Dan Hurley didn’t hide from the moment in East Lansing. He flashed a kiss toward Michigan State’s student section during his halftime TV interview, took the boos with the backdrop, and then watched his UConn team finish the job.
The Huskies walked out of Michigan State with a 78-70 exhibition win over the AP preseason No. 6 Spartans on Tuesday night, a physical, back-and-forth game that had the feel of something far beyond late October. Hurley called it “heavyweight sparring,” and the matchup played that way from start to finish.
UConn’s latest preseason test came without Braylon Mullins, who remained unavailable while continuing to recover from an undisclosed injury. Mullins also missed UConn’s first exhibition, a 72-52 win over Syracuse, though he has since taken part in some live practice.
The biggest night belonged to Nik Khamenia. The Duke transfer led UConn with 19 points and delivered the finishing touches when Michigan State made its late push, scoring four points in the final 1:10 to keep the Spartans at arm’s length. He finished 6 of 11 from the floor, 2-for-4 from 3-point range, and added six rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes.
Silas Demary Jr. gave UConn another steady scoring punch in the battle between two of the nation’s top point guards, finishing with 15 points and four assists while going 3-for-6 from deep. Freshman Colben Landrew looked comfortable in his first true road atmosphere and chipped in 13 points, five rebounds and a steal in 31 minutes.
Michigan State leaned heavily on Jeremy Fears Jr., who was the preseason national player of the year by Blue Ribbon Yearbook and CBS Sports. He carried the Spartans in the second half and ended up with 23 points, eight assists and three steals.
The win also came while UConn played through foul trouble in the frontcourt. Na’jai Hines, who got the start, and Oskar Giltay both battled issues that limited their minutes.
Hines logged 17 minutes, scored eight points, grabbed two rebounds and blocked two shots before fouling out with 2:15 left. Giltay finished with four points, six rebounds and four fouls in 16 minutes.
Even with the frontcourt rotation strained, UConn still managed to make Michigan State work for every clean look. The Spartans shot 39.6% from the field and made just three of 20 3-pointers, while the Huskies shot 47.4% overall and hit 10 of 25 from beyond the arc.
The second half opened with Landrew scoring UConn’s first eight points, a quick burst that helped the Huskies absorb an early Michigan State rally after the Spartans trimmed an eight-point deficit to two. Jayden Ross then buried a wing 3 off a kickout from Hines, who also had three assists.
From there, UConn’s offense settled into its sharpest stretch of the preseason. The Huskies strung together seven straight made shots, including 3-pointers from Junior County and Nils Machowski and a two-handed dunk from Hines, to build their first double-digit cushion of the night with under nine minutes to play.
UConn eventually stretched the lead to 15 with less than six minutes left. Machowski, the Wofford transfer, made his presence felt with a second 3-pointer in three tries and finished with nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 13 minutes off the bench.
Michigan State refused to go quietly. Fears scored 13 points in the final six minutes, eight of them at the line, to give the Spartans a chance. But every time they threatened, Khamenia answered.
The Huskies now close out their preseason schedule with Purdue coming to PeoplesBank Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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