Marcus Carr ends Minnesota's dominant first half vs MSU with beautiful stepback

The Gophers are rolling while the Spartans are reeling!

The two teams are squaring off Monday evening with both squads heading in very different directions. After the upset win over Iowa, Minnesota has risen to No. 21 in the nation on the latest AP Poll.

For Michigan State, it was just two short weeks ago that the Spartans were up to No. 4 in the nation. Unfortunately, back-to-back losses to open B1G play has dropped Tom Izzo’s squad to No. 17.

Minnesota is gunning to keep that slide going for the Spartans, and Marcus Carr put an exclamation point to an impressive first half by the Gophers. He wound up in isolation against a Michigan State big man with the time running down, setting up a perfect opportunity for a patented Carr stepback.

Check it out:

Everyone knew Marcus Carr was taking the final shot of the first half.

He drained the buzzer-beater, and No. 21 @GopherMBB leads No. 17 Michigan State, 36-16, at the half. 👀 pic.twitter.com/XulAnEAdIl

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 29, 2020

Carr has 10 points at the break, but it is Liam Robbins leading Minnesota with 12 points at the break.

Defensively, the Gophers have suffocated the Spartans with just 16 points by Michigan State at halftime. Izzo’s squad is shooting a miserable 15.8% at halftime while trailing by 20 points, the first time trailing by 20 at halftime since 2018.