Men's Basketball Travels To Florida
12/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
#16 Michigan State (4-2)at #4 Florida (4-1)Dec. 5, 20017:00 p.m. ESTGainesville, Fla.ESPN2
Michigan State - Florida Game Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
Taylor Comes Alive - Marcus Taylor earned MVP honors at the 2001 Spartan Coca-Cola Classic with two of his best games as a Spartan. On Friday night vs. IPFW, Taylor's all-around play led MSU to a 81-68 win, tying his career highs for points (16) and assists (9) and established a new personal best with eight rebounds. One night later, in a 80-71 win over Lamar, Taylor established a new career high with 17 points, while adding eight assists. In the two games, he averaged 16.5 points, 8.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and just 2.5 turnovers.
TWO MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT
Torbert Coming Of Age - The Spartan Coca-Cola Classic marked the two best games of Kelvin Torbert's short Spartan career. Against IPFW, he scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds, while recording 13 points and three rebounds vs. Lamar. He was also active on the offensive end of the floor, getting to the free throw line 13 times over the two games.
Bench Production - It's no secret that the Spartans do not have a lot of depth, but they are getting good production off the bench. Through six games, the Spartan bench is outscoring the opponent's subs, 122-57.
Probable Starters
Michigan State Spartans (4-2) Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #55 Adam Ballinger (Jr., 6-9, 250) 9.3 7.8 2.0F - #25 Aloysius Anagonye (Jr., 6-8, 255)8.7 7.5 1.8F - #15 Alan Anderson (Fr., 6-6, 230) 6.0 4.2 1.5G - #23 Kelvin Torbert (Fr., 6-4, 225) 8.8 3.3 1.0G - #1 Marcus Taylor (So., 6-3, 195) 13.3 3.3 6.3
Florida Gators (4-1) Ppg. Rpg. Apg.F - #15 Matt Bonner (Jr., 6-10, 237) 14.0 6.2 1.6C - #50 Udonis Haslem (Sr., 6-9, 246) 13.8 9.0 1.2G - #12 Justin Hamilton (Jr., 6-3, 307) 9.8 4.0 3.4G - #10 Brett Nelson (Jr., 6-4, 182) 14.2 2.6 4.0G - #1 Orien Greene (So., 6-4, 200) 4.0 2.6 1.8
Coach Izzo - In his seventh year, Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan, '77) is 152-55 (.734), 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 ninth (.734) in winning percentage among active coaches with at least five full seasons of coaching experience. Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian is first at .803. He is followed by John Kresse (College of Charleston, .802), Roy Williams (Kansas, .800), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, .745), Rick Majerus (Utah, .741), Lute Olson (Arizona, .740), Rick Pitino (Louisville, .739) and Bob Huggins (Cincinnati, .737). (Through games of Dec. 2.)
Izzo Vs. Ranked Opponents - Tom Izzo is 38-29 against foes ranked in the AP Top 25. This includes wins in 26 of MSU's last 34 games against ranked opponents.
FLORIDA FACTOIDS
Coach Donovan - Billy Donovan (Providence, '87) is 141-77 in his eighth season overall as a head coach. He is 106-57 in his sixth season at Florida, following two seasons at Marshall. He ranks fourth among active coaches in NCAA Tournament winning percentage, a category in which Tom Izzo ranks first. Additionally, Donovan is one of just six men in college basketball history to coach and play in a Final Four.
Gator Tidbits - Florida owns a 4-1 record, having most recently defeated Tulane, 81-65, on Dec. 2. The Gators are led by a balanced offense attack with three players (Matt Bonner, Udonis Haslem and Brett Nelson) averaging between 13.8 and 14.2 points per game.
First Time At Florida - This will be the fourth meeting between the Gators and Spartans, but the first one in Gainesville. MSU leads the all-time series, 2-1, including last year's 99-83 victory in East Lansing (12/6/00). The first two meetings were on a neutral site with MSU winning 89-76 in the 2000 NCAA Championship game and Florida winning 83-59 at the 1987 Fiesta Basketball Classic.
Championship Experience - Although Florida and Michigan State met just two years ago in the 2000 NCAA Championship game, both teams feature several new players, especially the Spartans. Aloysius Anagonye, Adam Ballinger and Mat Ishbia each played in the championship game, contributing two points and two rebounds. In comparison, Florida's Udonis Haslem, Justin Hamilton, Brett Nelson and Matt Bonner provided 38 points and nine rebounds.
The Championship Rematch - Michigan State and Florida met last December in East Lansing in a rematch of the 2000 NCAA Championship game. The Spartans won, 99-83, thanks in large part to the play of freshmen Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor. Randolph scored a career-best 27 points, while Taylor added 15 points and seven assists. During one six-minute stretch in the second half, Taylor and Randolph scored 19 straight points. Charlie Bell added 20 points for MSU. Brent Wright scored 18 for Florida, while Teddy Dupay and Matt Bonner each added 17.
MORE ON MSU BASKETBALL
Coke Classic Recap - Michigan State won its fifth straight Spartan Coca-Cola Classic and 16th overall as the Spartans defeated Lamar, 80-71, in Saturday's championship game. MSU's Marcus Taylor was Tournament MVP, while teammates Adam Ballinger, Chris Hill and Adam Wolfe also earned spots on the All-Tournament team.
Ballinger Earns All-Tournament Honors - For the second time in as many tournaments this season, Adam Ballinger earned All-Tournament honors. After being MSU's lone representative to the Preseason NIT All-Tournament team, he earned a spot on the Spartan Coca-Cola Classic All-Tournament team. His recognition in the Coke Classic was based on a strong championship game performance, scoring 12 points and grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds in recording his first career double-double.
A Lot Of Minutes - Seven Spartans are currently averaging more than 20 minutes per contest, with three players seeing more than 27 minutes per game. By comparison, in both the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, just five players averaged more than 20 minutes per contest.
Simply The Best - Eight Spartan opponents are ranked, including six in the top 11 of the ESPN/USA Today poll with No. 4 Florida, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Arizona, No. 9 Syracuse and No. 11 Iowa.
Still Rebounding - In each of the past two seasons, MSU has led the nation in rebounding margin. The Spartans have once again made a commitment to rebounding, outrebounding their opponents this season by a +9.7 margin.
Turnovers Lead To Points - MSU is averaging 15.8 turnovers per contest. What is even more troubling is that the turnovers are being converted into points by Spartan opponents. Through six games, opponents have scored 101 points off turnovers, an average of 16.8 points per contest. This was an especially large problem vs. Oklahoma (26 pts.) and Syracuse (32 pts.).
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), Alan Anderson (3 games), Charlie Bell (30 games), Mateen Cleaves (24 games), Doug Davis (1 game), A.J. Granger (7 games), Chris Hill (2 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 (5 games).
Freshmen Debuts - If MSU is to continue its success in 2001-02, it will need large contributions from three true freshmen. Through six games, the trio of Alan Anderson, Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert have combined to average 26.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
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 t-16th in the current ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The poll released on Dec. 2 includes eight of MSU's 2001-02 opponents, including No. 4 Florida, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Arizona, No. 9 Syracuse, No. 11 Iowa, No. 14 Stanford and No. 16 Fresno State.
Regulars In The AP Poll - Michigan State owns a streak of 65-straight weeks ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. Only Duke and Stanford have longer active streaks. (This does not include the poll to be released on Dec. 3.)
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 16 times during the regular season, including seven games on ESPN, four on CBS, four on ESPN2 and one on Fox Sports Net. That number could increase to 18 depending on television decisions regarding two late-season Big Ten contests. In total, MSU could have 24 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.
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 48 games. In fact, no Spartan on the 2001-02 roster has ever lost a home game. Over the 48-game stretch, the Spartans have won by an average of 20.75 points and just seven of the 48 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.
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, 60-3, in postseason play, 22-5, in the NCAA Tournament, 16-3.
Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime - 12 of Michigan State's opponents in the 2001-02 season earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament (Arizona, Florida, Fresno State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Syracuse, Virginia, Wisconsin), while four more appeared in the NIT (Detroit, Minnesota, Purdue, Seton Hall). Additionally, nine 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. 17 Syracuse, 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.
Spartans In The NBA - Michigan State leads the Big Ten with nine current players in the NBA. Listed below is an update on each former Spartan. (Stats current through Nov. 25.)
Charlie Bell (Phoenix): 5 GP, 8.4 mpg, 1.6 ppg, currently on injured list Mateen Cleaves (Sacramento): 5 GP, 3.8 mpg, 1.4 ppg, 0.8 apg Jamie Feick (New Jersey): 0 GP, currently on injured list Morris Peterson (Toronto): 18 GP, 31.1 mpg, 13.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.6 apg Zach Randolph (Portland): 15 GP, 6.4 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg Jason Richardson (Golden State): 17 GP, 25.6 mpg, 9.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.7 apg Steve Smith (San Antonio): 15 GP, 29.1 mpg, 13.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 apg Eric Snow (Philadelphia): 0 GP, currently on injured list Kevin Willis (Houston): 17 GP, 22.4 mpg, 9.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg
Spartans Keep Reloading - Michigan State signed four players to National Letters of Intent in the early signing period.
Maurice Ager (G, 6-4, 175, Detroit/Crockett High School) averaged 23 points, six rebounds and three assists as a junior, leading Crockett High School to a 23-3 record and a state championship in Class B. An all-state honoree, he is ranked as the No. 16 player in the nation by ESPN.com. Ager is also's Coach Izzo's first recruit from the Detroit Public School League.
Paul Davis (F, 6-10, 235, Rochester, Mich./Rochester High School) averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks as a junior and is a consensus top-10 player, including being ranked No. 3 by Bob Gibbons and FoxSports.com's Frank Burlison.
Rashi Johnson (G, 6-2, 195, Chicago/King High School/Mott Community College) is Coach Izzo's first junior college recruit. Last season, in the NJCAA Division II tournament, Johnson averaged 17 points over eight games, leading Mott to an appearance in the national championship game. As a junior at Chicago King High School, he helped lead his team to the Chicago city championship.
Delco Rowley (F, 6-8, 235, Indianapolis/Arlington High School) is a very athletic and strong forward who earned first-team all-city and all-sectional honors as a junior. He is a preseason first-team all-state selection and is ranked No. 71 in the nation by Bob Gibbons.
