Michigan State University Basketball Blog

The MSU Spartans will face the Temple Owls (21-12) in the First Round of the NCAA South Region this Thursday at 12:30 Eastern time. However, the game is being played in Denver. Go figure eh!?

It is anticipated that hundreds if not thousands of MSU fans will be at the Pepsi Center in Denver. I can tell you that it is a world-class arena and there are as many as 4,000 alumni in the Denver region. It is literally MSU-West to say the least.

For more information on the Owls, click here.

http://owlsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/tem-m-baskbl-body.html

If the Spartans can manage to beat the Owls, they will likely face the hottest team in the nation–the Pitt Panthers. Stay tuned. This is one tough bracket.

After being up as many as 10 late in the game, the Spartans did it again–they choked.  Final score Wisconsin 65 MSU 63.  MSU is now at the mercy of the NCAA comittee, and will likely get a 6-7 seed in the tournament.  If they had held on and beaten Wisconsin, and moved forward to beat either Illinois or Minnesota tomorrow, the story would have been much better–a 4 to 5 seed.  Nevertheless, this season is all about honoring Drew Neitzel and winning one or two NCAA games for him!  go Green!

Senior Drew Neitzel pumped in 28 points as the Spartans (25-7) pulled out a victory late against Ohio State–the same team that caused Sparty to wilt like wuss-bags last Sunday in Columbus. Props go to Drew and Travis Walton, who hit some big time free-throws to seal the deal. It’s good to know that MSU will no longer play any road games–all neutral. But next game is against mighty Wisconsin (1:40 Est CBS) who destroyed Michigan today. Stay tuned! go Green!

In the final game at Breslin for the Drews–Neitzel and Naymick, the Spartans began the game on fire, and continued until the final buzzer, destroying Indiana 103 to 74.   From the opening tip, the Spartans looked possessed and ran up and down the court like there was no tomorrow.  To me, it has been utterly amazing to see MSU play at home where they literally were unbeatable (18-0), and then go on the road and look like a very average .500 club at best.  I guess it is true that there is nothing better than home cooking.

Raymar Morgan led all scorers with 20 points for Green, but Goran Suton and Drew Neitzel scored 17 each and looked very smooth.  But the smoothest of them all was Motown’s own Kalin Lucas.  Kalin scored 14 while dishing out 7.  He best move in his career was displayed to national TV.  As he drove to the hoop with an IU man on him, he faked a pass with his right arm, leaving the dude’s jock on the court, and he then proceeded to lay in a silky smooth lay-up with his left hand.  MSU fans better enjoy Kalin while he lasts.  I can’t imagine him staying beyond next season, but maybe we’ll get lucky and have him for three.

With the win, MSU improve to 23-6, 11-5 in the Big Ten, but still in 4th place.  Sparty travels to Illinois on Thursday and then off to Columbs to face Ohio State on Sunday.  With the way MSU has been playing on the road, who knows what’s going to happen!

We’ll get a good summary of this very imporant game.  MSU needs a quality win in preparation for a decent seed in the NCAA tournmament.

Well, after starting the game 15 to 4, the Spartans then proceeded to get out-scored 76 to 46 en route to an 80 to 61 ass-beating. Simply put, the Hoosiers wanted it more, and were too tough for the Spartans to handle. This is a very talented Spartan club, but make no mistake, they are not a gritty and tough team. Tom Izzo is going to need to reassess his club in the off-season to figure out how to get these talented guys more hungry and tougher.

The loss drops MSU to 8-4 in the Big Ten and 20-5 overall. State will need to work hard now to finish in the top 4 of the league. If they can at least finish 5th, they should get a solid seed in the NCAA tournament from say 6 to 8. Let’s hope that the Sparty men get some grit and give Northwestern and Iowa an ass-beating at Breslin the next two games.

On another note, you gotta feel bad for Coach Sampson. He is a class man and great coach. Yeah, he slipped up but it is nothing compared to the b.s. that goes on by coaches. Former MSU basketball player Andy Penick once told a group of us guys years back how Louisville offered him a Corvette to play for the Cardinals. God knows a lot of illegal stuff goes on every day in college hoops. A few phone calls are nothing.

From basketball shoes to golf clubs, anything can go amiss while leaving for golf vacations, particularly in case of golf more as compared to baseball due to numerous small accessories. This dilemma has been seen to largely by numerous stores dealing with golf equipment.

Big Ten Standings as of 2/16:

MSU senior guard Drew Neitzel captured Big Ten Player of the Week for is big time performances against both Northwestern and Michigan.  Drew pumped in a two-game average of 19 points.  Against Michigan on Sunday, he smoked the Wolverines for 18 points in the first half and then cruised as the entire team did.  If Drew keeps this up, he is going to help MSU become a major factor in the Big Ten race and a darkhorse come NCAA tourney time!  Drew’s mom and dad must be the most famous TV parents in college basketball.  It seems that when Drew is on fire, ESPN or CBS shows a shot of his mom and dad.  That’s a tribute to his fine character and leadership, being raised in Wyoming, MI.  Good man, Drew!

For the second time in a matter of a couple weeks this season, the Spartans tangled against the Gophers. Once again, this game could have gone either way. But senior leader Drew Neitzel manned up big time, pumping in 19 points, including 5 3-pointers! Drew looked like a man amongst boys, bringing flashbacks of his supreme greatness from last season. Now that this is Big Ten season, I am getting the sense that he is really pumped up looking to make history, and go out a champion. Yes!

In front of a packed house in icy and frigid Minneapolis, Tubby’s Gophers played another tough game against MSU. The Spartans looked very ugly once again this season, turning the ball over 18 times!! Unreal. I know the freshmen Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen played great games, scoring a combined 23 points, but they also turned the damn ball over 6 times. If these young bucks can get the TO ratio down, this club has a good shot at winning the Big Ten. If not, then Bucky and Indiana are going to snare it from our grasp.

Next on deck for the Sparty men is feeble Northwestern (6-9, 0-5 Big Ten) in Chicagoland.

Box Score

MSU continued another very ugly Big Ten performance tonight in Iowa City against the Iowa Hawkeyes. This was officially the 2nd road game for MSU the entire season. So no wonder why they struggled so much. They had a cupcake schedule all season with great home cookin’. The Sparty men must have gotten home-sick during their flight to Iowa, becuase their performance was pathetic. Come on guys, your girlfriends and pizza in the fridge will still be there when you get back in one day.

For the game, MSU shot 30.2% from the field and 25% from 3-point range (3-12). The real kicker was turnovers. The Spartans turned the ball over 18 times while Iowa only lost the pill 7 times. Raymar Morgan and Drew Neitzel led the way with 10 points a piece, but had a combined 5 turnovers and shot a mere 9 for 26 from the field.

I may be acting grumpy, but the Spartans tonight let the wind out of my NCAA and Big Ten champ sail. True champions don’t lose to teams 7-9 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten with a brand new coach and transition period on hand. Tom better get the damn pads out in practice and really work this spoiled bunch of Sparty men over and get them playing some good ball! Take them outside in the cold in their shorts and toughen’ these men up! Go GREEN!

Box Score

It was not pretty, but nothing ever is against a team coached by the legendary Tubby Smith. MSU was able to beat the world’s dumbest and ugliest mascot–the Gophers of Minnesota by a score of 65 to 59.

The man of the night was Raymar Morgan. Raymar was 11 of 17 from the field, and 9 of 12 from the charity line totaling 31 points—a career high. This was by far Raymar’s best game of his young Sparty career. I don’t want to talk about any other Spartans but Raymar. He was the man, period. I don’t know how far MSU will go this year in terms of a Big Ten title or getting out of the first or second round of the NCAA’s, but if Raymar keeps improving like he has over the past year and 1/2, then the sky is the limit!

I do not know who created the Gopher as the mascot of Minnesota, but they should be put to sleep. Nothing worse than looking at a buck-toothed, yellow tooth, smelly varmit on your jerseys. I am so proud to be an alum of a Spartan! Go Green!

Box Score

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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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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

Since wolves are a protected species in the state of Michigan, the MSU Spartans decided to bag themselves a small pack from Raleigh. It was a great hunt as the Sparty men destroyed and manhandled NC State 81 to 58. The Spartans move to 5-1 on the season, while the Wolfpack fall to 4-2.

Coach Tom Izzo must have done something, because the Spartans from the tip off looked very hungry and played with more passion than they have the entire season. Goran Suton looked really sharp, pumping in the team’s first 12 points. By the time the Wolfpack knew what hit them, they were down by double digits. Drew Neitzel then decided to take over and pumped in some big time shots. In fact, for the game, he went an impressive 7 for 10 to lead all scorers with 17 points.

Granted, the Wolfpack played a lot of basketball as of late. Perhaps they had tired legs. But come on, when you’re 19 to 20 years old, the only thing that should be tired in your body is your liver from all the parties. The Spartans simply showed that when they play with passion and focus on both ends of the court, namely defense, they can destroy any team in the land.

This game was in honor of legendary coach Jimmy V. In 1986, I wrote an english paper on the 1983 NC State national championship game. In fact, I was able to present it to my english class in high school. To me it was the greatest college basketball game I have ever watched on TV. To this day, it is still at the top in my books. Long live the legacy of Jimmy V!

Box Score

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After a weak performance against Oakland University, the Sparty men face off against the 4-1 NC State Wolfpack in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night. The Wolfpack just beat Villanova to capture the Old Spice tourney in Orlando. So if the Spartans play another lame game, then look for NC State to give them a beating. As Coach Izzo recently stated, “We’re an out of sync basketball team and I don’t know when that is going to change……”

Moving on to Saturday, the Spartans will tangle with Jacksonville University which is also 4-1 as of today. Both games are at home, which should mean wins. But in reality, Oakland would get blasted by both schools. So don’t pencil in any Spartan wins just yet. Tom is still whipping the young guys into shape and hopefully stomping on their massive egos a little. Go Green!

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In MSU’s first official game of the season, the Spartans didn’t disappoint in a 86-53 ass-whipping of Chicago State. After barely going 1-1 against Division II GLIAC opponents, the Sparty men manned up and showed the basketball world what they are really made of. It was good to see, considering they got schooled by Grand Valley and then schooled by Marquette native Tim Strom.

Raymar Morgan put in 25 points and 15 boards for his personal best. Let’s hope he stays another year or two to raise those totals to an even higher margin! Freshmen studs Chris Allen added 13 points while Durrell Summers pumped in 12.

Coach Tom Izzo seemed to be finally pleased with the Spartans: I guess I have a wonderful sense of the obvious, but there were a lot of guys who did some good things. I thought Kalin Lucas did a great job pushing the ball early, he got a lot of people the ball. I thought (Raymar) Morgan - it was one game, but it was one game that he played a little bit more possessed. I thought (Morgan’s) points were great, and the rebounding led to a lot of points. I think on six offensive rebounds, he scored on five of them. I thought Drew Neitzel did a good job, he was hot early. I don’t know if we just did a good job of getting him the ball there for a minute, but with eight assists and no turnovers, it was a great night for him. I thought Travis (Walton) did a good job coming off the bench. I thought our young guys, especially (Durrell) Summers played well. Our bigs have a ways to go yet, but we made some progress.

Box Score

Move over Appalachian State, hello Grand Valley State. Man alive, the Spartans lost 85-82 in OT. Forget the late turnover in regulation that enabled Grand Valley to take the lead. There is NO excuse for losing to a D-II opponent at home!

Is this a sign of bad things to come, or just a hiccup? Keep in mind that GVSU is an elite D-II team, capable of going to the Final Four. So far, it appears that Tom Izzo has not done a good job of preparing his men for battle. He better bring out the pads and whip these guys into game shape–mentally and physically. They got another D-II team on deck in Michigan Tech. They better be ready for this one!


Game Box Score

The MSU Spartans begin the season in an exhibition contest against Division II power Grand Valley State on Friday night.  Before you think this game will be a cake-walk, think again.  Grand Valley was 29-5 last season and finished in the D-II Elite Eight.

Don’t get me wrong, Sparty will win this game and probably by close to 20 points.  If MSU’s football team played GVSU, that would be a different story.  Hands down, the Lakers would whip Sparty’s ass.  But thanks to Tom Izzo, the basketball program is the king of Michigan and for that matter, looking to be king of the U.S.A. in 2007-08.  Go Green!