GREENVILLE — From the get-go, Michigan State senior Joey Hauser seemed to feel right at home inside Bon Secours Wellness arena.
The senior tied a career high with 27 points for the Spartans in their 74-73 victory over Davidson. His game and guard Tyson Walker’s free throws with less than four seconds left gave Michigan State the win.
Michigan State (23-12) will now take on Duke (29-6) as Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski face off for the 16th time on Sunday afternoon in Greenville.
“It was a helluva basketball game,” Izzo told reporters postgame. “We made our share of mistakes, and we made our share of great plays. I thought it was a little bit of a roller coaster, but that’s a helluva team we beat. Bob’s a helluva coach. I’ve known that for many years, and I was impressed.”
Here are three takeaways as Michigan State advanced past Davidson:
Michigan State survive up-and-down second half
What was expected to be a close game – Michigan State was listed as a one-point favorite before tip-off in some places – turned into exactly just that.
The two teams shot a combined 46 percent from the field in the first half. And that carried over in to the second half as both shot over 45 percent on field goal attempts in the game. Davidson made 10 3-pointers as well.
That was largely the reason the game teetered back and forth for the entire 40 minutes: It was tied 11 times, and eight times the lead changed hands.
Davidson took a 52-49 lead with just under 7:30 left, but sophomore guard AJ Hoggard and seniors Hauser and Gabe Brown came up big down the stretch.
Hoggard’s layup with just more than seven minutes left cut the Davidson lead to one and then the Spartans used a 6-of-7 shooting run until the under four minute media timeout to take a 61-56 lead with 3:38 left.
The Spartans didn’t make a shot attempt from the floor in the final three minutes, but hung on with free throws to win the game.
Joey Hauser scores season high
Hauser had a big first half for Michigan State. He scored 12 points before the halftime buzzer sounded and helped the Spartans to their one-point lead at the break. He scored his 12 on a 5-of-5 shooting performance, and the total was his most since he scored 14 points against archrival Michigan on Jan. 29. His 27 points is 10 more than his previous season high.
A forward and Marquette transfer, Hauser began the game aggressively: His 3-pointer from the wing gave the Spartans a 5-0 lead with 17:40 left in the first half and set the tone. He knocked in two 3s by the time half rolled around.
It also set the tone for a big game: The senior finished with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting and a 4-of-6 performance from deep. He also pulled down eight rebounds.
“It’s a new season,” Hauser told reporters. “That’s the beauty of this tournament. Anything can happen. I thought we had a really good plan offensively, so I felt really confident in that. Offensively, I’ve been struggling this season, just trying to let it fly and not worry about missing shots.
“So tonight I really just let that happen, and good things happened.”
Duke, Michigan State to clash Sunday
Michigan State has been known for its long tournament runs under coach Tom Izzo.
After losing to UCLA in the first four last season, the Spartans won their first game of the tournament for the first time since their run to the Final Four in 2019.
Now Michigan State will face off with No. 2 seed Duke on Sunday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The game becomes a highly anticipated matchup between a pair of blue bloods that last played on Dec. 1, 2020, when MSU defeated Duke 75-69 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
“He’s been the class of the class,” Izzo said of Krzyzewski after the game, “I said I gotta be his favorite coach, because he’s beaten us like a drum.”
Michigan State, a No. 7 seed, played Duke in East Lansing during the 2019-20 season and fell 87-75 on Dec. 3, 2019. The last meeting before that, the Spartans defeated Duke in the Elite Eight during the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Tom Izzo is 3-12 all time as a head coach when facing Krzyzewski.
Tip-off for the Blue Devil’s matchup with MSU on Sunday was announced just after midnight Monday and is set for 5:15 p.m.
Joe Dandron covers high school athletics and more for The Greenville News. Contact him at jdandron@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: 3 takeaways from Michigan State’s first round victory over Davidson