Michigan State Looks For 10th Straight Win
12/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
#9/9 Michigan State (10-2)vs. Tennessee Tech (8-2)
Dec. 28, 20057 p.m. ESTEast Lansing, Mich.Breslin Center (14,759)
Radio: Spartan Sports Network - Will Tieman (Play by Play), Gus Ganakas (Color). Flagship - WMMQ 94.9 FM/WJIM 1240 AM
TV: ESPN Plus Local - Mike Gleason (Play by Play), Greg Kelser (Color)
Michigan State-Tennessee Tech will be televised locally on the following affiliates through ESPN Plus: Detroit - Comcast; Lansing - Comcast.
Michigan State Game Notes
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The Opening Tip
After a brief break for the holidays, Michigan State returns to action against Tennessee Tech in just the Spartans fifth home game of the season. The Spartans enter the game on a nine-game winning streak, their longest since the 2001 season. The Golden Eagles opened the season with a loss at Dayton, but have since won eight of their last nine. After a pair of home games this week, MSU opens the Big Ten season with four of its first six games on the road, including trips to Illinois and Wisconsin next week.
The Starting Five
Good To Be Back Home - The Tennessee Tech game is just Michigan State's fifth home game of the season. Since the start of the 1998-99 season, MSU has won 103 of its last 110 regular-season games in Breslin, a winning percentage of .936. MSU has sold out 116 consecutive regular-season games at the Breslin Center.
Statistical Leaders - A quick glance at the Big Ten stats will find several Spartans at the top of nearly every category. Michigan State players are leading the conference in rebounding (Paul Davis - 10.1 rpg), assists (Drew Neitzel - 5.83 apg) and defensive rebounds (Davis - 7.08 drpg). Maurice Ager (21.7 ppg), Davis (21.0 ppg) and Shannon Brown (17.7 ppg), rank second, third and sixth, respectively, in scoring. Davis ranks second in free-throw percentage (.877) and fourth in field-goal percentage (.643), while Brown ranks fifth in the league in steals (1.83 spg). Ager is third in minutes played (34.33 mpg) and tied for fourth in 3-point field goals made (2.50) and Neitzel is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.69).
What Can Brown Do For You? - Shannon Brown was named the men's basketball Big Ten Player of the Week on Dec. 26. Brown led the Spartans with 26 points in a 98-69 road win at Wisconsin-Green Bay on Dec. 21, and dished out a career best eight assists while committing no turnovers. He shot 9-of-13 from the field against the Phoenix, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range, establishing career highs for field goals and 3-point field goals. The game marked the third straight contest in which Brown led the team in scoring, recording 20 points or more in all three games. For the season, Brown is averaging 17.7 points, ranking sixth in the Big Ten. He has raised his scoring average from 15.4 ppg to 17.7 ppg over the last three contests.
A High Octane Offense - Michigan State leads the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 83.4 points per game. It's the highest scoring average at MSU since the 1964-65 squad averaged 85.9 points per contest. According to the most recent NCAA stats (Dec. 19), MSU ranks 20th in the nation at 82.1 ppg. Last season, MSU led the Big Ten and ranked 13th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 78.5 points per game. It was MSU's highest scoring-offense since the 1985-86 Spartans averaged 83.1 points.
Davis Among Career Leaders - Paul Davis ranks among the Michigan State career leaders in several different statistical categories, including free throws (5th, 381), free throws attempted (7th, 514), rebounds (9th, 730), field-goal percentage (10th, .543), blocked shots (10th, 67) and scoring (14th, 1,392). (For complete charts, see sidebars on pages 5-6.)
Tennessee Tech Notes
Coach Sutton - Mike Sutton (East Carolina, '78) is 59-40 in his fourth season at Tennessee Tech. Previously, he served nine seasons as an assistant coach under Tubby Smith, including a five-year stint at Kentucky. This past April, he was stricken with a severe case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. He has coached from a wheelchair this season, and did not make a road trip with the team this season until the Dec. 17 contest at Cincinnati.
Golden Eagle Notes - Eleven Golden Eagles are averaging more than 10 minutes per game ... Tennessee Tech's leading scorer, Anthony Fisher (12.5 ppg), and third-leading scorer, Belton Rivers (10.8 ppg), have come off the bench in every contest this season ... Six players have attempted 17 or more 3-pointers, compared to three for Michigan State ... TTU is averaging 8.9 steals per game and its opponents are averaging 20.2 turnovers per contest.
Series History - This is the first-ever meeting between Michigan State and Tennessee Tech.
Game 12 Notes - Michigan State 98 - Wisconsin-Green Bay 69
* Shanon Brown (26 points), Maurice Ager (25) and Paul Davis (25) scored a combined 76 points, marking the second time in three games that the Spartan trio all scored 20 points or more.
* Shannon Brown recorded a career-best eight assists as the team tallied a season-high 26 assists.
* Michigan State shot a season-high 62.1 percent from the field.
* Michigan State scored 54 second-half points, a season high for any half by MSU.
* UWGB shot just 15.0 percent (3-of-20) from 3-point range, a season low for Spartan opponents.
* Matt Trannon's 10 points marked the first double-figure scoring effort of his career.
* Michigan State made a season-high 13 3-pointers, shooting 56.5 percent from behind the arc.
* Trailing 19-16 with 9:09 left in the first half, MSU closed the half on a 28-16 run.
* Michigan State came up with an offensive rebound on six of its 11 misses in the second half.
The Book On Tom Izzo
Coach Izzo - In his 11th year, Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan, '77) is 243-99 (.711), 117-47 (.713) in the Big Ten, as the coach of the Michigan State basketball program. With last year's win over Duke in the NCAA Tournament, he passed Benjamin Van Alstyne to become the second-winningest coach in MSU history, trailing only Jud Heathcote (340) in total wins. In his 10 seasons of coaching, Izzo has won National Coach of the Year honors four times, including the Clair Bee Award in 2005 and 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.
Izzo Among Best Ever - Through his first 10 seasons, Tom Izzo has won 233 games, ranking seventh in college basketball history for most wins by a college coach in his first 10 years.
Graduating Student-Athletes - In Tom Izzo's 10 full years directing the Spartan program, 77 percent of his players who completed their eligibility also left with a degree. In the last six years, 17 Spartans have received their undergraduate degrees, including five each in 2001 and 2003.
Izzo's Coaching Tree - Six current Division I head coaches all served as assistants to Tom Izzo, including Tom Crean (Marquette), Brian Gregory (Dayton), Mike Garland (Cleveland State), Stan Heath (Arkansas), Stan Joplin (Toledo) and Doug Wojcik (Tulsa). Gregory and Garland are in their third year as head coach, after leaving MSU in the spring of 2003. Crean directed Marquette to the 2003 Final Four, while Heath directed Kent State to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Wojcik is in his first season at Tulsa.
Safe At Home - Tom Izzo owns a career record of 138-19 (.879) in the Breslin Center, including a 103-7 (.936) mark over the last eight seasons. In Big Ten play, Izzo is 71-11 (.866) in Breslin, 52-4 (.929) over the last seven years.
Vs. Ranked Opponents - Tom Izzo has a career record of 55-49 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. This includes a 48-38 record since 1997-98.
At His Best When It Counts - Tom Izzo ranks second among active coaches for the best NCAA Tournament winning percentage at .767.
MSU Basketball Notes
Ager And Davis In Select Company - Maurice Ager (21.7) and Paul Davis (21.0) are currently both averaging more than 20 points per game. In fact, they are one of just three pairs of teammates to currently average more than 20 points, according to the most recent NCAA statistics (Dec. 19). They are joined by Gonzaga's Adam Morrison (28.4) and J. P. Batista (20.1) and Villanova's Randy Foye (22.0) and Allan Ray (20.4). In the 106 previous seasons of Spartan basketball, two players have never averaged 20 points in the same season.
20 And 10 - Paul Davis is having a great senior season, averaging 21.0 points and 10.1 rebounds. According to the most recent NCAA statistics (Dec. 19), he is one of just five players, along with Hartford's Kenny Adeleke (20.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg), LaSalle's Steven Smith (24.2 ppg, 10.5 rpg), Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap (20.4 ppg, 12.4 rpg) and Eastern Michigan's John Bowler (21.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg) to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per contest. It's a feat that has happened just five previous times in Spartan history, including Julius McCoy (1956-57), Horace Walker (1959-60), Stan Washington (1964-65), Ralph Simpson (1969-70) and Greg Kelser (1976-77).
Lending A Helping Hand - Drew Neitzel has a 5.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio over the last six games. His best effort in that stretch was a nine assist, one turnover effort against Arkansas-Little Rock. He had five assists and no turnovers against Boston College and Florida International, five assists and only one turnover against Wichita State, six assists and two turnovers against Cleveland State and seven assists and three turnovers against Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Money At The Charity Stripe - Michigan State leads the Big Ten in free-throw percentage, shooting .801 (218-of-272), and ranks fifth in the nation, according to the most recent NCAA statistics (Dec. 19). MSU also leads the conference in free throws made (218) and attempted (272). Drew Neitzel (.882) and Paul Davis (.877) pace the Spartans. This season, Davis has had three games in which he was perfect from the line with at least 10 attempts, shooting 12-of-12 against Gonzaga, 11-of-11 against Arkansas-Little Rock and 10-of-10 against Arizona. Last season, MSU led the Big Ten and ranked third in the nation in free-throw percentage (.777), while featuring the top four foul shooters in the league.
The Big Three - Spartan seniors Maurice Ager and Paul Davis and junior Shannon Brown will carry a lot of the scoring load for Michigan State this season. Through 12 games, the trio has not disappointed, averaging a combined 60.3 points, or 72.3 percent, of MSU's 83.4 points per game. The trio has each scored 20 points or more in two of the last three games (vs. Cleveland State and UW-Green Bay), accomplishing a feat that had not been done at MSU since Feb. 15, 2000.
Ager Hits The Boards - Through the first 99 games of his career, Maurice Ager had never grabbed more than nine rebounds. In his 100th career game, Ager grabbed 10 boards against Cleveland State. He bettered that effort in game No. 101, recording 14 boards against Florida International. In the last three games, he has raised his rebounding average from 2.8 to 4.6 boards per contest.
Trannon's Addition - Senior forward Matt Trannon has played in six games since joining the basketball team after the conclusion of the football season. He has been a member of the regular rotation over the last five games, averaging 18.8 minutes, 4.0 points and 3.4 rebounds. The ultimate "glue-guy," Trannon adds toughness, defensive skills and athleticism to the lineup. His stat line against Cleveland State was a great example of what he can add to the Spartans, recording two points, two assists, five rebounds, four steals and three blocks in 28 minutes, including 18 in the second half. Most recently, he scored a career-high 10 points against Wisconsin-Green Bay. During the football season, he ranked second on the team in receptions, with 40 for 573 yards and four touchdowns.
Playing A Lot Of Minutes - Through the first 12 games, Maurice Ager (34.3 minutes), Shannon Brown (33.9 mpg), Paul Davis (31.5 mpg) and Drew Neitzel (31.0 mpg) are all averaging more than 30 minutes per game. By comparison, Michigan State was the only Big Ten team last season without a single player averaging 30 minutes per game. In fact, Davis led MSU in minutes played at 26.9 per game.
Ager's Improved Decision Making - One of the biggest improvements in Maurice Ager's game is his decision making. Recently, it can be seen in his assist-to-turnover ratio. After opening the season with eight assists and 15 turnovers in the first five games, he has totaled 31 assists and 19 turnovers in the last seven contests. In fact, he recorded a career-best six assists against Boston College. He has recorded five assists or more in five of the last seven games, after having never tallied more than four in the first 95 games of his career.
1,000-Point Spartans - Earlier this season, Maurice Ager became the 35th player in Michigan State history to score 1,000 career points. With 1,158 points, he joins Paul Davis (1,392 points) as current Spartans over 1,000. Davis ranks 14th in career scoring, while Ager ranks 27th. Ager needs 19 points to pass Lee Lafayette (1,176 points), while Davis needs two points to pass Andre Hutson (1,393 points). Three members of last year's team, Alan Anderson, Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert, were all 1,000-point scorers. The next Spartan to reach the milestone should be Shannon Brown, who currently has 810 points.
Mr. Double-Double - With seven double-doubles in the first 12 games of this season, Paul Davis has now recorded a double-double in 15 of the last 27 games. Davis elevated his level of play over the last two months of last season, recording a double-double in eight of the final 15 games, including the last four NCAA Tournament contests. His best effort might have come in the Sweet 16 when he out-scored (20 to 19) and out-rebounded (12 to 8) Duke's Shelden Williams. In the Final Four, against North Carolina's Sean May, Davis recorded a career-best 15 rebounds.
It's Early, But ... - While it's impossible to project season statistics off just 12 games, a few Spartans are putting up impressive numbers in the early going. Maurice Ager is currently averaging 21.7 points per game. It's the best scoring average by a Spartan since Shawn Respert averaged 25.6 points as a senior in 1994-95. Paul Davis is currently averaging 10.1 rebounds, the best mark by a Spartan since Antonio Smith averaged 10.6 boards in 1996-97.
Freshmen Contributions - Nine Spartans are currently averaging more than 12 minutes per game. Of those nine, three are freshmen in Marquise Gray, Goran Suton and Travis Walton. A true freshman, Walton is the primary reserve in the backcourt averaging 19.5 minutes, 1.7 points and 3.0 assists, while playing strong defense. Gray and Suton are redshirt freshmen getting their first taste of college basketball games. Suton is the team's fifth-leading scorer at 4.5 points and the second-leading rebounder at 4.3 boards in 20.1 minutes per contest. Gray is averaging 3.5 points and 3.7 boards per game and has started three contests.
An Offensive Threat - By his own admission, Drew Neitzel just tried to run the offense last season as a true freshman point guard and get the ball to the other weapons on the team. He recorded an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.1-to-1, but averaged just 3.5 points per game and attempted just 3.4 shots per contest. A prolific scorer in high school, Neitzel will look to score more this season. He is averaging 8.8 points and 6.7 shots per game, while maintaining a 2.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Big Ten Favorites - Michigan State was named the Big Ten preseason favorite at the league's media day on Oct. 30. The Spartans are followed by Illinois and Indiana in the poll. Paul Davis also earned a spot on the Preseason All-Big Ten squad.
Davis Named POW - Paul Davis was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 28. In four games, the senior center averaged 22.5 points and 12.3 rebounds. MSU posted a 3-1 record on the week, falling only to Gonzaga, 109-106 in triple overtime. Davis recorded double-doubles in three of the four games. Coach Izzo was impressed with his performance, saying "I'm pleased with the way he's playing on all ends of the court and really excited about the leadership I think he's showing. He's made some giant strides."
MSU Is A "Powerhouse Program" - ESPN named Michigan State one of the 10 "Powerhouse Programs" in college basketball. Of the 10 schools featured, only seven were division I men's programs. MSU was joined by Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, division II Kentucky Wesleyan, and the Tennessee and Connecticut women's programs. The television program featuring the list was part of ESPNU's Honor Roll series.
Winning The Right Way - In addition to excelling on the court, the Spartans are standouts in the classroom. Seventeen Spartans have received their undergraduate degrees over the last six years, including five each in 2001 and 2003.
Home To Mr. Basketball - Five of the last seven recipients of Michigan's Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award, presented to the top high school player in the state, have 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, Kelvin Torbert (Flint Northwestern HS) in 2001, Paul Davis (Rochester HS) in 2002 and Drew Neitzel (Wyoming Park HS) in 2004. While the 2003 winner did not attend MSU, Shannon Brown (Proviso East HS) captured Illinois' Mr. Basketball Award that same year.
America's Best Backcourt - Lindy's College Basketball preseason magazine ranked Michigan State's backcourt the best in the nation: "The backcourt was solid enough to get the Spartans to the Final Four last season and that should be the case again in 2006. Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager will be the `wings' and either could be defined as a `shooting guard,' if you like to see players locked into position descriptions. They're both explosive enough to jump over the top or drive past any variety of defender. Drew Neitzel was solid the last half of the season as the team's playmaker and should be much improved as a sophomore."
MSU Is No. 1 - The Sporting News has tabbed Michigan State as its preseason No. 1 team, listing the Spartans' strengths as "two elite playmaking wings; size and skill at center; toughness." The publication also lists Maurice Ager as the No. 2 shooting guard in the nation and a second-team All-American. Paul Davis is the No. 4 center and Shannon Brown is ranked the No. 9 small forward. As a unit, the Spartan backcourt is ranked second in the nation.
Izzo's Busy Summer - In addition to the always-busy summer recruiting season, Coach Tom Izzo enjoyed a few unique opportunities. In July, he had the opportunity to play golf with Tiger Woods at the Buick Open Pro-Am, prompting Woods to say "he's a guy that if I was playing ball, he's the type of guy that I'd want to go play for.' In mid-August, Izzo was one of a select number of coaches at Michael Jordan's Senior Flight School. The summer closed with Izzo traveling to Kuwait to take part in "Operation Hardwood - Hoops With The Troops." Izzo was one of eight coaches and sports personalities coaching 13-member military basketball teams on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, from Aug. 27-31. Camp Arifjan defeated the other bases to win the championship under the direction of Coach Izzo.
Spartans In The NBA - Listed below is an update on seven former Spartans currently on NBA rosters: (Stats through Dec. 26)
Alan Anderson (Charlotte): 5 GP, 7.0 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.0 apg Charlie Bell (Milwaukee): 18 GP, 12.2 mpg, 4.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.9 apg Mateen Cleaves (Seattle): 17 GP, 9.8 mpg, 3.6 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 1.7 apg Morris Peterson (Toronto): 27 GP, 22 GS, 33.4 mpg, 13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg Zach Randolph (Portland): 26 GP, 25 GS, 35.9 mpg, 18.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.8 apg Jason Richardson (Golden State): 28 GP, 28 GS, 38.9 mpg, 22.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.6 apg Eric Snow (Cleveland): 26 GP, 26 GS, 27.3 mpg, 4.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.2 apg
