After Minnesota closed within 102-100, Victor Wembanyama, as part of a 16 point fourth quarter masterpiece, captained a 13-8 finish, and San Antonio righted the wrongs of their earlier free throw shooting woes to put away the Wolves 115-108. With Anthony Edwards inserted into the starting lineup for game 3, it was a tale of two first quarters as the Spurs surged to an 18-3 advantage and promptly ceded nearly all of it back to the Wolves in the closing four minutes. Despite the teams being knotted at 51 at the half, San Antonio was able to grab a hold of the lead through most of the second half before Wembanyama’s crunchtime takeover.
Minnesota
Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 76-73 loss at Minnesota
1. MSU nearly got away with a regrettable performance for most of the night at Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — If only the Spartans had played the first 38 minutes with the tenacity and purpose they played the last two. There’s a lesson in there. One Michigan State’s basketball team probably shouldn’t have had to learn.
For most of Wednesday night, MSU experienced the other side of a feel-good home game in a 76-73 defeat. And the Spartans didn’t have the goods most of the night to prevent it.
Minnesota, which entered the game shooting less than 33% from beyond the arc, made 10 of 21 3s — which felt like 19 of 21. And the Gophers, who had been collapsing late in games, built enough of a margin — 67-51 with four minutes left and still 69-60 before a Jordan Scott 3 with 59 seconds left — to hang on for the biggest win at The Barn in a long time.
The Gophers might have held on by the skin of their teeth, but the students rushing the court and the elation by Minnesota’s players explained how big this was. And for MSU, it was the first bad loss of the season. Not an unexplainable defeat or an entirely unexpected one. But one a lot of other teams that are near the top of the Big Ten standings and pushing for top seeds in the NCAA tournament won’t have.
At halftime, MSU’s core four — Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper — had a combined four points on 2-for-14 shooting. MSU was in a funk most of the night and didn’t have answers on either end.
If college basketball games were 41 minutes instead of 40, the Spartans might have gotten away with it. Instead, they lost their second straight and lost one that really hurts their chances of staying in the Big Ten title race. They’ve got to get their mojo back from the start Saturday against Illinois.
2. Jordan Scott’s starting debut shows why he’s starting
MSU doesn’t want Jordan Scott to be its leading scorer yet, I don’t think. Not unless he becomes a 15-point-per-game guy every night. But he wasn’t the reason the Spartans lost Wednesday night, even if his performance in his first career start had some ups and downs. He got outmuscled and beaten defensively a few times on the block and turned it over twice. Teams are gong to attack him physically, if they have the personnel on the wing to do it. He’s got to be ready for that and his teammates have to be ready to help.
But Scott also made some shots — and did so on a night not a lot of other guys were making them and when none of Spartans’ core guys were making much. He hit a step-in jumper on MSU’s first possession and three 3s — one a huge shot from the left side to pull MSU to within 38-30, before he nearly came up with a steal seconds later, diving out of bounds, and another with a minute left as MSU tried to make a furious comeback. The 3 he missed would a been a big one, too. He finished with 15 points, on 5-for-8 shooting, with a couple rebounds, an assist and two steals. He was 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. He’s got to get better there. MSU’s problem was that Scott’s points were a team-high most of the night, until a flurry by Coen Carr in the final few minutes.
This was a forgettable night in a lot of ways for the Spartans. But Scott gave what MSU should need from him offensively. I don’t think he’s ready yet to do more.
A good first night off the bench for Ugochukwu. Losing him hurt.
This looked like an ideal first night back coming off the bench for Divine Ugochucku. Then, with about 7 minutes until halftime, Ugochukwu suffered some sort of foot or leg injury, subbing himself after a defensive possession.
It was a blow for MSU for a couple reasons. One, he’s the backup point guard again, and has been more often of late, even when he was still the starting shooting guard. Secondly, he was playing really well Wednesday, making a difference on both ends during the eight minutes he was on the court.
Not everybody responds well to moving to the bench after spending a good chunk of the season in the starting lineup. Ugochukwu played with an energy as if he was trying to make a point, that he’s still a factor. And he was.
I also thought the coaching staff handled it well early. These guys aren’t robots. You want to make sure a guy like Ugochukwu understands quickly that he still has value. Tom Izzo used a couple clunky possessions out of the gate as a reason to pull Jeremy Fears aside for a minute. Enter Ugochukwu, who produced some needed offense attacking the rim, his second such scoring drive with MSU trailing 12-3. He stayed in the game when Fears returned and saved a turnover soon after and had a couple of rebounds, after which he pushed the ball up the court. He was good.
Then it was done suddenly. He went to the locker room for a while, before returning to the bench in the second half, but didn’t play again. MSU needs him. We’ve seen in a few times this season. He’s not one of the four most important players on the Spartans. Probably not even fifth. But he’s not far behind. Not having him for any length of time would leave a mark.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @Graham_Couch.
San Antonio, despite its early success, struggled for some time to find sufficient support of Wembanyama (39 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks). Running mates Stephon Castle (13 points, 12 assists, and 4 rebounds) and De’Aaron Fox (17 points and 5 assists) started slowly, but both of them worked through the kinks when it mattered most. Devin Vassell (13 points and 6 rebounds) made just the right plays on both ends. Rookie Carter Bryant (6 points and 2 rebounds) made the most of his first half minutes to help the Spurs stay ever so slightly ahead of the Wolves. Keldon Johnson (11 points) worked through an ineffectual playoffs thus far and had a much-needed burst late in the third quarter. Dylan Harper (8 points and 4 rebounds) figured meaningfully in the closing minutes.
Minnesota’s Edwards (32 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists) led the way as expected with Jaden McDaniels (17 points and 7 rebounds) reprising his standout role from the Denver series. Former Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists) had an excellent effort off the bench, while Ayo Dosummu (11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists) also helped the Wolves nearly pull off the upset.
San Antonio picked up where it left off from Wednesday night showcasing its defensive clamps – Edwards’ free throw was the only Minnesota scoring as they missed their first 11 shots. Wembanyama again set up shop in the paint and scored four early ones and netted 9 of the team’s first 11 points. The Wolves stayed glued to one point until the 5:09 mark when a Gobert tip-in roused the crowd from slumber. The Spurs reached zenith at 18-3. Despite the early San Antonio advantage, both teams shot a combined 9-for-36 (25%) over the first nine minutes, which was a foreboding lurch into Minnesota’s closing run. Gobert generated surprising offense, which emboldened Edwards to seek out his offense and the Wolves closed within 22-23 after one.
Three quick Minnesota field goals threatened to cause the Target Center to ’go crazy,‘ but the Spurs’ veterans – Wembanyama and Fox – stabilized them over several tense possessions. Bryant saw first half action and hit a pair of timely threes. Despite wresting the lead back, San Antonio left plentiful points on the board with its free throw misses. The teams fought and clawed to stay within 1-2 possesions of each other until fireworks from Minnesota and San Antonio resulted in a 51 tie at the half.
The teams put up a flurry of threes during a whirlwind third period. San Antonio remained ahead by a handful after the artillery exchange. The really interesting thing was that different players accounted for each three on both sides. The Spurs pushed their lead to as high as seven until Edwards and Dosummu connected on several quick field goals. Wembanyama, while having his left arm behind held by Gobert, swatted away Edwards’ floater with his right hand, and then the Wolves star held his right side as the center tried to run upcourt to join his tammates. After the pace slowed to a veritable crawl, San Antonio still found itself up seven going to the final 12 minutes.
- This was the second game this series where Randle made hostile contact to Castle, and the Spurs guard was whistled for the foul. Tonight’s call, however, was overturned after review.
- If Gobert continues to stay long stretches on the bench, that may effectively consume any meaningful Kornet minutes.
- My friend said, “remember when Ginobili would get fouled… his hair would fly everywhere? That’s Castle” And all I could reply with was “until 2007.”
- Does the Amazon arrow change directions depending on who’s leading?
- It makes sense why the Spurs tried to sell tickets to people within 150 miles of San Antonio in Round 1. The Philadelphia / New York game very much sounded like a pro-Knicks crowd.
- My three sisters and I ended our respective eulogies for my dad with ‘Go Spurs Go.’
- Sequence of the Game #1: Several minutes in, Wembanyama swatted away Randle’s attempt, sped past other Wolves down the floor, and and converted an and-1 over McDaniels. #wemblock
- Sequence of the Game #2: After a Reid three, Fox slithered down to the other end and got a layup over three Timberwolves.
Wembanyama dunked home successive lob passes from Vassell and Castle for San Antonio’s first four points. Fox deflected a pass on the first Wolves possession. (Wembanyama’s first block looked like a goaltend but we’ll keep that between you and me.) Wembanyama’s turnaround banker made it 11-1. The only negative for the Spurs was getting into the foul bonus in less than five minutes. Johnson’s catch-and-shoot triple made it 14-1. Reid’s three caused Mitch Johnson to burn his late period timeout. Gobert’s second and third buckets kickstarted a 9-0 run late in the stanza. Vassell’s floater salvaged a series of fraught moments. Edwards went on a personal twelve point explosion to draw Minnesota within one.
Another Wembanyama lob provided momentary relief from the Wolves’ onslaught – as Edwards, Reid, and McDaniels connected early on in the second period. Bryant hit a corner three to put San Antonio ahead for mere seconds. Bryant’s next one – a shotclock beating three – put the Spurs back up four. Minnesota again drew San Antonio into the foul bonus halfway through. Right as I was muttering to myself that he was settling for too many threes, Castle’s pull-up jumper in the paint put the Spurs up six. An offensive foul on Reid – who elbowed Kornet in the face – was overturned due to the Spurs’ center holding with his left hand. San Antonio challenged an offensive foul whistled on Castle and it was unfortunately upheld. Reid’s corner three put Minnesota back up. but Castle drew Reid’s third foul shortly after. After Castle swiped it clean from Randle, Fox hit his second straight field goal, but that was matched by a McDaniels three tying the game at 51.
Dosummu replaced Mike Conley in the starting lineup, and San Antonio made some decent stops to start the second half. Threes from Castle and Wembanyama put the Spurs up six. After the Wolves bigs used Wembanyama as a punching bag, the referees finally whistled Randle for an offensive foul on an elbow extension. Vassell threw down a thunderous lefty jam seconds later. Edwards hit two baseline floaters and Dosummi followed with a corner three. Castle and Kornet ran pick and roll action to get the center a runner. Harper took a shot to the head on a loose ball situation and stayed down on the court for minutes, while Castle and McDaniels were assessed technicals. San Antonio got into the foul bonus but continued to put up ‘1-for-2s.’ Johnson paired two freebies with a wing three and the Spurs were relieved to head to the fourth up 86-79.
For the Wolves fan’s perspective, please visit Canis Hoopus.
San Antonio stays in the Twin Cities for Game 4 with Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night at 6:30 PM CDT on NBC.
Police in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, are searching for a suspect after an individual was injured in a shooting following an altercation on Friday morning.
Officers responded to the 3300 block of 76th Street around 2:45 a.m. for a report of shots fired and a person who had been hit by gunfire, according to the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. They found the 911 caller, who was struck by a bullet. They were taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, officials said.
Investigators said the suspect was trying to get into the vehicle of the caller. Both individuals shot at each other after a short verbal altercation, according to police.
The suspect, whose description has yet to be disclosed by law enforcement, left the scene on foot.
Police are asking area residents who have video of the shooting or the suspect to email the footage to them.
Anyone who sees the suspect is urged not to approach them and to call 911. According to police, they are considered armed and dangerous.
Can you park in your own driveway with a pickup truck? HOA answers
Can you park in your own driveway with a pickup truck? HOA answers
A bipartisan bill limiting homeowners’ association fees, implementing new transparency and conflict-of-interest rules and establishing a path to dissolve some HOAs passed the Minnesota Senate Wednesday. The bill (SF1750) now heads to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk for final approval.
Homeowners in Minnesota have faced massive charges from their HOAs for questionable construction projects, like new roofs and siding. A 2025 Reformer investigation found that some HOA management companies hired their own subsidiaries to complete expensive construction projects. In at least one case, a homeowner wound up in foreclosure due to hefty assessments.
The bill passed by the Senate — and previously, by the House — would cap HOA fines at $100, with exceptions for repeat violations, health and safety risks, property damage or illegal rentals. It would require board members and property managers to disclose their financial relationships and recuse themselves from decisions from which they could financially benefit.
If signed into law by Walz, it would also require HOAs to make budgets available prior to meetings and to provide copies of contracts to residents upon request.
Multiple homeowners interviewed by the Reformer said that their questions for their HOA were referred to the board’s attorney — and then the resident was charged legal fees for the lawyers’ time.
The bill would bar HOAs from charging residents legal fees for questioning fines or charges unless a formal hearing is held and the fine or assessment is upheld.
The legislation is the product of years of collaboration and negotiations among homeowners, HOA board members, lawmakers and property management companies. In 2024, the Legislature created a working group tasked with proposing reforms to the state’s laws governing HOAs and similar organizations. Lawmakers on the task force held several listening sessions to hear homeowners’ horror stories (and support for HOAs via some dedicated board members).
The recommendations from that group became the foundation of the bill passed Wednesday.
“The reforms in this bill will rein in abusive HOAs by empowering residents with more information, more rights and more protections,” said Sen. Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, the top Republican on the Senate housing committee and a member of the HOA working group. “This bill is a true bipartisan compromise — in addition to adding consumer protections, nearly every concern raised in good faith was addressed.”
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
-
New York45 minutes agoMan Dies in Subway Attack; Mamdani Orders Inquiry Into Suspect’s Release From Bellevue
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoPatchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoWhere to watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 9
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoFC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake Preview: Lineups, Storylines & What to Watch
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoMiami Area Gets First New Manufactured Home Community in Decades
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoWhat we know about wrong-way driver killed in head-on collision with state trooper in Lynnfield – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoA Frontier plane hits a pedestrian during takeoff at Denver airport
-
Seattle, WA2 hours ago
Where to watch Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 9