EAST LANSING — Jordan Scott glowed as he proudly wore a bandage above his right eye while sitting in front of his locker. A badge of honor from a hard-fought defensive war showing why the Michigan State basketball shooting guard is fast becoming one of Tom Izzo’s "OKGs" – “Our Kinda Guys.”
To his right, fellow freshman Cam Ward breathed a sigh of relief from shedding his own medical tape, with his right wrist finally feeling healthy again and his rebounding and scoring returning to early season form.
To the left of Scott, sophomore Kur Teng exuded the confidence of a man who just hit the biggest shot of his life – perhaps the biggest of the season so far for the Spartans – by doing the job Izzo called upon him to do. And by not hesitating to trust himself when given a second chance.
Despite another monster game from Jeremy Fears Jr. and his other three captains in No. 10 MSU’s 85-83 overtime win over No. 7 Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 7, Izzo pointed to the contributions of his reserves and role players for pulling off another résumé-building victory and getting the Spartans back on track after a two-game losing streak.
“Everybody did something,” Izzo said.
Scott showed why he earned his second career start and his first at Breslin Center with his scrappy, high-energy play and smothering defensive presence.
The 6-foot-8 rookie shouldered the bulk of the defensive burden in guarding Keaton Wagler, holding the Illinois star freshman to just 2-for-16 shooting while using up all five of his fouls in nearly 28 minutes of court time. Wagler – a 6-6 swingman who had 46 points in a road game against Purdue four games earlier – finished with 16 points but also had three turnovers to go with three assists and six rebounds.
“He was due. It’s the law of averages, he was due,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said of Wagler, who also has six other 20-plus-point games this season. “I’ll give them all the credit, they did a nice job today. But those are the same exact shots he’s been making all season long.”
Scott, meanwhile, chipped in 10 points, four rebounds and multiple deflections and hustle plays on top of frustrating Wagler after taking an accidental elbow to the face from teammate Carson Cooper early in the game that drew blood and required suturing.
Even though MSU’s medical staff glued the wound shut and had to trim the bandage once to keep it out of his vision field, Scott said he felt more comfortable in his second start after scoring a career high 15 points in his first, MSU’s 76-73 loss at Minnesota last Wednesday.
“These big games, these big moments, just the team being able to trust me – that’s definitely 100% why,” Scott said about why he chose MSU. “We knew this was a must-win game. We knew they were coming in here to try and take away the Big Ten race a little bit. But we knew this was a must-win game, so we knew we needed to leave everything out on the court today.”
Ward has averaged 2.3 points and 2.9 rebounds while averaging just 13.5 minutes in the 15 games since a hard fall in a Thanksgiving Day win over North Carolina. The 6-9 power forward delivered eight points and seven rebounds against the Illini in 18:12 of action,
“I’m now just starting to play without anything on (the wrist) for real, for real,” Ward said. “I just had a little tape on it, kind of for the mental purposes of having something on it, just to see. Other than that, I’ve been healthy. I’m just glad that I’m kind of getting there now to fully healthy, and now I’m able to really just help contribute to the team just trying to win games late on.”
Teng scored 10 points, his third time reaching double figures in Big Ten play since January and ninth time this season. The 6-5 shooting guard is now averaging 6.8 points after going 4-for-10 from the floor. Along with two midrange jumpers, Teng went 2-for-6 on 3s.
Though he missed one seconds prior, Teng got the help of a Jaxon Kohler rebound, when the big passed it back to him for a second-chance shot. He launched again without hesitation and swished the go-ahead bucket with 8.6 seconds left in regulation. Even though MSU didn’t need a 3-pointer at the moment, trailing by a point, it became critical because the Illini tied it with two free throws with 1 second left to send the game to overtime.
“They kind of just threw me in there for that purpose, which was unfortunate. … I had to make sure I made the second one and make sure I stayed confident,” Teng said. “That was the best shot available, so I’m glad it was a 3.”
Kohler had his first double-double since Jan. 13 with 11 points and 16 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass. The senior captain said he patiently waited for a lane to open up to get the ball back to Teng rather than go back up with it in the paint after his offensive rebound. It’s the level of trust Kohler said he and his teammates have in Teng, who is shooting 38.9% from 3-point range this season, including 35.3% in Big Ten play.
“There was an opening, and I saw Kur wide open. And I just gave it (to him),” Kohler said. “I tried to hit him right in the shot pocket. He caught it, he shot it. And I didn’t even feel like I needed to box out, because I knew that was going in.
“Because I know if he misses the first one, he for sure ain’t gonna miss the second one.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Friday's game
Matchup: No. 10 Michigan State (20-4, 10-3) at Wisconsin (16-7, 8-4).
Tipoff: 8 p.m., Feb. 13; Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin.
TV/radio: Fox; WJIM 1240-AM
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball: Jordan Scott 'D,' Kur Teng 3 key vs Illini