Michigan State University Basketball Blog

The Spartans took care of business last night with their biggest win of the season as they edged Texas and it was Kalin Lucas who gave the Spartans a huge spark off the bench.  He scored a career high 18 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.  They needed some production off the bench because Drew Neitzel was held in check and he took just six shots.

Goran Suton was then man on the glass with a team high nine rebounds.  This doesn’t happen too often, but Texas had more rebounds then the Spartans yet MSU still pulled it out.  They did hold Texas to under 40% shooting but for whatever reason, Texas came out firing and took 29 shots from behind the three point line.

MSU plays Wisconsin-Green Bay next Saturday and hopefully that game is a mere formality before the Big Ten schedule kicks off after the New Year.  Hopefully you all have a very Sparty holiday between now and then.

Doug Lynott, a good friend of the site, and 1998 graduate of Michigan State, published a festive Christmas poem with a Spartan theme. Happy holidays and go GREEN!

Twas the night before Christmas and down in East Lansing

The Spartans were smartin’ from another de-pantsing

At the hands of their rivals from down at the U

The ones whose foul mascot belongs in the zoo

They played the game close, victory seemed assured

But the team lost its nerve and they laid a big

Third in a row, they had lost the home match-up

And once again find themsevles stuck playing catch-up

Still, there’s always next year, Spartan hopes remain high

Until then, we’ll look back at this loss and just sigh

But we’ll also look forward, and I’ll tell you the reason:

At least Spartans are happy it’s Basketball Season!

Happy Holidays from Sparty!

In a game where the Spartans from East Lansing mutilated the Spartans from San Jose, it was a well balanced attack which led to victory. Five MSU Spartans finished in double figures. Freshman stud Durrell Summers led the way with 16 points, while Raymar tied Durrell’s total late with some garbage baskets.

I must say that this game made me mad at Coach Izzo for running up the score. He should have totally cleared the bench with 5 minutes to go for crying out loud! It was ugly by half as Sparty led Sparty 36-21. Next on deck though is #4 Texas. There will be no running up the score in this one. A big time game is finally on the docket for MSU this Saturday early evening in Auburn Hills. Go Green!

Box Score

On Saturday, the Spartans managed to beat the Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastadons by a score of 79 to 57. However, the score is deceiving as the Mastadons were in the game and close for a solid 30 minutes. Drew Neitzel led all scorers with 18, but in my opinion, at times was sloppy with the ball. Marquise Gray was the Spartans star of the game pumping in 15 points and snaring 4 boards. He looked real good and made some impressive drives to the hoop.

Just for the record, a Mastadon is: Any of several very large, extinct proboscidian mammals of the genus Mammut (sometimes Mastodon), resembling the elephant but having molar teeth of a different structure.

So when you think you’ve heard it all in terms of college mascots, think again. IPFW has you beat! Oh by the way, they are led by Dane Fife, that great guard who played for Indiana–remember him?

Overall, when I watch this Spartan club play, I am very impressed at times, but also very unimpressed as well. This team has the talent to go deep in the NCAA tournament and give Indiana a fight for the Big Ten crown. But right now, they are plagued with a basketball version of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Now, I realize this is a serious illness, so I apologize if insulting those plagues with this condition. I just can’t understand how for a stretch of 5 minutes this team looks unreal, and then they follow it up by turning the ball over, not blocking out on defense, and not taking charge. Izzo hit it on the head when he was quoted as saying, “We still don’t have enough guys driven by excellence,” Izzo said. “When you can’t put a team away at home, you’re settling for mediocrity. They deserve some credit for that, and we deserve some blame.”

Next stop is a battle of the Spartans on Wednesday night at Breslin, San Jose State sytle. Let’s see if Coach Izzo can get his team, riddled by ADD to crank it up for a full 40.

Box Score

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Rivals.com recently unveiled their updated player power rankings and at the top of the small forward list is Raymar Morgan.  There’s no doubt Morgan has been a huge catalyst to the Spartans solid start and you have to hope he just keeps it up.  They have Drew Neitzel in the shooting guard category and he’s ranked ninth and Tom Izzo is the fifth highest ranked coach.

The Spartans go for their sixth straight win on Saturday when they take on IPWF.  Looking ahead, they have a big game against Texas a week from Saturday and that will be their toughest game heading into the conference schedule that begins after the new year.

Goran Suton hit a key lay-up and Raymar Morgan pumped in 15 points as the 7-1 Spartans escaped with a victory over the Bradley Braves. Even though Bradley plays in a so-called Mid-Major conference, this squad finished in the Sweet 16 in 2005-06 and would easily finish in the middle of the pack in the feeble Big Ten. The 11,500 + fans in the arena last night made it very tough for the men in green!

Overall, this was a great test for the Spartans and their young trio of freshmen–Summers, Lucas and Allen. If MSU wants to have any shot of getting out of the first or second rounds in the NCAA tourney next spring, they needs these young guns to play with supreme poise.

It was great to see the rebounds! MSU out-rebounded the Braves 48 to 29, including 21 offensive. Suton led the way with 11, but tough man Naymick snared 10 of his own. Let’s see how the Spartans fare against the BYU Cougars this weekend. This is another team that would kick ass in the Big Ten. Go Green!

Box Score

The Dolphins never stood a chance in this one as the Spartans routed Jacksonville 80-51.  Raymar Morgan led the way with a team high 24 points and seven rebounds and he was about as effecient as they come.  He shot an impressive eight for eleven from the field and he was eight for eight from the line.

Drew Neitzel had seven assists in the win and he poured in ten points.  Thirteen players got time in this one as Tom Izzo gave everyone a chance to play.  Freshman Kalin Lucas had a team high eight assists off the bench and he also had an impressive four steals.  Chris Allen also pitched in with ten points off the bench.