Michigan State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Exhibition Season With Northern Michigan
11/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 6, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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Note Of The Game (As If There Was Any Doubt)
He's Come A Long Way - Tonight's exhibition contest marks the first time that Tom Izzo will coach against his alma mater. Izzo played guard at Northern Michigan from 1973-77 and was voted the team's MVP as a senior. He was also a third-team Division II All-America pick as a senior and established a school record for most minutes played in a season. MSU assistant Mike Garland was Izzo's teammate at NMU. After his playing career, Izzo served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats from 1979-83. He was inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and was a 1998 inductee into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame.
Probable StartersMichigan State Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #34 Andre Hutson (Sr., 6-8,, 245) 10.2 6.2 1.5F - #25 Aloysius Anagonye (So., 6-8, 255)2.9 3.0 0.3F - #23 Jason Richardson (So., 6-6, 220)5.1 4.1 0.6G - #14 Charlie Bell (Sr., 6-3, 200) 11.5 4.9 3.2G - #1 Marcus Taylor (Fr., 6-3, 190) High School
Northern Michigan Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #22 Matt LePage (Fr., 6-4, 180) High SchoolF - #42 Billy Hill (Fr., 6-6, 185) High SchoolC - #33 Damian Matacz (Jr., 6-9, 235) 8.1 6.1 1.7G - #1 Scott Mueller (Fr., 6-2, 170) High SchoolG - #44 Ladi Kabat (Fr., 6-2, 190) High School
Three More Notes No Media Person Should Be Without
1. The Champs! Round Four - Michigan State was recently tabbed as the preseason favorite by the league's coaches at Big Ten Basketball Media Day. Should the Spartans capture the conference crown, they will become just the fourth team to win four-consecutive Big Ten titles, joining Chicago (1907-10), Ohio State (1960-64) and Indiana (1973-76).
2. Home Cooking - Michigan State enters the 2000-01 season with a 28-game home winning streak. It marks the second-longest active streak in the nation behind only Utah's 52-straight wins. In 1999-2000, the Spartans won their 14 home games by an average of 25 points. The 16 games at the Breslin Center this season mark the most regular-season home games for Michigan State since the 1996-97 season.
3. Proving The Old Saying True - Rebounding and defense really do win championships. Just ask the Spartans. During Coach Izzo's tenure, they have regularly been ranked among the nation's leaders in both categories, including the 1999-2000 season when they led the country in rebounding margin at +11.7, two full rebounds ahead of second-place Stanford, and ranked eighth in scoring defense at 58.9 ppg.
Coach Izzo - In his sixth year, Tom Izzo is 120-48 (.714), 59-25 (.702) in the Big Ten, as the coach of the Michigan State basketball program. In 1999, Izzo was named national coach of the year by Basketball Times, while earning similar honors from Associated Press, Basketball News and the USBWA in '98. With MSU's 77-71 overtime win over Indiana on Jan. 11, 2000, Izzo became just the fourth Spartan coach to reach the 100-win mark. Izzo's 120 wins are tied for seventh most by a coach in his first five seasons of coaching.
Much Too Young To Feel This Old - Although just in his sixth year, Tom Izzo is currently tied for the second-longest coaching tenure in the Big Ten, trailing only Purdue's Gene Keady (21st year). Penn State's Jerry Dunn and Wisconsin's Dick Bennett are also in their sixth year.
Thirty-Something x 2 - Michigan State is the only school in the nation to record 30 or more victories in each of the past two seasons, posting a 33-5 mark in 1998-99 and 32-7 record in 1999-2000.
Thirty Something x 2 (Take Two) - MSU is just the second school in Big Ten history to record 30 or more wins in consecutive seasons. Indiana did it in 1974-75 and 1975-76. The 65 Spartan wins over the past two years are the most ever by a Big Ten school in a two-year period.
Northern Michigan Notes
The MSU-NMU Series - This is the ninth meeting between Michigan State and Northern Michigan with the Spartans holding a 7-1 advantage, including six-straight wins. MSU is 5-0 against the Wildcats in East Lansing. The first meeting came in 1920 with the Spartans taking a 42-13 victory. The last meeting was Dec. 16, 1975, an 81-65 MSU win.
TALE OF THE TAPE - MSU/NMU STAT BREAKDOWNS (99-00 STATS)Category MSU NMUScoring Offense 74.1 76.2Scoring Defense 58.9 67.2Scoring Margin +15.1 +9.0Field Goal Pct. 47.4% 48.3%Field Goal Pct. Defense 39.4% 41.3%3Pt. FG Pct. 37.8% 40.2%Free Throw Pct. 73.5% 75.0%Rebound Margin +11.7 +1.9Turnovers per game 14.6 13.5
Champions In Their Own Right - Michigan State is not the only team that will be hanging championship banners this season. Northern Michigan won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Division championship for the second-straight year and its first GLIAC post-season tournament championship.
Where Are Athletes In Action And The Polish All-Stars? - Due to a new NCAA rule, Michigan State can play Division II Northern Michigan in an exhibition contest. MSU's other exhibition game will be a competitive game against the Harlem Globetrotters on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
Looking Ahead - The Harlem Globetrotters
No Foolin' Around - MSU faces the Harlem Globetrotters in the Spartans' second exhibition game of the season on Monday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. on espn2. While the Globetrotters are nationally known for their entertaining brand of basketball, they are also accomplished players. The exhibition game will be a real contest without any tricks. The Globetrotters own a 1,269-game winning streak including an 82-80 win over the NABC College All-Stars during the 2000 Final Four weekend. A year earlier, the Globetrotters swept a three-game series against the 1999 College All-Stars.
More On MSU Basketball
Predicting The Future - Michigan State was selected by the Big Ten Coaches as the preseason favorite to win the conference. The league's media selected Illinois first with MSU second.
Carrying On With The Flintstone Tradition - Charlie Bell was named Preseason First-Team All-Big Ten by both the league's media and coaches. Should he finish the season with first-team all-conference honors it will mark the fourth consecutive season in which a Spartan has been named first-team all-league, joining former MSU stars and Flint natives Mateen Cleaves (1998-2000) and Morris Peterson (1999-2000).
The Past Is Too Good To Ignore - While past success does not guarantee future championships, some stats from the past three years are worth repeating, including MSU's record in Big Ten action, 41-7, in the Breslin Center, 40-3, in postseason play, 18-3, in the NCAA Tournament, 12-2.
In Case You Missed The Trip To Indy Last March - MSU plays host to the other three teams from the 2000 Final Four (Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin) in East Lansing this season. This is the first time in history that a defending NCAA Champion has played the other three Final Four participants at home the following year. The always tough schedule also includes non-conference contests at home against Kentucky and in East Rutherford, N.J., against Seton Hall. Nine of the Spartans' 2000-01 opponents made an appearance in the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
Poll Cats - Michigan State has spent the last 44 weeks ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including 37-straight weeks in the top 15. Although the AP is yet to release its preseason poll, the Spartans are ranked fifth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.
In Order To Be The Best, You Have To Play The Best - Once again, the Spartans boast one of the nation's most difficult schedules. Six of MSU's opponents are ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top 25, including five in the top 12. They include North Carolina (4), Illinois (9), Seton Hall (10), Florida (11), Kentucky (12) and Wisconsin (22).
No Slivers Here - Last year, ten Spartans averaged over 10 minutes per game with only Mateen Cleaves seeing more than 30 minutes of action. Look for this year's playing group to be just as deep.
The Golden Arches - Michigan State boasts one of the top freshmen classes in the nation with McDonald's All-Americans Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor. Randolph earned MVP honors at the 2000 McDonald's All-American game. Randolph and Taylor join sophomore Jason Richardson as McDonald's All-Americans on the Spartan roster.
U-S-A, U-S-A - Three members of the MSU squad gained experience playing for Team USA over the summer. Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor were on the 2000 USA Hoop Summit Team that defeated an International Select squad, 98-97. Randolph earned MVP honors at the Hoop Summit. Randolph and Jason Richardson were members of the silver-medal winning World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Team, where Richardson ranked second on the team in points and third in rebounds, while Randolph ranked third in points and second in rebounds. Richardson also earned a spot on the Men's Select Team that competed against the 2000 US Olympic Dream Team, scoring a team-high 20 points along with a team-best five rebounds and four assists.
Wizards Of Westwood - Seniors Charlie Bell and Andre Hutson were named to the John Wooden Award Preseason All-American Team. Bell was also announced as a top-25 vote getter. Last year, Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson earned spots on the 10-man Wooden All-American Team. Bell is also one of 30 Preseason Candidates for the Naismith Award.
