Men's Basketball Hosts Penn On Saturday Afternoon
11/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
#3/4 Michigan State (1-1)vs. Penn (1-1)
November 29, 20032 P.M. ESTEast Lansing, Mich.Breslin Center (14,759)
Radio: Spartan Sports Network - Will Tieman (Play by Play), Gus Ganakas (Color). Flagship - WJIM (1240 AM/97.5 FM)
TV: None
Michigan State Game Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Opening Tip
No. 3/4 Michigan State hosts Penn in the first game of the 2003 Coca-Cola Spartan Classic. DePaul and Indiana State will play 25 minutes after the conclusion of MSU-Penn as the tournament features all four teams from the 1979 Final Four. The Spartans and Quakers have not met since their National Semifinal contest in Salt Lake City. MSU will be looking to win its 17th Spartan Classic in 21 tries against a field that might be the most talented in the tournament's history.
The Starting Five
Have A Coke And A Smile - This year marks the 21st edition of the Spartan Classic and the sixth year of Coca-Cola's sponsorship of the tournament. Michigan State has won 16 of the previous 20 tournaments, including six in a row and 12 of the last 13. (For complete tournament results and records, see page 242-243 of the 2003-04 MSU Basketball Media Guide.)
1979 Final Four Reunion - Michigan State, DePaul, Indiana State and Penn are assembled together for the first time since the 1979 Final Four. That season, MSU defeated Penn, 101-67, in one semifinal, while Indiana State defeated DePaul, 76-74. MSU defeated ISU, 75-64 in the NCAA Championship Game.
Bench Production - Through two games, Michigan State is taking advantage of its depth as the Spartan bench has scored 51 of MSU's 138 points (37.0 percent). Guards Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown lead the bench attack with Ager scoring 13.5 points per game, while Brown averages 7.5. By comparison, Spartan opponents are averaging 14.0 points from their bench.
One-Of-A-Kind Schedule - Michigan State's 2003-04 schedule is heading into uncharted waters. No team has ever played Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and UCLA during the same regular season. Add Oklahoma to that group and you have one of the greatest schedules of all-time.
MSU In November - MSU has an all-time record of 56-17 in November.
Game 2 Notes - Kansas 81 - MSU 74
* Kansas turned 24 Michigan State turnovers into 34 points.
* Maurice Ager scored a career-best 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.
* After shooting 39.1 percent from the field in the first half, the Spartans connected on 57.7 percent of their second-half shots.
* Alan Anderson tied his career high with seven assists.
* After being in baseball's minor leagues for three years, Justin Ockerman saw six minutes of action in his Spartan debut, recording two steals.
* Trailing by 17 points in the second half, MSU cut the KU lead to 76-72 with 2:32 remaining in the game.
Penn Notes
Coach Dunphy - Fran Dunphy (LaSalle, '70) is in his 15th season at Penn with a career record of 254-136, ranking second all-time in the Ivy League for wins.
Michigan State Vs. Penn - Michigan State leads the all-time series with Penn, 2-1, although the two teams have never met in East Lansing. The last meeting between the two squads came in the 1979 Final Four, with MSU taking a 101-67 victory. The other two games came during Forrest Anderson's tenure as Spartan head coach, with the two teams splitting a pair of games at Penn.
Quaker Briefs - Penn is led by Jeff Schiffner, who scored 20 points in each of his first two games ... Penn held Wisconsin to 1-of-14 shooting from behind the three-point arc; Drexel didn't fare much better, shooting just 4-of-15 ... The Quakers probable starting lineup features three seniors and two juniors ... Penn's roster features players from eight different states, plus Ireland, Germany and Cameroon.
Scouting The Classic Field
A Quick Look At DePaul - DePaul is 2-0 in the young season, having defeated Loyola-Chicago and Northwestern. Delonte Holland is DePaul's leading scorer, averaging 21.0 points per game, while Andre Brown is averaging a double-double with 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per contest. Dave Leitao (Northeastern, '83) is 18-13 in his second season as head coach at DePaul. Overall, he is 40-48 in four years as a college head coach, having previously served for two seasons at Northeastern.
A Quick Look At Indiana State - Indiana State has played just one game this season, defeating Gardner-Webb, 67-53. Amaani Danish led the Syacmores with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Marcus Howard added 15 points. Royce Waltman (Slippery Rock, '64) is 278-177 in his 16th season as a college head coach, including an 89-91 mark in eight years at Indiana State.
MSU Basketball Notes
Sustained Excellence - The mark of an elite program is sustaining excellence over time and doing it against top-flight competition. There are 13 programs that amassed 125 or more victories between 1998-99 and 2002-03. Michigan State is third on that list with 134 victories. However, MSU is also the team most willing to play top-notch competition, ranking first with 59 games against ranked opponents, while winning a nation's best 38. Michigan State and Kentucky are tied with 21 games in the regular-season against non-conference ranked teams. A look deeper into the numbers shows that of those 21 games for MSU, 13 were against top-10 teams. (Rankings based on The Associated Press Top 25 poll at the date the game was played.)
Wojcik In The Record Books - First-year Michigan State assistant coach Doug Wojcik was in the MSU media guide long before joining Tom Izzo's staff. Wojcik was a member of the 1986-87 Navy squad that captured the 1986 Spartan Cutlass Classic. In that tournament, Wojcik established two records that still stand today, recording 12 assists in a single game (vs. Michigan State) and 20 in the two games. Navy defeated Michigan State 91-90 in overtime of the championship game of the tournament.
Hill For Three - Chris Hill is among the best three-point shooters in MSU history. He ranks third in career three-point field goals made (164), fifth in career attempts (394) and seventh in career three-point field goal percentage (.416). Hill has made at least one three-point field goal in 65 of 68 games in his career.
Spartans Spread Minutes - Thirteen different Spartans have seen game action this season, including 10 averaging eight minutes or more per contest. Seven average 12 minutes or more, while Alan Anderson (33.0 mpg) is the only player over 30.
Playing The Best - Michigan State's 2003-04 schedule has the opportunity to go down as one of the greatest in college basketball history. Opponents on this year's slate have combined for 32 National Championships, 406 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven of the 11 all-time winningest programs, five of the six all-time winningest Final Four teams, eight 2003 conference champions and 14 2003 postseason teams (10 NCAA Tournament and four NIT).
Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime - This year's Spartan schedule is just the latest in Tom Izzo's trend to play the best teams across the country. Consider the squads that have appeared on MSU's schedule under Izzo: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, Stanford, Syracuse, Temple, Texas, UCLA and Virginia.
Returning Talent - Michigan State is a popular preseason pick for the 2004 Final Four based upon its returning talent from the 2003 Elite Eight squad. The Spartans return five of their top six scorers from last year, 71.6 percent of their scoring and 70.7 percent of their minutes played.
Preseason Favorites - Michigan State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten Conference by both the league's media and coaches. This is the second year in a row and the fifth time in the last six years that MSU has been selected as the preseason favorite.
Davis And Hill Earn Individual Honors - Junior guard Chris Hill and sophomore center Paul Davis were both selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team as selected by the league's coaches. Hill also earned a spot on the media's all-conference team. Davis is the only non-guard to earn a spot on either team, while no seniors were honored. Davis and Hill were also named John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-Americans in August and Naismith Award candidates last week.
Breslin Success - Since the start of the 1998-99 season, Michigan State has won 74 of its last 78 regular-season games in Breslin, a winning percentage of .949. In addition, the Breslin Center has been sold out for 84 consecutive games.
Winning The Right Way - In addition to excelling on the court, the Spartans are standouts in the classroom. Ten Spartans have received their undergraduate degrees over the last three years, including five each in 2001 and 2003. MSU entered the semester with a cumulative grade point average of 3.04.
It's All About Boardwork - Michigan State has led the Big Ten in rebounding margin for six straight seasons, including leading the nation in both 2000 (+11.7) and 2001 (+15.4). In Tom Izzo's nine years as head coach, MSU has outrebounded its opponent in 226 of 269 games (84.0 percent).
Statue Specifics - The statue honoring Earvin "Magic" Johnson was unveiled on Nov. 1. The structure, entitled "Always A Champion," symbolizes Johnson's championships at the high school, collegiate, NBA and Olympic levels with a statue of his body erupting from four abstract figures. The total height of the structure and base is approximately 12-feet tall, with the actual statue of Johnson less than 9 feet tall. The cost of the project is approximately $250,000 and is funded entirely through private donations. In the sculpture, Johnson is looking up the court with the basketball in one hand and is directing his teammates with the other hand, all of which were attributes that made him one of the greatest basketball players of all time and the man who made "triple-double" part of the basketball vocabulary. The statue was designed by sculptor Omri Amrany from the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany, based in Highland Park, Ill. Amrany's previous works include the Michael Jordan statue in front of Chicago's United Center, a Harry Caray statue at the entrance to Chicago's Wrigley Field and six statues of great Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Most recently, he's completed statues of Vince Lombardi and Earl "Curly" Lambeau at Green Bay's Lambeau Field and a statue of Al McGuire at Marquette.
U-S-A, U-S-A - Four Spartans had the opportunity to represent their country in international competition over the summer. Sophomores Maurice Ager and Paul Davis played for the USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team that posted a 7-1 mark in Greece. Davis was the squad's leading scorer (17.7 ppg) and rebounder (8.7 rpg). Junior Chris Hill was a member of the USA Basketball Pan American Games Team in the Dominican Republic with Tom Izzo serving as head coach.
The Golden Arches - Michigan State is becoming the home for McDonald's All-Americans. Over the past five seasons, seven 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, Kelvin Torbert in 2001, Paul Davis in 2002 and Shannon Brown and Brandon Cotton in 2003.
Home To Mr. Basketball - Four of the last five recipients of Michigan's Mr. Basketball Award, presented to the top high school player in the state, have 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, Kelvin Torbert (Flint Northwestern HS) in 2001 and Paul Davis (Rochester HS) in 2002. Although Brandon Cotton (DePorres HS) finished second in 2003, Shannon Brown (Proviso East HS) captured Illinois' Mr. Basketball Award.
