the floor. They were 3-of-10 from three-point range, Curtis Jones had two of the first half made threes. To start the second half, the Bulls came out blazing. They started the half on an 8-0 run to cut Michigan State's lead to 41-38. The Spartans responded by getting up 13 in the span of three minutes. As the Bulls kept battling, it was all Michigan State despite the Bulls shooting 50.0% (16-of-32) in the second half.

The Bulls entered the game as the fifth best team in the country in fastbreak points, averaging 18.75. They were held to just six as the Spartans defense made Buffalo go deep into the shot clock.

"Our guys competed their hearts out against that tough Michigan State squad," stated Head Coach Jim Whitesell. "Michigan State has a reputation for being a consistently tough team to play, that's why we had them on the schedule. Tom Izzo and his staff have a great team, and we held our own for parts of the game. We're on to conference play on Tuesday against Ohio, but this nonconference schedule was no joke battling big time programs and fantastic mid-majors."

The Bulls open MAC play with back-to-back home games on Tuesday, Jan. 3 against Ohio and on Saturday, Jan. 7 against Northern Illinois.