Determined Spartans Smother Huskies

Michigan State senior center Jamie Feick isn’t quite ready for his college basketball career to end.

Feick and fellow senior Quinton Brooks each scored 16 points and Michigan State had a 14-point second-half run Wednesday en route to beating Washington 64-50 in the first round of the NIT.

“We just want to keep playing,” Feick said. “We want to win it. None of us are ready to pack our bags yet.”

The victory moves the Spartans (16-15) into a second-round matchup against the winner of a late game Wednesday between Miami of Ohio and Fresno State.

Mark Sanford scored 12 points and Jason Hamilton 11 for Washington (16-12), which was playing its first postseason game in nine years. The Huskies lost eight of their last 11 games.

Any success Michigan State enjoyed during the regular season came with defense and rebounding. Wednesday was no different.

The Spartans held a 38-29 advantage on the boards behind eight from freshman Antonio Smith and six apiece from Feick and Jon Garavaglia.

Michigan State also limited the Huskies to 34 percent shooting.

“The defense did win the game for us and we did a good job on the boards,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Those are things we have to have to be successful.”

Washington, which trailed 28-21 at halftime, held a 43-42 lead when Donald Watts made two free throws with 9:02 to play.

But Feick scored six straight points to trigger Michigan State’s decisive run.

Brooks added a driving layup and a jump hook, Garavaglia a baseline jumper and Ray Weathers a jumper to give the Spartans a 56-43 lead with 3:06 remaining.

“They responded with big plays from their seniors,” Washington coach Bob Bender said. “When you get into postseason play, those are the guys you expect to step up and they did.”

Washington was 0-for-5 with three turnovers during Michigan State’s 14-0 spurt, and Bender gave all the credit to the Spartans’ defense.

“We could never get a feel for it, and that’s a sign of a good defensive effort,” Bender said.

A 3-pointer from Sanford cut the Huskies’ deficit to 58-50 with 1:56 to go. But Michigan State’s Thomas Kelley and Brooks closed out the scoring by making six straight free throws.

Michigan St. 64, Washington 50

Washington (16-12) - Sanford 4-11 2-2 12, Booker 1-2 0-0 2, MacCullough 4-7 0-1 8, Hamilton 3-7 2-4 11, Boston 2-12 0-0 4, Watts 2-3 2-4 6, Roberson 0-1 0-0 0, Femerling 0-0 0-0 0, Hartman 1-5 0-0 2, Amos 1-5 3-9 5. Totals 18-53 9-20 50.

Michigan State (16-15) - Smith 1-1 0-1 2, Brooks 6-8 4-4 16, Feick 6-11 4-5 16, Weathers 3-8 0-1 6, Beathea 3-6 0-0 6, Kelley 1-3 6-6 8, Mull 0-0 0-0 0, Klein 0-2 0-0 0, Garavaglia 4-9 2-2 10. Totals 24-48 16-19 64.

Halftime-Michigan St. 28, Washington 21. 3-Point goals-Washington 5-21 (Hamilton 3-6, Sanford 2-7, Booker 0-1, Roberson 0-1, Hartman 0-3, Boston 0-3), Michigan St. 0-8 (Garavaglia 0-1, Weathers 0-2, Klein 0-2, Beathea 0-3). Fouled out-Booker, Smith. Rebounds-Washington 29 (Hamilton 6), Michigan St. 38 (Smith 8). Assists-Washington 10 (Booker 4), Michigan St. 11 (Kelley 4). Total fouls-Washington 22, Michigan St. 18. A-6,611.