Grinz On Green: Spartans End Non-Con With Tough Win
12/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2011
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com on-line columnist
For 25 minutes, playing a team from Bethlehem, Pa. just before Christmas didn't look like one of the three wisest things Michigan State ever did.
Lehigh led the Spartans for much of the first half Thursday night in the Breslin Center, and had the score deadlocked at 41-41 when a technical foul was called on Mountain Hawks coach Brett Reed with 15:41 remaining.
Michigan State's 10-game win streak was squarely on the line and the momentum the Spartans were building for Wednesday's Big Ten opener against undefeated Indiana was on the verge of needing a reboot.
But then Austin Thornton made the two free throws awarded for the technical and Draymond Green hit a pair of foul shots 16 seconds later. Green added a jumper from the left wing and Thornton followed with his fourth 3-pointer of the season.
It was only fitting that the two senior captains would collaborate to start the 19-6 run that would carry No. 19 MSU to a 90-81 victory that closed out the non-conference portion of the season.
The Spartans (11-2) allowed just one basket during that six-minute stretch as they went from looking like they'd have difficulty challenging Lehigh for the Patriot League title to passing a tough in-game test the likes of which they can expect to face on a regular basis in the coming weeks.
Hobbled by poor shooting and disjointed defense in the first half, MSU trailed 38-35 at halftime before willing its way through adverse conditions against a team with a will-to-win that was just as strong.
And on second thought, beating a team like Lehigh couldn't have come at a better time.
The Spartans won because they outrebounded the Hawks, 50-31, made their free throws and shot significantly better from the floor in the second half.
"First of all, give Lehigh a lot of credit," said Thornton, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. "That was a very good team and they're going to be an NCAA Tournament team. They played hard and they made us work.
"But I think our team has made a lot of progress in a lot of ways, and it was good for us to have a game like this against a tough team and really have to grind it out and fight all the way to the finish."
Although MSU eventually opened up a 16-point advantage, the Hawks mounted a 15-7 run to make it a six-point game with 37 seconds left and keep the Spartans' anxiety level in the red zone.
"Indiana's going to come in here 12-0 and you know they'll be fired up," Thornton said. "We're going to have to be ready. I would like to be able to say we're going to have some blowout wins, but the Big Ten is going to be very tough and very deep.
"This win will help us grow up."
Despite making just three of 13 shots from the field, sophomore guard Keith Appling led MSU with 19 points thanks to 12-for-12 shooting from the foul line. Green made just five of 17 shots but finished with 16 points, game-high 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.
Lehigh (9-4) maybe gave coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans the best gift they'll receive over the short holiday break. Reed, who grew up in Waterford northwest of Detroit, said his team played with the belief it could upset MSU on its own floor if it played a flawless game.
"I really think that was the key stretch," Reed said of the run. "Our ability to somewhat control the game in the first half, despite foul difficulty, could have put us in a tremendous position in the second half.
"However, we weren't necessarily able to capitalize. Had we been able to keep that pressure on Michigan State, it adds a unique second level of tension that they ultimately would have to work through. Credit their leadership and their toughness that they could do that. We want to put them in that type of environment where we could test them a little more."
It was a baptism of fire the Spartans hadn't experienced during their string of relatively comfortable wins.
Green, who kept himself out of the starting lineup because he overslept and was six minutes late for a team meeting earlier in the week, made just one of eight shots from the floor in the first half and Appling went 2-for-7 after missing an easy layup just before the halftime buzzer.
"It wasn't the first game where people battled us, but it was definitely the first game where we really struggled and a team battled us like that," said Green. "It was good to see how the team responded especially with me struggling the way I did and Keith struggling the way he did."
Freshman guard Branden Dawson helped keep MSU from straying too far off course by scoring 14 points, Brandon Wood had some key plays to go with eight points, Travis Trice had a big 3-pointer during the run and handed out five assists and centers Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix had solid performances, Izzo said.
"Other guys stepped up, and that's what we need," Green said. "Regardless of what the situation is, now we know we can pull a win out. I think we figured out how to do that tonight.
"You never know what you can do until you do it. We did it, but good thing it was the game before the conference started and not after."
The Spartans head into conference play with at least 11 wins for the first time since they were 12-1 in 2007-08, but the Patriot League isn't the Big Ten, not by a long shot.
"We have won most of these games fairly convincingly against teams that weren't quite as good," Izzo said. "When I said there were three sets of teams that we played - a lower-echelon, a mid- and of course an upper- -- I could argue that this one was between the mid- and the upper-.
"I'm proud of the young guys that came on and made some progress (during the non-conference season). But, we've got a long way to go if we're going to be a contender for the Big Ten. That is what we are going to have to do once we get back from this short break."
Izzo also gave the fans, especially those who filled in for the students who are away on holiday break, an assist.
"I thought our fans were awesome," Izzo said. "I want to thank the community. They really did a great job for us and definitely made an impact tonight when we were struggling."
