Minnesota
Michigan State basketball wins 13th straight with 73-51 victory over Minnesota
EAST LANSING – In a flash, Tre Holloman took over the game. In every facet. Against his hometown team.
The junior guard’s seismic stretch of three consecutive 3-pointers near the end of the first half made Breslin Center shake with excitement as No. 7 Michigan State basketball overwhelmed Minnesota for the second time this season.
Holloman led another balanced effort with 12 first-half points, all on 3-pointers, as the Spartans won their 13th straight game, 73-51, on Tuesday night. They are off to its best start and on its longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season, when they also won their first nine Big Ten games and had a 13-game streak to open 18-2.
The Spartans (18-2, 9-0 Big Ten) head to Los Angeles later this week for a two-game road trip, starting 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon at USC (12-8, 4-5) and 8 p.m. next Tuesday at UCLA (15-6, 6-4). Both games will not be on broadcast or cable TV but streamed on NBC’s Peacock app.
Dawson Garcia scored 21 points for Minnesota (11-10, 3-7), which had won three straight after opening league play with six straight losses.
Defense to start
MSU and Minnesota opened the game in a defensive tussle, trading blocked shots and turnovers during a sloppy start.
The floodgates, albeit through some volume shooting early, finally opened from outside for the Spartans. MSU entered ranked 341st out of 355 Division I teams at 28.7% 3-point shooting, 342nd at 5.5 made 3s per game and 325th at 19.1 triple tries a contest.
Holloman made the Spartans first 3-pointer Tuesday on their fifth attempt, a pull-up from deep over the Gophers’ guards, just before the first media timeout. It was part of a 16-6 opening salvo by the Spartans, which was capped by Jaxon Kohler’s first of two first-half 3-pointers.
Through the first 16:34, Minnesota committed nine turnovers to MSU’s five, while each team had four blocks and four steals. That was when Holloman took center stage.
After Carson Cooper missed a pair of technical foul free throws and MSU retained possession, Holloman buried a triple from the right corner with 2:17 to go before half. Jase Richardson picked up a steal at the other end and fed it ahead to Holloman, who pulled up for a second 3-pointer. Then after a Richardson rebound, he again found Holloman. He buried the heat-check third time, and Breslin erupted.
Then it was Holloman’s turn to pick up a steal and hit Richardson, who got fouled. He hit both free throws to cap a 13-0 takeover run and give MSU as big as a 22-point lead. And for good measure, just before halftime, Holloman dished to Szymon Zapala for an alley oop dunk.
The Spartans have not lost since Holloman joined the starting lineup for their overtime win against North Carolina at the Maui Classic.
Izzo movin’ on up
With the win, MSU coach Tom Izzo now has 352 victories in Big Ten regular-season play. A victory over the Trojans on Saturday would move Izzo into a tie with former Indiana coach Bob Knight’s record 353, and he could break that mark by winning both games out West.
It is the first time in Izzo’s 30 seasons the Spartans went undefeated in December and January. And their balanced production continued.
And the balanced production continued.
Jadin Akins and Xavier Booker each added 10 points, while Cooper had nine points and 11 rebounds as MSU finished with a 40-22 rebounding edge that set up a 13-4 second-chance points edge and a 30-20 points in the paint advantage.
Coen Carr had seven points, including a late alley-oop dunk through a foul for a three-point play. Kohler added eight points and seven rebounds.
Richardson had eight assists, Jeremy Fears Jr. had six and Holloman had three as MSU had helpers on 20 of 25 baskets in the game.
The Spartans went 8-for-25 from 3-point range while also holding a 17-3 edge in fastbreak points.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. A the 20-game regular season nd catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a stabbing that occurred at a Walmart Saturday morning.
According to officials, the stabbing took place at approximately 9 a.m. at a Walmart located at 4611 State Highway 29 South in Alexandria, Minnesota.
Police say they found an individual with stab wounds upon arrival, and transported that individual to a local hospital. The condition of the victim is currently unknown.
Alexandria police say the suspect fled the scene before law enforcement arrived, however the individual was later caught by police and taken into custody.
The details of the suspect’s arrest are unknown at this time.
Minnesota
After years at home, thousands of Minnesota state workers are about to return to the office
While labor unions have opposed the new policy, Walz has argued it still allows for flexibility and hopes it will strengthen workplace culture. The state’s workforce of some 40,000, not including those employed by colleges and universities, makes it the second-largest employer in Minnesota behind the Mayo Clinic.
The return to office push won’t fundamentally change the state’s implementation of that plan, said Wayne Waslaski, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Administration. Many employees will still work remotely half the time, reducing space needs from pre-pandemic levels.
“From a space standpoint, we’ll still be in a smaller footprint even after accommodating for the updated telework policy,” Waslaski said.
Wayne Waslask shows off a conference room, which will be used for a new hybrid work schedule, at the State Administration Building. Waslask is the state’s Assistant Commissioner of Property and Risk Services. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Key to that strategy is the state’s embrace of shared workstations. At the Administration Building on the State Capitol campus in St. Paul, teams will work on-site together on the same days. Cubicles are smaller than they used to be — just 6 by 8 feet — and are to be cleaned and empty at the end of each day. Photos, spare ties and other personal effects are to be stored in nearby locker rooms.
Even the entire senior leadership team at the Department of Administration gave up their offices in favor of shared spaces, Waslaski said.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, by many standards, had another successful season in 2024-25.
After reaching the Western Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history last year, Anthony Edwards and company had a bumpy regular season. Despite earning the No. 6 seed, the Wolves managed to knock off the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors en route to the third WCF appearance in the team’s history.
In the penultimate round of the playoffs, Minnesota was overmatched by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who won the series in five games to secure a spot in the NBA Finals. After another solid run comes to an end in the Western Conference Finals, the Wolves will now turn their attention to the draft.
General Manager Tim Connelly and company currently own the No. 17 and No. 31 overall picks in this year’s class, and could add valuable role players to their team on June 25.
Minnesota’s loss to the Thunder seemingly illustrated that the team needs more creation and playmaking alongside Edwards, as Mike Conley is 37-years-old and coming off a lackluster performance against OKC.
To fill this gap, the Wolves will likely turn to some of the young players on their roster, like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham, but the team could also use a draft pick on another ball handler.
After being viewed as lottery picks by some analysts early in the season, Egor Demin, Kasparas Jakucionis and Nolan Traore could all be viable options for Chris Finch’s team. All three of the aforementioned prospects offer good size at the postion to go along with strong playmaking ability.
As a freshman at BYU, Demin averaged 10.6 points, 5.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 41.2% from the field and 27.3% from deep. At the NBA Combine, Demin measured at 6-foot-8 and a quarter of an inch with a wingspan stretching 6-foot-10 and a quarter of an inch.
Jakucionis tallied 15 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field and 31.8% from beyond the arc in his lone season at Illinois. The former FC Barcelona standout measured at 6-foot-4 and three quarters of an inch at the NBA Combine with a 6-foot-7 and three quarters of inch wingspan.
Traore, a 19-year-old prospect from France, averaged 11.6 points, 5.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game while shooting 39.2% from the floor and 30.4% from 3-point range playing for Saint-Quentin. Listed at 6-foot-5, Traore could be the next French prospect to make an impact in the NBA.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
Bike Share Pittsburgh celebrates 10 years in the city
Augusta Anime Fest hosts cosplayers, voice actors for celebration of the Japanese genre
Spring Hill Officials Travel to Washington D.C. for Congressional Briefing
Cleveland Browns Rookie’s Mother Pokes Fun at Son’s Cooking Skills
No. 2 national seed Texas blows early lead to UTSA, falls to losers’ bracket in Austin
-
News1 week agoRead the Full ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report
-
Technology1 week agoNow you can watch the Internet Archive preserve documents in real time
-
Technology1 week agoDiscord might use AI to help you catch up on conversations
-
Science1 week agoTrump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Movie Review: 'Pee-wee as Himself' unmasks Paul Reubens
-
World1 week agoNeo-Nazi cult leader extradited to US for plot to kill Jewish children
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoMovie review: 'Dogma' re-release highlights thoughtful script – UPI.com
-
Business1 week agoPlastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China
