No. 5 Michigan State Beats Minnesota 87-75 In OT

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Keith Appling scored 24 points to help No. 5 Michigan State beat Minnesota 87-75 in overtime Saturday after overcoming a double-digit deficit in the second half and blowing a lead late in regulation.

The Spartans (15-1, 4-0 Big Ten) scored 15 straight points while holding the Golden Gophers (13-4, 2-2) scoreless for nearly 8 minutes after trailing 53-43 with 15:57 left.

Michigan State missed an opportunity to win in regulation for the second straight game, losing a five-point lead in the last 13 seconds.

Minnesota's Malik Smith made his fifth 3-pointer, Gary Harris missed two free throws with 11.3 seconds left for the Spartans and DeAndre Mathieu's layup with 1.7 seconds left tied the game and sent it to overtime.

Michigan State scored the first nine points of OT, ending Minnesota's chance to beat a top-five team on its home court for the first time in school history and to win at the Breslin Center for the first time since 1997.

The Spartans were without Adreian Payne because of a sprained right foot.

Payne didn't start the previous game, but scored 18 points in an overtime win over No. 3 Ohio State in which Michigan State wasted a 17-point lead in the second half.

The Spartans missed the standout senior as they barely did enough to keep winning.

Minnesota guard Austin Hollins turned the ball over with 42 seconds left and teammate Andre Hollins had an ill-advised 3-pointer blocked with 23 seconds left, trailing by three on each possession.

Then, the Gophers struggled to take care of the basketball in OT and couldn't stop the Spartans.

Minnesota needed more than 4 minutes to score in the extra period and those points pulled it within seven.

Andre Hollins scored 24 and Smith had 17 points off the bench. Smith scored 11 of his points, nine on 3-pointers, by halftime when the Gophers led 41-36 after making 7 of 12 shots beyond the arc.

Harris had 19 points and redshirt freshman Kenny Kaminski scored a season-high 15 -- all on 3-pointers.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has not been pleased lately with Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine and both played relatively well. Dawson had six points and 10 rebounds. Valentine had nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

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