Post-Game Notes
11/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Michigan State Basketball Post-Game Notes
Michigan State vs. Northern Michigan
Nov. 14, 2004 - East Lansing, Mich. - Breslin Center
Final Score: Michigan State 98, Northern Michigan 56
- While MSU's Paul Davis connected on his first four free throw attempts and NMU's David Noel went 2-for-2 from the line to open the game, Chris Hill knocked down the first field goal of the contest at the 16:29 mark with a 3-point bomb to give the Spartans a 7-2 lead.
- Drew Naymick prevented the Wildcats' offense from hitting a field goal until the 15:39 mark in the first half. Naymick blocked five shots and had one steal during that span.
- Drew Naymick completed the game with six blocked shots and if the game occurred during the regular season, he would rank tied for second all-time in blocks for a game with Ken Johnson (1985, vs. Purdue). Johnson has the all-time record with eight (1984, vs. San Diego State).
- In its second exhibition game of the year, Michigan State fell behind in a game for the first time when Noel converted a free throw attempt at 15:23 of the first to give NMU an 8-7 advantage.
- After being down 7-2, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run before Tim Bograkos made a lay-up to end the stretch. Soon afterwards with NMU up 17-14, MSU went on a 28-0 run to reclaim the lead for good.
- In MSU's 28-0 run, 8:05 ran off the clock between Northern Michigan field goals. Ricky Volcy finally ended the Wildcat drought with 3:07 remaining in the half to bring the score to 42-19.
- Michigan State connected on 26-of-28 free throw attempts for the game and was a perfect 11-for-11 in the final half. Combined with its win over Grand Valley State on Nov. 10, MSU was 53-of-63 from the line in its two exhibition games, good for 84.1 percent..
- After a 1-for-5 game against GVSU, Paul Davis posted a game-high 10 points at halftime, going 2-for-3 from the field and 6-for-7 from the stripe. Davis finished the game tied with Maurice Ager with 18 points to lead the game in scoring.
- MSU outscored (50-24), out-rebounded (24-14), out-shot (51.7 to 29.6 percent) and forced more turnovers (11-6) than NMU at the end of the first half.
- Similar to State's second half performance against GVSU, MSU shot better than 50 percent in the first half, but shot only 34.8 percent in the second.
- Michigan State had seven players notch at least three field goals apiece while six players posted double-digit point totals.
- Drew Neitzel exhibited his true point guard skills by collecting a game-high six assists and three steals.
- The Spartans were effective all over the floor, attempting 75 total shots and earning 19 assists, 10 steals and seven blocks. Their 75 shots eclipsed last season's game-high total by 10 as MSU fired 65 shots against Syracuse Jan. 3, 2004.
- Paul Davis led State in rebounding for the second straight game, nabbing 11 boards on the afternoon.
