Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Falls To Russian Senior National Team
8/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 28, 2015
TRIESTE, Italy- Michigan State fell to the Russian Senior National Team, 93-75, on Friday at PalaTrieste in Trieste, Italy. Denzel Valentine led the Spartans with 21 points, while Gavin Schilling added 17.
"This was a very, very, very good game for us to play in," said head coach Tom Izzo. "We came back a couple of times and made some runs. Our fast break looked good and that is what their coaches said to me at times, but we couldn't defend. And that is what we are usually pretty good at. We did not defend the ball screens very well, and we fouled too much. They hit 24-out-of 27 free throws."
The game was the first in a three-day tournament featuring MSU and Russia, along with the Italian and Georgian Senior National Teams. The three countries are using the tournament as a tune-up for Eurobasket 2015, which will be held in September to determine the European qualifiers for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Michigan State will face the host Italian squad Saturday at 6 p.m. local time (Noon ET).
Russia's first four field goals were 3-pointers, but MSU held tough and trailed 13-11 midway through the quarter. The Russian squad broke open a tight contest with a 14-0 run in the final minutes of the quarter to claim a 32-13 lead after one stanza.
"Some teams have men and some teams still have boys," Izzo said. "That was a boys versus men game tonight and not that it shouldn't have been, either. They (Russia) are 25 to 35 years old, and I thought one of the more physical European teams that I have seen. I thought that was good for us. We did some good things, but we did more poor things as far as how we guarded."
The Spartans showed great resolve in the second quarter, continuing to chip away at the lead. Valentine was terrific in the quarter, scoring 16 points. By halftime, MSU had cut the Russian lead nearly in half to trail by just 10 points, 50-40. For the half, MSU shot .471, including .400 from 3-point range, while the bigger Russian squad shot .630 from the floor and .600 from behind the arc.
"Denzel (Valentine) was phenomenal, and in the first half he was unbelievable," said Izzo. "Second half he wore down a little bit but still played very good. I thought we got a lot out of Gavin (Schilling) tonight. He did a lot of good things."
In the third quarter, Russia used another late-quarter surge to take a 73-53 lead after the period. The Spartans, however, continued to fight, out-scoring the Russians, 22-20, in the final stanza. For the game, MSU shot .455 from the field and .320 from 3-point range, while Russia shot .564 from the field and .350 from 3-point range. Russia outscored the Spartans, 24-7, from the foul line. Both teams shot well from the charity stripe, as MSU hit 7-of-9 attempts (.778) and Russia made 24-of-27 (.889).
"Unfortunately, just watching a little bit of the Italian team, I think they are a lot better than the Russian team," Izzo said. "One area we really struggle with is the size. You don't see that kind of size in America. Their guards were big and about 230-240 pounds, which hurt us a little bit. They switched everything and gave us some problems. It'll be a good exercise on how to get better, though."
The larger Russian squad out-rebounded the Spartans, 34-26, led by Andrey Desyatnikov with 10. Three Spartans (Gavin Schilling, Bryn Forbes, Matt Costello) led MSU with four rebounds each. Valentine and Tum Tum Nairn Jr. each had five assists for the Spartans.
