Men's Basketball Plays Host To Oakland
12/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
2001-02 Michigan State BasketballMichigan State (7-3)vs. Oakland (5-6)December 19, 20017:00 p.m.Breslin Center (14,759)East Lansing, Mich.
Media Coverage
Radio: Spartan Sports Network - Will Tieman (Play by Play), Gus Ganakas (Color). Flagship - WJIM (1240 AM/97.5 FM)
TV: None
Michigan State Game Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
Stingy Defense - Despite their youth, the Spartans are playing great team defense this season. MSU leads the Big Ten in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 35.2 percent from the field, which ranks third nationally.
TWO MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT
Safe At Home - With a 76-56 win over UNC-Asheville, MSU recorded its 51st-consecutive homecourt victory, establishing a Big Ten record for consecutive home wins. MSU's 51-game streak is the longest active streak in the nation. Ohio State (1959-63) and Indiana (1991-95) previously shared the Big Ten record with 50 straight home wins. Minnesota won 53 straight home games from 1899-1905 before joining the Big Ten Conference. Kentucky (1943-55) owns the all-time longest homecourt winning streak at 129 games.
Stingy Defense, Part II - No Spartan opponent has shot better than 50 percent from the field this season. In fact, the last team to shoot better than 50 percent against the Spartans was Utah in the second round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament as the Utes hit on 24-of-46 attempts (52.2 percent). That is a string of 47 straight games without an opponent shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
Probable StartersMichigan State Spartans (7-3) Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #55 Adam Ballinger (Jr., 6-9, 250) 10.8 7.5 2.0F - #25 Aloysius Anagonye (Jr., 6-8, 255)7.9 7.4 1.9F - #15 Alan Anderson (Fr., 6-6, 230) 7.1 4.2 1.5G - #23 Kelvin Torbert (Fr., 6-4, 225) 9.8 3.9 1.4G - #1 Marcus Taylor (So., 6-3, 195) 14.6 3.7 5.8
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (5-6) Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #25 Dan Champagne (Sr., 6-7, 220) 11.8 4.4 0.9F - #21 Jason Rozycki (Sr., 6-4, 190) 10.5 3.0 1.3C - #44 Jordan Sabourin (So., 7-0, 250) 4.8 3.7 0.5G - #23 Mike Helms (So., 6-0, 185) 18.6 3.8 1.8G - #02 Mychal Covington (Sr., 6-4, 175)6.7 4.4 6.3
Coach Izzo - In his seventh year, Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan, '77) is 155-56 (.735), 72-28 (.720) in the Big Ten, as the coach of the Michigan State basketball program. He is the third-winningest coach in MSU history, trailing only Jud Heathcote (340) and Benjamin VanAlstyne (232) in total wins. Izzo's 148 wins in his first six years give him the fourth most by a coach in his first six seasons of coaching. In his six seasons of coaching, Izzo has won National Coach of the Year honors three times, including NABC honors in 2001. 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.
OAKLAND NOTES
Coach Kampe - Greg Kampe (Bowling Green, '78) is 294-201 in his 18th season as head coach at Oakland University. In 1999-2000, Kampe was named the Division I National Coach of the Year by College Hoops Insider magazine after winning the Mid-Continent Conference regular season championship in Oakland's first year of playing a full Division I schedule.
Spartans Vs. Grizzlies - Michigan State leads the all-time series with Oakland, 3-0, including a 2-0 record in games played in East Lansing. Last season, the two squads met in MSU's season opener, with the Spartans taking a 97-61 victory.
Oakland Tidbits - Oakland enters the game with a 5-6 record, having most recently lost at Ohio, 71-70. The Golden Grizzlies record does include an impressive 93-67 win over Detroit on Dec 6. OU is led in scoring by sophomore guard Mike Helms, who averages 18.6 points per contest. Oakland is also averaging 20.4 three-point field goal attempts per contest.
MSU BASKETBALL NOTES
Outrebounding MSU Is A Rarity - Michigan State has outrebounded its opponent in nine of 10 games this season, with Florida being the only team to better MSU on the boards. In 2000-01, MSU was outrebounded only once in 33 games. In 1999-2000, the Spartans were outrebounded in just two of 39 games. In 1998-99, MSU outrebounded the opposition in 35 of 38 games. This means that in the last three-plus seasons, MSU has outrebounded 113 of 120 teams. In Tom Izzo's tenure as head coach, the Spartans have won the battle of the boards in 183 of 211 games.
Growing Up Quickly - MSU's success relies on contributions from three true freshmen. Through 10 games, the trio of Alan Anderson, Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert have combined to average 28.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
A Lot Of Minutes - Seven Spartans are currently averaging more than 20 minutes per contest, with three players seeing more than 26 minutes per game. By comparison, in both the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, just five players averaged more than 20 minutes per contest.
MORE ON THE BRESLIN STREAK
* Over the 51-game stretch, the Spartans have won by an average of 21.3 points.
* Just seven of the 51 games in the winning streak have been decided by fewer than 10 points.
* No current player on the Spartan roster has ever lost a home game.
* The Breslin Center has been sold out for 57 consecutive games, including every game of the homecourt winning streak.
* MSU has won two overtime contests during the streak.
* MSU has defeated 13 opponents ranked by the AP during the streak.
MEMORABLE GAMES IN THE BRESLIN STREAK
#1 - MSU 89 - NE Louisiana 58 (11/13/98) - Michigan State opens the 1998-99 season with a 31-point win and so begins the homecourt winning streak.
#7 - MSU 81 - Michigan 67 (1/9/99) - Boosted by a celebration of the 1979 National Championship team, including a visit from Magic Johnson, the Spartans improve to 1-1 in the Big Ten behind a season-best 25 points from Mateen Cleaves. The Spartans would not lose another Big Ten game the rest of the season.
#10 - MSU 76 - Ohio State 71 (1/27/99) - Michigan State takes control of the Big Ten race as a 22-7 second-half run allows the Spartans to rally from an eight-point deficit.
#14 - MSU 56 - Wisconsin 51 (2/21/99) - The Spartans clinched the Big Ten title outright with a win in a defensive struggle. Wearing throwback MAC jerseys, the Spartans used a 10-0 run opening the second half to take control of the game.
#21 - MSU 77 - Indiana 71, OT (1/11/00) - Tom Izzo records his 100th-career victory with an overtime victory over the Hoosiers. The Spartans rally from seven points down with under three minutes left. A Morris Peterson three-pointer with 11.3 seconds left sends the game into overtime where MSU scores the first five points of the extra period.
#24 - MSU 85 - Connecticut 66 (2/5/00) - Michigan State recorded its first home victory over a ranked non-conference opponent since 1970, jumping out to a 46-17 halftime lead against the defending national champions.
#28 - MSU 114 - Michigan 63 (3/4/00) - Mateen Cleaves set a MSU and Big Ten record with 20 assists as the Spartans dominated Senior Day. The win also clinched a third-straight Big Ten Championship for MSU.
#34 - MSU 99 - Florida 83 (12/6/00) - In a rematch of the 2000 NCAA Championship game, the Spartans used 42 points from freshmen Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor to earn a convincing victory. During a six-minute stretch of the second half, the two freshmen scored 19 straight points.
#37 - MSU 98 - Penn State 73 (1/3/01) - Trailing Penn State, 48-37, at the half of the Big Ten opener, the Spartans shot 78.6 percent (22-28) in the second half to outscore the Nittany Lions, 61-25 after intermission.
#39 - MSU 69 - Wisconsin 59 (1/13/01) - The streak nearly comes to a close, but MSU scores five unanswered points in the final minute to force overtime, the last three coming on a Charlie Bell three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining. MSU outscored UW, 12-2, in the extra period.
#50 - MSU 74 - Arizona 60 (12/15/01) - MSU ties the Big Ten record for consecutive homecourt victories with a win over the sixth-ranked Wildcats. MSU held Arizona to 30.2 percent (16-53) shooting for the game while Adam Ballinger and Marcus Taylor posted career high point totals with 18 and 19, respectively.
MORE ON MSU BASKETBALL
Torbert Coming Of Age - Over the last six games, Kelvin Torbert has shown flashes of why he was named the National High School Player of the Year by The Sporting News and Gatorade. Against UNC Asheville, Arizona, Nicholls State, Florida, Lamar and IPFW, Torbert averaged 11.7 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Bench Production - It's no secret that the Spartans do not have a lot of depth, but they are getting good production off the bench. Through 10 games, the Spartan bench is outscoring the opponent's subs, 204-124.
Still Rebounding - In each of the past two seasons, MSU has led the nation in rebounding margin. The Spartans have once again made a commitment to rebounding, outrebounding their opponents this season by a +9.3 margin.
Freshmen Starters Under Izzo - Throughout his seven years as head coach, Tom Izzo has shown a willingness to put a freshman in the starting lineup. Consider the following freshmen who have all started under Izzo: Aloysius Anagonye (5 games), Alan Anderson (6 games), Charlie Bell (30 games), Mateen Cleaves (24 games), Doug Davis (1 game), A.J. Granger (7 games), Chris Hill (3 games), Andre Hutson (26 games), Jason Klein (10 games), Morris Peterson (18 games), Zach Randolph (8 games), Jason Richardson (3 games), Antonio Smith (20 games), Marcus Taylor (9 games) and Kelvin Torbert (8 games).
The Drive For Five - One of MSU's top goals entering the 2001-02 season is capturing a fifth-straight regular-season Big Ten Championship. If the Spartans win the title, they will join the 1960-64 Ohio State teams as the only schools to accomplish the feat.
Getting Respect - Michigan State is ranked 17th in the current ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The poll released on Dec. 16 includes eight of MSU's 2001-02 opponents, including No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Virginia, No. 7 Illinois, No. 10 Arizona, No. 12 Iowa, No. 13 Stanford, No. 14 Syracuse and No. 21 Oklahoma.
Movin' On Up - Construction on the Berkowitz Basketball Complex is in its final stages. With the new auxiliary gymnasium already completed, the Spartan basketball staff is eagerly anticipating its move to the new offices in late December. The $7.5-million dollar project will provide Michigan State with one of the finest basketball complexes in the nation. Included in the addition are offices for the coaching staff, a large video review room, a video workroom and a conference room.
Regulars In The AP Poll - Michigan State owns a streak of 68-straight weeks ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. Only Duke and Stanford have longer active streaks.
What I Did On Summer Vacation - Five Spartans plus head coach Tom Izzo spent part of their summer taking part in international basketball competition. Red-shirt sophomores Jason Andreas and Adam Wolfe were members of the Big Ten Foreign Tour team, where Wolfe led the squad in scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). Juniors Aloysius Anagonye and Adam Ballinger played on NYC Hoops coached by St. John's coach Mike Jarvis that competed in Greece against Olympic caliber competition. Finally, both sophomore Marcus Taylor and Tom Izzo represented USA Basketball in separate competitions. Taylor was a member of the gold-medal winning USA Young Men's World Championship team, averaging 5.7 points and 2.8 assists. Izzo was an assistant coach on the USA Basketball squad that won the gold medal at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Australia. In total, the six Spartans logged a combined 70,000 miles in international travel.
Air Time - Michigan State will appear on national television networks at least 16 times during the regular season, including seven games on ESPN, four on CBS, four on ESPN2 and one on Fox Sports Net. That number could increase to 18 depending on television decisions regarding two late-season Big Ten contests. In total, MSU could have 24 regular-season contests televised.
Winning With Rebounding, Defense And Offense - Despite several new faces, the Spartans already have a blueprint for championship basketball: rebounding, defense and offense. Over the past four years that the Spartans have won the Big Ten regular-season championship, it comes as little surprise that the Spartans have led the conference in rebounding in each year and ranked among the top three in scoring defense. In addition, MSU led the Big Ten in field-goal percentage in 2000-01 and ranked second in scoring offense in all games.
Championship Similarities - The 2001-02 Spartans will have many similarities to the 1997-98 Spartans that posted a 22-8 record and won the first of MSU's four straight Big Ten Championships. Consider the starting lineup from 1997-98: G - Charlie Bell (Fr.), G - Mateen Cleaves (So.), F - Andre Hutson (Fr.), F - Jason Klein (Jr.), F - Antonio Smith (Jr.). Coming off the bench for the Spartans were DuJuan Wiley, David Thomas, A.J. Granger and Doug Davis.
Monsters On The Glass - The 2000-01 season marked the second-straight year that the Spartans led the nation in rebounding margin. The Spartans' margin of +15.4 last season tied for the fifth-greatest margin in NCAA history since the statistic was first kept in 1973 and the largest since 1980.
Taylor Is Most Recent Wooden Nominee - Marcus Taylor is one of this year's 50 John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-Americans. He is just the latest Spartan to be nominated for the prestigious award. Last season, both Charlie Bell and Andre Hutson were preseason nominees while Bell and Jason Richardson were among the 20 finalists. At season's end, Bell was named a Wooden All-American. During the 1999-2000 season, Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson were both recognized as Wooden All-Americans, an honor that Cleaves also received in 1999.
The Golden Arches - Michigan State is becoming the home for McDonald's All-Americans. Over the past three seasons, four McDonald's All-Americans have joined the Spartan squad, including Jason Richardson in 1999, Marcus Taylor and McDonald's All-American All-Star game MVP Zach Randolph in 2000 and Kelvin Torbert in 2001.
Missing Parts - Missing from Michigan State's 2001 Big Ten Champion and Final Four squad are seven lettermen who accounted for 81 percent (2,068) of the points, 75 percent (1,046) of the rebounds and 76 percent (438) of the assists.
Home To Mr. Basketball - The last three recipients of Michigan's Mr. Basketball Award, presented to the top high school player in the state, have all gone on to wear a Spartan jersey. Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill HS) won the award in 1999, followed by Marcus Taylor (Lansing Waverly HS) in 2000 and Kelvin Torbert (Flint Northwestern HS) in 2001.
Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime - 12 of Michigan State's opponents in the 2001-02 season earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament (Arizona, Florida, Fresno State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Syracuse, Virginia, Wisconsin), while four more appeared in the NIT (Detroit, Minnesota, Purdue, Seton Hall). Additionally, nine schools were ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll of the 2001 season (No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Arizona, No. 8 Florida, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 16 Virginia, No. 17 Syracuse, No. 20 Indiana, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 25 Wisconsin).
The Past Is Too Good To Ignore - While past success does not guarantee future championships, some stats from the past four-plus years are worth repeating, including MSU's record in Big Ten action, 54-10, in the Breslin Center, 63-3, in postseason play, 22-5, in the NCAA Tournament, 16-3.
Spartans In The NBA - Michigan State led the Big Ten with nine players on opening day rosters in the NBA. Listed below is an update on eight former Spartans currently on NBA rosters. (Stats current through Dec. 16.)
Mateen Cleaves (Sacramento): 10 GP, 4.3 mpg, 1.7 ppg, 0.7 apg Jamie Feick (New Jersey): 0 GP, currently on injured list Morris Peterson (Toronto): 24 GP, 30.2 mpg, 11.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg Zach Randolph (Portland): 19 GP, 6.9 mpg, 3.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg Jason Richardson (Golden State): 25 GP, 25.2 mpg, 9.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.5 apg Steve Smith (San Antonio): 21 GP, 28.1 mpg, 13.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg Eric Snow (Philadelphia): 2 GP, 35.0 mpg, 13.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 8.5 apg Kevin Willis (Houston): 25 GP, 22.6 mpg, 8.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg
Spartans Keep Reloading - Michigan State signed four players to National Letters of Intent in the early signing period.
Maurice Ager (G, 6-4, 175, Detroit/Crockett High School) averaged 23 points, six rebounds and three assists as a junior, leading Crockett High School to a 23-3 record and a state championship in Class B. An all-state honoree, he is ranked as the No. 16 player in the nation by ESPN.com. Ager is also's Coach Izzo's first recruit from the Detroit Public School League.
Paul Davis (F, 6-10, 235, Rochester, Mich./Rochester High School) averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks as a junior and is a consensus top-10 player, including being ranked No. 3 by Bob Gibbons and FoxSports.com's Frank Burlison.
Rashi Johnson (G, 6-2, 195, Chicago/King High School/Mott Community College) averaged 17 points over eight games in the 2001 NJCAA Division II Tournament, leading Mott to an appearance in the national championship game. As a junior at Chicago King High School, he helped lead his team to the Chicago city championship. He is a combo-guard with excellent toughness.
Delco Rowley (F, 6-8, 235, Indianapolis/Arlington High School) is a very athletic and strong forward who earned first-team all-city and all-sectional honors as a junior. He is a preseason first-team all-state selection and is ranked No. 71 in the nation by Bob Gibbons.