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Texas Southern stuns No. 25 Michigan State in OT

Dec 21, 2014 - 4:12 AM East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Texas Southern did not take its first lead of the game until there was only 1:26 remaining in regulation.

The Tigers were then able to force overtime and pull off a 71-64 upset win over No. 25 Michigan State on Saturday.

Jason Carter's 3-pointer capped a 7-0 Texas Southern run to give it a 53-52 lead, and his bucket the next possession helped push the game to overtime.

Texas Southern (2-8) hit 12 free throws in the extra session to record its second win of the season.

Chris Thomas led all scorers with 22 points for the Tigers, while Malcolm Riley added 20 off the bench.

The Spartans (8-4) got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Matt Costello, and Denzel Valentine chipped in 15. Michigan State was just 4-of-21 from long distance.

"What we are trying to do is be all in every possession," said Tigers coach Mike Davis. "Every possession we need to block out. I thought that tonight we did that. I thought Michigan State just came out and kind of played. They missed some shots early, and they just kept missing shots."

After Carter's layup with 29 seconds left, the Spartans were given a great opportunity to win the game in regulation. However, Javon Bess only made 1- of-2 at the line, and the game went to overtime after the Tigers turned the ball over as time expired.

Michigan State made more shots from the floor in overtime than Texas Southern, but the Tigers hit enough free throws to build up a lead that got as large as nine points. The Spartans never led in overtime and shot just 30.8 percent from the field.

"I have to give Mike Davis all the credit in the world," said Spartans coach Tom Izzo. "His kids played harder than us, they shot better than us, they rebounded the ball not quite as well as us, they turned us over more, they made big plays, they made their free throws."

The Spartans led by as much as eight in the first half but both times they took that eight-point lead, Thomas responded with a bucket on the other hand. Thomas led all scorers at the half with 10 points as Michigan State took a 30-25 lead into the locker room.

Gavin Schilling hit both of Michigan State's first two baskets in the second half with the second giving the Spartans a 34-27 lead 2 1/2 minutes after the break.

The Tigers proceeded to go on their biggest run of the game to tie it up at 34. David Blanks' shot from long range started the 7-0 run, and Madarious Gibbs' jumper tied the game for the first time.

Valentine's triple at the 8:00 mark of the second half extended Michigan State's advantage to eight again, but the Spartans would only hit one more shot the rest of regulation.

Game Notes

Michigan State falls to 2-1 in the all-time series ... Texas Southern was averaging being outscored by 17.4 points per game ... The Tigers are now 1-8 on the road ... The Spartans outrebounded Texas Southern 40-28 ... Michigan State will try to get on track Monday against the Citadel while Texas Southern plays another road game Tuesday at Auburn.