The #16 Michigan State Spartans will have entered Thursday’s home bout with the frisky Washington Huskies with great confidence given their seven-game win streak. However, even the most optimistic outlook on the game would not have predicted Tom Izzo’s team leading at halftime by a score of 42-13. It was a spectacular all-around day for Sparty, and a historically bad night Danny Sprinkle and Washington.
Washington Crashes Back to Earth in a Historically Bad Performance
When head coach Danny Sprinkle created a gameplan for dealing with Michigan State’s top-ten defense, it surely did not involve planning for his team missing their first 13 shots, turning the ball over 4 times in that stretch, and falling behind by a score of 16-2 in the first ten minutes of play. It did not get much better in the first half, and the Huskies entered the break down by 29 points with only a paltry 13 points to their name on just 12% from the floor as a team.
Washington ended the game shooting 32% from the field as a team. Great Osobor, who has been fantastic for the Huskies this season, finished with just 6 points and 3 rebounds. Exciting freshman guard Zoom Diallo had just 8, and DJ Davis followed up his 31-point career-high performance against Illinois with just 3 points.
One of the most disastrous halves of Washington basketball I’ve seen in some time, let alone in a season where the Huskies also trailed D2 Seattle Pacific by double digits at halftime and Seattle U by over 20.
Down 42-13 and took over 10 minutes to make a basket. Sheesh.
— Eli Boettger (@boettger_eli) January 10, 2025
The final score of 88-54 was Washington’s largest loss since 2002. Sprinkle did not sugar-coat anything postgame:
They just out-toughed us. They outcompeted us. They played with a lot better energy and effort than we did.
Thursday’s loss is truly a flush it and forget it type of game. Absolutely nothing went right for the Huskies on their first true road game against a historic member of the Big 10.
Jase Richardson is the Real Deal for Michigan State
It’s hard to point to a Michigan State player that did not have a great evening on Thursday, but when looking at the best performers of the day, Jase Richardson stands out in a big way. While it was senior guard Jaden Akins who led the Spartans in scoring with 20 points, Richardson was a standout on the night. The freshman forward has been coming off the bench for Tom Izzo, but that doesn’t stop him from getting it done in a way that is turning the heads of NBA scouts.
Richardson is a smooth operator, making quick moves and tough shots look easy to execute. Where Richardson has been prone to making life tough on himself throughout the season, against Washington, everything was happening for the freshman. He managed 12 points on 5-8 from the field. His five makes included one three-pointer and a spectacular fall-away jumper.
TOUGH fade away from Jase Richardson 😤 @JaseRich4 x @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/GFxdj3vH8d
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 10, 2025
The son of former NBA star Jason Richardson, Jase is looking pro-ready at just 19 years old. He is shooting over 46% from three on the season (albeit on a low volume of attempts), showing polished ability scoring at all three levels, and both tenacity and ability as an on-ball defender. Richardson has been one of the ceiling-raisers for Izzo, and is certainly a name to watch in the summer for the NBA Draft.
What’s Ahead for Both Washington and Michigan State
Washington has had a very challenging recent schedule. After an upset over Maryland, a strong performance in a close loss to Illinois, they found themselves unable to keep the positive momentum building in a massive letdown in East Lansing. Unfortunately, the schedule is far from kind looking ahead.
Next up for Washington is a matchup just down the road in Ann Arbor against #24 Michigan. Following these two ranked squads from the state of Michigan is three more ranked teams: #20 Purdue, #15 Oregon, and #22 UCLA. Sprinkle’s squad will know a lot about themselves by the end of this brutal stretch. Washington vs Michigan is scheduled for Sunday.
Michigan State has Northwestern and Penn State on tap before a massive contest against #13 Illinois. It will be important for the Spartans to not overlook Northwestern, who have upset Illinois this season. Michigan State takes on Northwestern on Sunday.
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