JD Williams dribble vs. Michigan State 2018
Rey Del Rio
59
La.-Monroe M-498
80
Winner Michigan St. M-416
La.-Monroe M-498
59
Final
80
Michigan St. M-416
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
La.-Monroe M-498 29 30 59
Michigan St. M-416 35 45 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM Plays Solid 20 Minutes, Fades in Second Half at No. 11 MSU

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Cassius Winston scored 18 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to lead No. 11 Michigan State to an 80-59 non-conference victory over ULM Wednesday, Nov. 14 in the Breslin Center. The Spartans outscored ULM, 45-30, in the second half to break open a close game.
 
There were two ties and four lead changes in the first 20 minutes. MSU (2-1) jumped out to a 13-7 lead, but JD Williams scored six-straight points during an 8-0 ULM run and Michael Ertel's pull-up jumper in the lane gave the Warhawks' their first lead at 14-13 with 12:21 left in the first half. With ULM (2-2) trailing 18-14, Ertel buried back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the circle as the Warhawks regained the lead at 20-18 with 8:25 remaining. The Spartans got rebound baskets from Kyle Ahrens and Joshua Langford and two more free throw from Ahrens to take a 24-20 lead with 6:25 on the clock. Williams finished the fastbreak with a layup and Ertel hit another pull-up jumper in the lane as ULM tied the score at 24 with 5:45 left in the opening half. MSU outscored the Warhawks, 11-5, over the last 2:53 to build a six-point halftime lead at 35-29.
 
Williams (15) and Ertel (10) combined for 25 first-half points to pace the Warhawks. ULM also limited MSU to 28-percent shooting from the field (11-of-39), including just 2-of-19 (.105) from 3-point distance.
 
MSU opened the second half with an 18-6 spurt to extend its lead to 53-35 on a reverse layup by Xavier Tillman with 16:00 to play. Winston scored 11-straight points, including three treys, and the Spartans connected on 7-of-8 field-goal attempts during that decisive run. ULM cut its deficit to 13 twice but failed to close the margin any further in the second half. A layup by Conner George gave MSU its largest lead at 21, 80-59, with 23 seconds left.
 
"Our team played a good first half and really competed well," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "To hang with Michigan State for 20 minutes is a good feather in our cap and a positive we can take back with us to Louisiana.
 
"The game got away from us early in the second half. Cassius Winston hit some 3s to get them going, but the 3-point line didn't beat us tonight, it was Michigan State's ability to drive the ball to the basket. We gave up way too many layups in the second half. They have bigger, stronger athletes, who wore us down throughout the game. Michigan State made an effort to drive the ball in the second half, and we really don't have shot-blockers or beef at the backend of our defense. You've got to hit a bunch of 3s to offset that, but we didn't shoot it well enough to hang in there in the second half.
 
"The reason that we're here playing Michigan State is because I'm a huge fan of Coach Tom Izzo," Richard continued. "I've been wanting to come here for years. I've been a head coach for 18 years, and I've always want to come play in this venue. Izzo has built an elite program. He has a system in place to develop players throughout the course of their careers. Michigan State produces its share of NBA players but not a ton of pros. That's why this is a real program.
 
"Coach Izzo was very complimentary about our team after the game. This was a great experience for your players, especially to play in front of a great crowd. It's good for our players to hear the crowd get up and roar for its team because we're going to face that on the road in league play. There are a lot of positives to take home."
 
Winston hit 7-of-13 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 3-pointers, in the second half. As a team, MSU shot 55 percent (17-of-31) from the floor, hitting 4-of-10 3-point field-goal attempts, over the last 20 minutes.
 
The Spartans also got 16 points from Langford along with a double-double from Tillman, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds. MSU outrebounded ULM, 51-37, and outscored the Warhawks in the paint, 38-20.
 
Williams led ULM with a career-high 25 points, followed by Ertel who finished a season-high 20 points, hitting 7-of-14 field-goal attempts including 2-of-4 3-pointers. Travis Munnings and Andre Washington collected double-figure rebounds, collecting 12 and 11, respectively for the Warhawks.
 
"JD Williams is starting to come into his own," Richard said. "He had a big night, and many times, I thought his quickness bothered Michigan State. We started running some stuff for him, trying to get him in some one-on-one situations, so he could drive the ball. JD also knocked down some 3s, so he's beginning to emerge as that scorer we're looking for, especially with Daishon (Smith) out of the lineup right now. He's certainly a guy that has the ability to go off on a given night."
 
ULM played its second-straight game without guard Daishon Smith (17.0 points per game; 6-of-8 3-pointers), who suffered a hamstring injury in last Saturday's game against Millsaps College.
 
"We need to get off the road and rest up a little bit," Richard said. "It's been a grueling stretch. We've played three games in five days, and that's hard to do, especially early in the season.
 
"As coaches, we need to take the time to evaluate the last three games … dig in and identify what we did well and what we need to work on moving forward. We're in the middle of a five-game road swing, so there's not time to hang our heads. We did some good things in these last two games at Texas and Michigan State."
 
After a nine-day break, ULM will play its third of five-straight road games at Tennessee Tech on Friday, Nov. 23, with tipoff set for 6 p.m.
 
 
Print Friendly Version