Michigan State traveled to Minneapolis for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 8 seed and got locked up in a first round matchup with the No. 9 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers. Despite a back and forth barn burner, a second half run propelled the Spartans past Minnesota, 77-67.

Check out the best photos from the win

The Spartans, once again, got off to a bad start but was able to right the ship early. The first half was full of runs, and culminated in a 34-32 lead for Minnesota.

The second half started slow, but MSU sparked a 19-6 run over an 8-minute span to give the team a 63-55 lead with just under five minutes to play. From there, Tyson Walker and Malik Hall closed this game out.

Despite a really tough 30-to-35 minutes for Walker and Hall, the Spartans got contributions from A.J. Hoggard (17 points), Tre Holloman (9 points) and Jaden Akins (9 points), who picked up the slack.

Jaxon Kohler had 7 points, excelling at the center spot, and Xavier Booker added 6 points to really aid the team. The team as a whole also had 10 steals in the contest.

The Spartans will be back in action tomorrow, at noon, against Purdue in a quarterfinal matchup.