Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Events :: Official Athletic Site
Mar. 12, 1997
Michigan State Rolls in NIT Opener
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Ray Weathers scored 18 points and Thomas Kelly added 11 as Michigan State routed George Washington, 65-50, in the opening round of the NIT Tournament.
The Spartans jumped out to a 36-16 halftime lead on Weathers' 13 first-half points. George Washington managed to close the deficit to 44-35 on Seco Camara's jumper with 9:44 remaining, but Michigan State followed with a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach. The Colonials' only lead was a 3-2 edge just 33 seconds into the game.
Mateen Cleaves scored 12 points and added seven assists while Antonio Smith pulled down 14 rebounds for the Spartans, who shot 49 percent (23-of47) from the field and improved to 6-5 lifetime in the NIT Tournament.
"I thought it was a great defensive effort by our team, especially in the first half," said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. "I thought we played as hard and as well as we've played in a while. This team is getting better and better."
Michigan State (17-11) owned the boards, outrebounding the Colonials by a 46-24 margin. The Spartans held George Washington to only 32 percent (19-of-60) from the field, including 6-of-25 from three-point range.
"I wish we would have played better," said George Washington coach Mike Jarvis. "We're better than we were tonight, and that's the most disappointing thing to me. I'm sure Michigan State had a lot to do with that, we got outplayed in most every facet of the game."
Shawnta Rogers led the Colonials (15-14) with 18 points.
Michigan State will host Florida State in the second round. The Seminoles defeated Syracuse, 82-67, at the Carrier Dome.
GEO WASHINGTON (50)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Camara 17 2-4 0-0 0-1 0 2 6
Mescheriakov 40 4-13 0-0 1-4 3 1 9
Koul 29 3-6 3-5 0-3 0 5 9
Brade 33 2-7 0-0 1-5 1 0 4
Rogers 39 6-18 3-4 2-4 2 4 18
K Smith 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
F Williams 1 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Krivonos 25 0-1 0-0 1-2 3 3 0
Green 12 2-8 0-0 0-0 0 1 4
Hazzard 3 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 0 0
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TOTALS 200 19-60 6-9 7-22 10 18 50
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Percentages: FG-.317, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
6-25, .240 (Camara 2-4, Mescheriakov 1-4, Rogers
3-10, Krivonos 0-1, Green 0-5, Hazzard 0-1). Team
rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 1 (Mescheriakov).
Turnovers: 11 (Krivonos 4, Koul 3, Brade, Camara,
K Smith, Mescheriakov). Steals: 9 (Rogers 5,
Camara, Green, Krivonos, Mescheriakov).
MICHIGAN ST (65)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Peterson 19 1-5 1-3 1-5 1 0 3
Granger 18 2-4 0-0 2-5 0 2 4
Smith 34 2-4 3-9 4-14 2 2 7
Weathers 30 6-8 3-4 1-5 1 1 18
Cleaves 29 4-8 2-2 1-5 7 2 11
Kelley 18 3-3 6-6 0-2 1 0 12
Mull 4 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 1 0
Thomas 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Webber 1 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Garavaglia 11 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2
Polonowski 12 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 2 2
Klein 18 2-6 0-0 1-1 0 0 4
Wiley 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Evans 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 23-47 15-24 10-43 14 14 65
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Percentages: FG-.489, FT-.625. 3-Point Goals:
4-14, .286 (Peterson 0-2, Granger 0-1, Weathers
3-5, Cleaves 1-1, Mull 0-1, Garavaglia 0-1, Klein
0-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 4 (Smith
2, Cleaves, Kelley). Turnovers: 21 (Cleaves 6,
Granger 3, Kelley 3, Weathers 3, Garavaglia 2,
Smith 2, Mull, Wiley). Steals: 3 (Smith 2,
Garavaglia).
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Geo Washington 16 34 - 50
Michigan St 36 29 - 65
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Technical fouls: None. A: 7,066. Officials: Tom
Gryzwinski, Mick Secrest, Craig Griffith.