Michigan State found themselves in the third place game of the Maui Invitational, trailing by 10 points at the half to a good Washington team. Another loss would have sent the Spartans home with nothing but a close victory over DII Chaminade, and the team's confidence could very well have been shot. Instead, the Spartans came out with a fantastic second half, despite a Kalin Lucas injury scare, and picked up a big 76-71 win.

The ongoing concern for the Spartans was still a big problem--they turned it over on 29 percent of their possessions. Only Lucas was immune from the constant miscues, as he turned it over just twice while dominating the ball. Lucas finished with 29 points on 13 shots, the best scoring output of his career, and the Michigan State offense was phenomenal when he was on the floor (1.27 points per possession). The full +/- data follows:

Garrick Sherman was active on both ends (10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks), and the only blemish on his game was his 4 turnovers. Sherman is now shooting 15 for 19 from the field (79 percent). His play on the defensive end was reflected in his team's stinginess while he played (0.93 points per possession allowed to a very good offensive squad).

Minnesota had no trouble with the Bison of North Dakota State in an 84-65 win. The Gophers crashed the offensive glass and boasted a huge advantage at the foul line, making 21 free tosses to just 9 for NDSU. It was three-point shooting that saved Minnesota's eFG percentage as they hit 9 of 19 from deep and just 44 percent from two. As you'd expect, Blake Hoffarber was the main contributor here, hitting 4 of 8 from three on the way to 24 points, but freshman big man Maurice Walker knocked in 2 for 2 from distance as well.

Trevor Mbakwe earned 12 free throws on just 3 field goal attempts, leading to 12 points and 7 rebounds, while Colton Iverson had 9 points and 11 boards. Minnesota's height clearly bothered the Bison, who shot just 36 percent from two and had 12 of their shots blocked.

On Thanksgiving, Wisconsin won ugly over Manhattan, 50-35. Some of that low point total was due to tempo--the 56 possession pace was slow even for the Badgers--but there was also plenty of poor shooting to go around. The teams combined to shoot 25 percent from three, and Manhattan barely bested that mark from inside the arc (29 percent on twos). This was a good game to improve your rebounding average.

Jon Leuer finished with 16 points (16 shots), 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and no turnovers. Freshman Josh Gasser continued his nice play to start the season with 12 points and 4 assists (1 turnover). Surprisingly, human rebound Ryan Evans grabbed just 1 carom in 12 minutes.

After a light holiday schedule, most of the Big Ten gets back into action today and tonight with seven games. The full slate can be found here. As this post goes live, Wisconsin is currently locked in a tight one with Boston College early in the second half. Go turn on ESPN!

- Posted by Mike Portscheller