A.J. Hoggard had 16 points and seven assists to lead Michigan State to a 70-57 win over No. 23 Rutgers in a Big Ten contest on Thursday in East Lansing, Mich.
Joey Hauser had 13 points and six rebounds, Tyson Walker scored 12 points and freshman Jaxon Kohler had career-high totals of 12 points and 11 rebounds for Michigan State (13-6, 5-3 Big Ten), which had lost two straight.
Clifford Omoruyi had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Paul Mulcahy scored 12 points and Caleb McConnell scored 11 points for Rutgers (13-6, 5-3), which lost for only the second time in its past nine games.
The Scarlet Knights were playing as a nationally ranked team for the first time in two years.
The difference in the game was 3-point shooting.
Michigan State went 12 of 22 from 3-point range, while Rutgers was 2 of 17.
Rutgers shot 34.4 percent overall (22 of 64), while Michigan State went 47.3 percent (26 of 55) overall from the field.
The poor shooting more than offset a rebounding advantage for Rutgers, which pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Michigan State 42-34.
Michigan State held a 36-30 lead at halftime, then stretched the lead to nine at 50-41 with 11:09 remaining in the game after a jumper by Hoggard.
Rutgers shaved the deficit to 52-47 with 8:07 left, but Michigan State took control after that.
The Spartans went on a 10-2 run to take a 62-49 lead with 2:55 left after a 3-pointer by Hauser.
Walker delivered the dagger with 1:14 remaining, hitting a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give the Spartans a 67-51 lead.
Rutgers got off to a good start, taking a 13-5 lead with 14:57 remaining in the first half before Michigan State found its footing.
The Spartans went on a 12-3 run to take a 17-16 lead with 11:01 left until halftime, then used a 9-0 run to take a 34-26 lead with 2:09 remaining in the first half.
–Field Level Media
