Michigan State University
Indiana Purdue-Ft. Wayne
Spartans Defeat Mastodons, 81-68
11/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 30, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was so upset with Chris Hill's play late in the first half of Friday night's game against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne that he called the freshman guard courtside.
"Do you want to play?" Izzo yelled. Shoot the ball!"
Hill heeded Izzo's words at the start of the second half and scored 11 of the Spartans' first 13 points as No. 22 Michigan State pulled away for an 81-68 victory in the semifinals of the Spartan Coca Cola Classic.
"He really got on me about not looking for my shot, and not being as aggressive as I should be," said Hill, who had only two points in the first half and finished with 16 points. "I passed up a couple of open shots in the first half. However, I've got to knock those down when I'm open. He let it be known that I've got to shoot the ball.
"He's a great motivator. He knows how to get his players to do the things that need to be done."
Marcus Taylor, who also scored 16 points for Michigan State, said that Hill's scoring burst came at the right time.
"That was the turning point," Taylor said. "We were letting them stay too close. Chris hitting those shots seemed to start us on fire."
The Spartans (3-2), who have won the last five Classics, will play the winner of Friday's other semifinal between Maine and Lamar in Saturday's championship game.
The Mastodons (0-5), who are playing their first season in NCAA Division I after playing last season in NCAA Division II, will play the loser.
Adam Wolfe added 13 points and Kelvin Torbert also had 12 for Michigan State, which extended the nation's longest home-court winning streak to 47 games.
Jeremy King led IPFW with 17 points and Nick Wise had 11.
After taking a 31-20 halftime lead, Michigan State blew the game open at the start of the second half behind Hill.
Aloysius Anagonye's two free throws with 11:29 to play pushed the Spartans' cushion to 58-36. The Mastodons answered with six straight points, capped by John Watkins' two free throws, to pull to within 58-41 with 10:30 left.
The Spartans maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way. The closest the Mastodons could get was the final margin.
"I told our kids that they can play their little brothers in the driveway and beat the heck out of them," IPFW coach Doug Knoll said. "I told them that that would not expand their basketball competitiveness or their game. This was a game we needed to play.
"We did about all we could do. Whether they were at their highest game, probably not. We were a little intimidated at first but then we settled down."
After Michigan State hit the first two baskets of the game to go in front 4-0, IPFW scored the next seven points to jump in front 7-4 with 17:08 left in the first half. The Spartans then took control, holding the Mastodons without a basket over the next 8:50 and scoring eight straight points. Wolfe's dunk with 15:57 to play pushed Michigan State ahead for good, 8-7.
Nine Michigan State turnovers allowed IPFW to stay close through most of the first half. The Mastodons pulled within 18-15 on Wise's 3-pointer with 6:48 left. However, Torbert started the Spartans on a 13-3 run with two free throws and Wolfe capped the spurt with a 3-point shot, giving Michigan State a 31-18 lead.
Torbert and Taylor each had eight points for the Spartans in the first half. Wise had eight points for the Mastodons, who hit only 7-of-34 field goal attempts in the half.
