EAST LANSING, Mich. — After a poised, patient performance that put Columbia within a few points of a massive upset, the Lions lost their bearings a bit in the final minutes.
Or maybe the upset-minded Ivy Leaguers were simply tricked by a creative Michigan State crowd.
Columbia committed two shot-clock violations in a row, and the second-ranked Spartans pulled away for a 62-53 victory Friday night.
The Lions were down two when they allowed the shot clock to run out on back-to-back possessions. They may have been thrown off by the fans in East Lansing, who were counting the seconds down falsely to make Columbia think it had more time than it did.
“They are the best-coached fans I’ve ever seen,” Lions coach Kyle Smith said. “They duped us.”
Adreian Payne scored 26 points for Michigan State. The Spartans (3-0) beat top-ranked Kentucky earlier in the week, and they will have a chance to move to the top of next week’s AP Top 25, but only after trailing for a majority of the second half against Columbia.
Maodo Lo had 12 points for Columbia (1-2), which went scoreless for the final 4:27.
“All credit to Columbia. They came out and played their heart out,” Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine said.
Michigan State scored the game’s first nine points, but the Spartans trailed 26-22 at halftime and didn’t lead again until Gary Harris’ three-point play put Michigan State ahead 49-46 with 7:28 to go.
Columbia’s Meiko Lyles made a 3-pointer with 6:08 to go to tie it at 51, and the Lions trailed 54-53 after a layup by Alex Rosenberg, but they didn’t score again.
Still, Smith was proud of his team.
“You play to win,” he said. “We try to compete and win. But the moral victory is that we were competitive, and I expected that. Our guys bring a good effort.”