Tre Holloman is a third-year guard at Michigan State who had appeared in 76 games for the Spartans before Wednesday.
Career starts: two. Starts this season: zero.
But with an opponent in North Carolina that starts three guards 6-foot-3 or smaller, and with 6-7 senior Frankie Fidler coming off of five straight poor shooting performances, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo opted to downsize his starting lineup in Wednesday's third-place game of the Maui Invitational, which is how Holloman ended up getting just the third start of his college career.
He's 6-2.
And, against UNC, he was great in the Spartans' 94-91 overtime victory that allowed Michigan State to finish 2-1 in Maui. Holloman took nine shots, made five of them and recorded a stat line of 19 points, seven assists, three steals and two rebounds in 36 minutes against the Tar Heels. He scored the first two points in overtime, assisted on the second two and scored four of the Spartans' 12 points in the extra period.
Needless to say, after being up 14 points in regulation, Izzo was furious that his team even had to play an extra period. But, afterward, he told longtime college basketball insider Andy Katz that he stayed positive with his players.
"I told them in the huddle," Izzo said, "'We deserve to win this game. We've outplayed them most of the game. We deserve to win. We've made some mistakes. But we deserve to win. … So wipe the frown off your face and let's go.'"
Michigan State will now return home with a 6-2 record heading into Wednesday's Big Ten opener at Minnesota. The Spartans own wins over North Carolina and Colorado. Their losses are to Kansas and Memphis on neutral courts. That's a resume that compelled me to move Michigan State to No. 15 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. It puts the Spartans behind the two teams that have beaten them (No. 1 Kansas, No. 14 Memphis) but ahead of the team they just beat (No. 16 North Carolina).
Kansas remains No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 for the 25th consecutive day to start this season. The Jayhawks are 6-0 with wins over Duke, Michigan State and North Carolina. Their next game is Saturday against Furman.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Dajuan Harris finished with 14 points and nine assists in Tuesday's 75-72 win over Duke. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Furman. | -- | 6-0 |
| 2 |  | Johni Broome finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds in Wednesday's 90-76 win over Memphis. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday at Duke. | -- | 7-0 |
| 3 |  | Milan Momcilovic finished with 24 points and three assists in Wednesday's 99-71 win over Colorado. The Cyclones' next game is Wednesday against Marquette. | 1 | 5-1 |
| 4 |  | David Joplin finished with 27 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 94-59 win over Stonehill. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday against Western Carolina. | 1 | 7-0 |
| 5 |  | Felix Okpara finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 78-35 win over UT Martin. The Vols' next game is Tuesday against Syracuse. | 1 | 7-0 |
| 6 |  | Andrew Carr finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 87-68 win over Western Kentucky. The Wildcats' next game is Friday against Georgia State. | 1 | 6-0 |
| 7 |  | Trey Kaufman-Renn finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Saturday's 80-45 win over Marshall. The Boilermakers' next game is Thursday against NC State. | 1 | 5-1 |
| 8 |  | Mark Sears finished with 24 points and five assists in Wednesday's 95-90 win over Rutgers. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday vs. Oregon in the Players Era Festival. | 1 | 6-1 |
| 9 |  | Kon Knueppel was 4 of 14 from the field in Tuesday's 75-72 loss to Kansas. The Blue Devils' next game is Friday against Seattle. | 1 | 4-2 |
| 10 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 17 points and four assists in Wednesday's 65-54 win over Notre Dame. . | 1 | 4-2 |
| 11 |  | John Tonje finished with 33 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 81-75 win over Pitt. The Badgers' next game is Saturday against Chicago State. | 4 | 7-0 |
| 12 |  | Ryan Nembhard was 1-of-10 from the field in Wednesday's 86-78 overtime loss to West Virginia. The Zags' next game is Thursday against Indiana. | 9 | 5-1 |
| 13 |  | Jayden Nunn finished with 23 points and four assists in Wednesday's 91-60 win over New Orleans. The Bears' next game is Wednesday at UConn. | 3 | 5-2 |
| 14 |  | PJ Haggerty finished with four turnovers and one assist in Wednesday's 90-76 loss to Auburn. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Louisiana Tech. | 1 | 6-1 |
| 15 |  | Jaden Akins finished with 14 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 94-91 overtime win over North Carolina. The Spartans' next game is Wednesday at Minnesota. | NR | 6-2 |
| 16 |  | RJ Davis was 6-of-18 from the field in Wednesday's 94-91 overtime loss to Michigan State. The Tar Heels' next game is Wednesday against Alabama. | 4 | 4-3 |
| 17 |  | Karter Knox finished with 21 points and six rebounds in Monday's 109-35 win over Maryland Eastern Shore. The Razorbacks' next game is Thursday against Illinois. | -- | 5-1 |
| 18 |  | Guillermo Diaz Graham was 1 of 6 from 3-point range in Sunday's 81-75 loss to Wisconsin. The Panthers' next game is Friday at Ohio State. | -- | 6-1 |
| 19 |  | John Mobley Jr. finished with 23 points and two steals in Friday's 104-60 win over Campbell. The Buckeyes' next game is Monday against Green Bay. | -- | 5-1 |
| 20 |  | Tre Johnson finished with 17 points and two rebounds in Friday's 67-58 win over Saint Joseph's. The Longhorns' next game is Friday against Delaware State. | -- | 5-1 |
| 21 |  | Caleb Love finished with 20 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 104-71 win over Davidson. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday against Oklahoma. | -- | 3-2 |
| 22 |  | Alijah Martin finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 93-68 win over Southern Illinois. The Gators' next game is Thursday against Wake Forest. | -- | 6-0 |
| 23 |  | Simas Lukosius finished with 16 points and four assists in Wednesday's 77-59 win over Alabama State. The Bearcats' next game is Tuesday at Villanova. | -- | 6-0 |
| 24 |  | Matthew Murrell finished with 19 points and four assists in Thursday's 100-68 win over Oral Roberts. The Rebels' next game is Thursday against BYU. | -- | 5-0 |
| 25 |  | Keshawn Murphy finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Friday's 84-79 win over SMU. The Bulldogs' next game is Thursday against UNLV. | -- | 5-0 |
| 26 |  | TJ Bamba finished with 22 points and five assists in Wednesday's 78-68 win over San Diego State. The Ducks' next game is Saturday against Alabama. | -- | 7-0 |
