Spartans Host Sooners In Preseason NIT Second Round
11/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
#13/15 Michigan State (1-0)
vs. #24/25 Oklahoma (1-0)
Preseason NIT Second Round (espn2)
Nov. 14, 2001 - 9:03 p.m. EST
East Lansing
Michigan State Game Notes
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NOTE OF THE NIGHT
A Sesqui-Victory - With a victory over Oklahoma, Tom Izzo would record the 150th win of his head coaching career. Some of Izzo's other milestones wins include: Win No. 1 - 69-66 vs. Chaminade (11/20/95), Win No. 50 - 75-64 vs. Iowa (2/7/98), Win No. 100 - 77-71 (OT) vs. Indiana (1/11/00).
TWO MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT
Balanced Scoring Keys Victory - Michigan State won its 25th-straight season opener behind a balanced scoring attack. Four Spartans scored in double figures, while seven scored eight points or more. Aloysius Anagonye, Marcus Taylor and Adam Wolfe led the way with 14 points each.
Doing The Little Things - Michigan State and Oklahoma are similar teams in that they both do the little things to win games. Through a combined five early season contests (including exhibitions), neither the Spartans nor Sooners have shot 50% from the field, yet they are a combined 5-0. MSU defeated Detroit in its opener by committing just seven turnovers and outrebounding UDM, 43-32, including 16 offensive boards. In Oklahoma's opener vs. Central Connecticut State, the Sooners forced 22 turnovers.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
Michigan State Spartans (1-0) Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #55 Adam Ballinger (Jr., 6-9, 250) 9.0 8.0 4.0F - #25 Aloysius Anagonye (Jr., 6-8, 255)14.0 9.0 0.0F - #3 Adam Wolfe (So., 6-9, 230) 14.0 5.0 1.0G - #23 Kelvin Torbert (Fr., 6-4, 225) 9.0 4.0 2.0G - #1 Marcus Taylor (So., 6-3, 195) 14.0 3.0 5.0
Oklahoma Sooners (1-0) Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #13 Aaron McGhee (Sr., 6-8, 250) 9.0 6.0 2.0C - #42 Jozsef Szendrei (Jr., 6-9, 240) 2.0 2.0 0.0G - #2 Ebi Ere (Jr., 6-5, 215) 11.0 4.0 3.0G - #4 Quannas White (Jr., 6-1, 190) 3.0 2.0 0.0G - #10 Hollis Price (Jr., 6-1, 165) 20.0 3.0 5.0
MSU/OU STAT COMPARISON
Category MSU OUScoring Offense 80.0 66.0Scoring Defense 70.0 44.0Scoring Margin +10.0 +22.0Field Goal Pct. .413 .387Field Goal Pct. Defense .433 .4103Pt. FG Pct. .333 .407Free Throw Pct. .846 1.000Rebound Margin +11.0 +2.0Turnovers per game 7.0 11.0Coach Izzo - In his seventh year, Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan, '77) is 149-53 (.738), 72-28 (.720) in the Big Ten, as the coach of the Michigan State basketball program. He is the third-winningest coach in MSU history, trailing only Jud Heathcote (340) and Benjamin VanAlstyne (232) in total wins. Izzo's 148 wins in his first six years give him the fourth most by a coach in his first six seasons of coaching. In his six seasons of coaching, Izzo has won National Coach of the Year honors three times, including 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. With MSU's 77-71 overtime win over Indiana on Jan. 11, 2000, Izzo became just the fourth Spartan coach to reach the 100-win mark.
Izzo Ranks Among Best Active Coaches - Tom Izzo ranks eighth (.738) in winning percentage among active coaches with at least five full seasons of coaching experience. Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian is first at .802. He is followed by John Kresse (College of Charleston, .801), Roy Williams (Kansas, .800), Rick Majerus (Utah, .743), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, .743), Rick Pitino (Louisville, .739) and Lute Olson (Arizona, .739).
Izzo Vs. Ranked Opponents - Tom Izzo is 37-27 against foes ranked in the AP Top 25. This includes wins in 25 of MSU's last 31 games against ranked opponents.
OKLAHOMA TIDBITS
Boomer Sooner Comes To East Lansing - Michigan State leads the all-time series with Oklahoma by a 3-1 margin, although this will be the first time that the Sooners have ever traveled to play at Michigan State.
Kelvin's Return - Eighth-year Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson was a graduate assistant under Jud Heathcote at Michigan State for two seasons (1978-79 & 1979-80). Overall, Sampson is in his 19th year as a head coach, including stops at Montana Tech and Washington State.
Knocking Heads - The last time that Oklahoma met Michigan State, the Spartans defeated the Sooners, 54-46, in the Sweet Sixteen of the 1999 NCAA Tournament. That game is best remembered for the horrific collision between OU's Eduardo Najera and MSU's Mateen Cleaves. After Cleaves' forehead smacked Najera's chin, both players lay on the court for several minutes. They would both leave the game, only to quickly make heroic returns. MSU won the game by holding OU to 33 percent shooting from the field.
Same Uniforms, Different Faces - Although the Spartans and Sooners last met just three seasons ago, there is a not a player on either roster that saw time in that game. MSU's Adam Ballinger and Mat Ishbia were on the squad at the time, but both were redshirting that season.
LOOKING AHEAD - PRESEASON NIT SEMIFINALS
New York, New York - The winner of the MSU-OU contest will battle the winner of the DePaul - Syracuse game in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT on Wednesday, Nov. 21 in New York City's Madison Square Garden. The Blue Demons and Orangemen will battle on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. ET in Syracuse, N.Y.
MORE ON MSU BASKETBALL
Freshmen Starters Under Izzo - Throughout his seven years as head coach, Tom Izzo has shown a willingness to put a freshman in the starting lineup. Consider the following freshmen who have all started under Izzo: Aloysius Anagonye (5 games), Charlie Bell (30 games), Mateen Cleaves (24 games), Doug Davis (1 game), A.J. Granger (7 games), Andre Hutson (26 games), Jason Klein (10 games), Morris Peterson (18 games), Zach Randolph (8 games), Jason Richardson (3 games), Antonio Smith (20 games), Marcus Taylor (9 games) and Kelvin Torbert (1 game).
Freshmen Debuts - Three Spartans made significant contributions in their MSU debuts. Chris Hill led all freshmen with 10 points, including back-to-back three pointers during a crucial stretch of the second half. Kelvin Torbert started the game and scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds. Alan Anderson came off the bench to record eight points and six boards.
Bench Production - It's no secret that the Spartans do not have a lot of depth, but they do have a strong eight-man rotation with good production off the bench. The trio of Alan Anderson, Jason Andreas and Chris Hill combined to record 20 points and 11 rebounds against Detroit.
The Drive For Five - One of MSU's top goals entering the 2001-02 season is capturing a fifth-straight regular-season Big Ten Championship. If the Spartans win the title, they will join the 1960-64 Ohio State teams as the only schools to accomplish the feat.
Getting Respect - Michigan State is ranked 13th in the current ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The poll released on Nov. 11 includes eight of MSU's 2001-02 opponents, including No. 2 Illinois, No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Iowa, No. 11 Virginia, No. 12 Arizona, No. 16 Stanford, No. 20 Indiana and No. 24 Oklahoma.
Safe At Home - Michigan State will count on the friendly confines of the Breslin Center to help a young team along this season. The Spartans own the longest active homecourt winning streak in the nation at 45 games. In fact, no Spartan on the 2001-02 roster has ever lost a home game. Over the 45-game stretch, the Spartans have won by an average of 21.4 points and just six of the 45 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points. This season, MSU could eclipse the record for consecutive home wins by a Big Ten school. Minnesota won 53 straight home games from 1899-1905 before joining the Big Ten and both Ohio State (1959-63) and Indiana (1991-95) each won 50 straight at home as a member of the Big Ten.
Regulars In The AP Poll - Michigan State owns a streak of 63-straight weeks ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. Only Duke and Stanford have longer active streaks. MSU has also been ranked in the top 15 for 56 straight weeks. This includes MSU's No. 15 ranking in the poll released Nov. 5.
Early Openers - If you thought Nov. 12 was an early start for Spartan basketball, you were right. In fact, the Detroit game marked the earliest that MSU had ever opened a regular season. In 1998-99, MSU defeated NE Louisiana in the season opener on Nov. 13.
MSU In November - Michigan State has an all-time record of 51-12 in games played during the month of November.
Marcus' Own Brand Of Magic - MSU sophomore point guard Marcus Taylor hit a running jumper with 2.3 seconds remaining to lift Michigan State to an 89-87 win over the Magic Johnson All-Stars in the Spartans' exhibition opener. Taylor finished as the game's high scorer with 19 points in addition to 11 assists, both of which would be his career highs. Magic Johnson was equally impressive in the contest, posting a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Movin' On Up - Construction on the Berkowitz Basketball Complex is in its final stages. With the new auxiliary gymnasium already completed, the Spartan basketball staff is eagerly anticipating its move to the new offices in late December. The $7.5-million dollar project will provide Michigan State with one of the finest basketball complexes in the nation. Included in the addition are offices for the coaching staff, a large video review room, a video workroom and a conference room.
Air Time - Michigan State will appear on national television networks at least 15 times during the regular season, including seven games on ESPN, four on CBS, three on espn2 and one on Fox Sports Net. That number could increase to 19 depending on how far MSU advances in the Preseason NIT and television decisions regarding two late-season Big Ten contests. In total, MSU could have 25 regular-season contests televised.
What I Did On Summer Vacation - Five Spartans plus head coach Tom Izzo spent part of their summer taking part in international basketball competition. Red-shirt sophomores Jason Andreas and Adam Wolfe were members of the Big Ten Foreign Tour team, where Wolfe led the squad in scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). Juniors Aloysius Anagonye and Adam Ballinger played on NYC Hoops coached by St. John's coach Mike Jarvis that competed in Greece against Olympic caliber competition. Finally, both sophomore Marcus Taylor and Tom Izzo represented USA Basketball in separate competitions. Taylor was a member of the gold-medal winning USA Young Men's World Championship team, averaging 5.7 points and 2.8 assists. Izzo was an assistant coach on the USA Basketball squad that won the gold medal at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Australia. In total, the six Spartans logged a combined 70,000 miles in international travel.
Winning With Rebounding, Defense And Offense - Despite several new faces, the Spartans already have a blueprint for championship basketball: rebounding, defense and offense. Over the past four years that the Spartans have won the Big Ten regular-season championship, it comes as little surprise that the Spartans have led the conference in rebounding in each year and ranked among the top three in scoring defense. In addition, MSU led the Big Ten in field-goal percentage in 2000-01 and ranked second in scoring offense in all games.
Championship Similarities - The 2001-02 Spartans will have many similarities to the 1997-98 Spartans that posted a 22-8 record and won the first of MSU's four straight Big Ten Championships. Consider the starting lineup from 1997-98: G - Charlie Bell (Fr.), G - Mateen Cleaves (So.), F - Andre Hutson (Fr.), F - Jason Klein (Jr.), F - Antonio Smith (Jr.). Coming off the bench for the Spartans were DuJuan Wiley, David Thomas, A.J. Granger and Doug Davis.
Monsters On The Glass - The 2000-01 season marked the second-straight year that the Spartans led the nation in rebounding margin. The Spartans' margin of +15.4 last season tied for the fifth-greatest margin in NCAA history since the statistic was first kept in 1973 and the largest since 1980.
Taylor Is Most Recent Wooden Nominee - Marcus Taylor is one of this year's 50 John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-Americans. He is just the latest Spartan to be nominated for the prestigious award. Last season, both Charlie Bell and Andre Hutson were preseason nominees while Bell and Jason Richardson were among the 20 finalists. At season's end, Bell was named a Wooden All-American. During the 1999-2000 season, Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson were both recognized as Wooden All-Americans, an honor that Cleaves also received in 1999.
The Golden Arches - Michigan State is becoming the home for McDonald's All-Americans. Over the past three seasons, four McDonald's All-Americans have joined the Spartan squad, including Jason Richardson in 1999, Marcus Taylor and McDonald's All-American All-Star game MVP Zach Randolph in 2000 and Kelvin Torbert in 2001.
Home To Mr. Basketball - The last three recipients of Michigan's Mr. Basketball Award, presented to the top high school player in the state, have all 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 and Kelvin Torbert (Flint Northwestern HS) in 2001.
Missing Parts - Missing from Michigan State's 2001 Big Ten Champion and Final Four squad are seven lettermen who accounted for 81 percent (2,068) of the points, 75 percent (1,046) of the rebounds and 76 percent (438) of the assists.
The Past Is Too Good To Ignore - While past success does not guarantee future championships, some stats from the past four-plus years are worth repeating, including MSU's record in Big Ten action, 54-10, in the Breslin Center, 57-3, in postseason play, 22-5, in the NCAA Tournament, 16-3.
Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime - 10 of Michigan State's opponents in the 2001-02 season earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament (Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Virginia, Wisconsin), while four more appeared in the NIT (Detroit, Minnesota, Purdue, Seton Hall). Additionally, eight schools were ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll of the 2001 season (No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Arizona, No. 8 Florida, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 16 Virginia, No. 20 Indiana, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 25 Wisconsin). Besides an always difficult Big Ten slate, Michigan State will face a challenging non-conference schedule. The youthful Spartans will face road contests at Virginia (Richmond, Va.), Florida and Stanford (Oakland, Calif.), home games against 2001 NCAA runner-up Arizona and Seton Hall and the potential of facing several difficult opponents in the Preseason NIT.
