Men's Basketball Looks To Win Coca-Cola Classic Championship
11/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
#3/4 Michigan State (2-1)vs. DePaul (3-0)
November 30, 2003Approx. 4 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
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The Opening Tip
No. 3/4 Michigan State faces DePaul in the championship game of the 2003 Coca-Cola Spartan Classic. The Spartans are looking to win their 17th Spartan Classic in 21 tries and are appearing in their 20th championship game. In a tournament featuring all four teams from the 1979 NCAA Tournament Final Four, DePaul spoiled a rematch of the National Championship game, when it rallied from 10 points down in the second half to defeat Indiana State in the second game on Saturday. MSU defeated Penn, 77-52, in the first game.
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. MSU owns a 16-4 record in the tournament's championship game. (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.
Battle On The Boards - On Saturday, Michigan State outrebounded Penn, 41-28, including an 18-8 advantage in the second half, in its best effort of the season. Today's game, however, may prove to be MSU's toughest test of the young season as DePaul enters the game with a +14.6 rebounding margin.
Turnovers Critical - Trends are tough to spot through just three games, but one thing is for certain: MSU stands a better chance of winning when it takes care of the ball. In their two wins, the Spartans are averaging 11.0 turnovers. Against Kansas, however, MSU watched the Jayhawks turn 24 turnovers into 34 points.
Bench Production - Through three games, Michigan State is taking advantage of its depth as the Spartan bench has scored 77 of MSU's 215 points (35.8 percent).
Game 3 Notes - MSU 77 - Penn 52
* After starting the game making just one of its first nine shots, MSU made 29 of its next 54 attempts (53.7 percent).
* Shannon Brown celebrated his 18th birthday with 12 points, including three highlight-reel dunks, and five rebounds.
* MSU started a lineup featuring four perimeter players and one post player for the first time all season.
* Kelvin Torbert scored 11 of his game-high 15 points in the second half, while Chris Hill scored 10 of his 13 after halftime.
* MSU improved to 20-1 in first-round contests of the Spartan Classic.
DePaul Notes
Coach Leitao - Dave Leitao (Northeastern, '83) is 19-13 in his second season as head coach at DePaul. Overall, he is 41-48 in four years as a college head coach, having previously served for two seasons at Northeastern.
Michigan State Vs. DePaul - DePaul leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 7-3, although the two teams have not met since an 88-72 Spartan victory on Jan. 29, 1955 in Chicago. MSU won the first two games in the series in 1908 and '09, before DePaul won seven in a row between 1937 and 1954. The Blue Demons hold a 3-1 record in games played in East Lansing.
Blue Demon Briefs - DePaul's Andre Brown is attempting to become the first player to lead the Blue Demons in rebounding for three straight seasons since Tyrone Corbin did it from 1983-85 ... Brown has opened the season with three double-doubles ... Drake Diener is the brother of Marquette's Travis Diener, who was coached by current MSU assistant Dwayne Stephens last season ... Freshman Sammy Mejia runs DePaul's offense at the point, recording 18 assists and just six turnovers (3-to-1 ratio) through three games.
MSU Basketball Notes
Chicago Spartans - Two Spartans, Shannon Brown and Rashi Johnson, call Chicago their home. Johnson averaged 12.5 points as a junior, helping lead Chicago King High School to a city championship. Brown was the State of Illinois' Mr. Basketball Award winner in 2003, averaging 27.9 points and 7.2 rebounds at Proviso East. He was a two-time all-state honoree.
Production From The Four Man - Throughout the preseason and into the first few games, Tom Izzo has talked about the importance of developing depth in the frontcourt and finding someone to complement Paul Davis in the post. The Penn game finally brought about some of the production that he was looking for as Jason Andreas (4 points, 5 rebounds) and Delco Rowley (5 points, 5 rebounds) combined for 9 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. Oddly enough, this production came in a game where MSU started four perimeter players around Davis in the post.
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.)
What To Wear - Through three games, Michigan State has worn three different jerseys. In the season opener vs. Bucknell, the Spartans wore their normal white home jersey. On the road at Kansas, MSU wore its traditional green away uniform. Yesterday against DePaul, the Spartans wore the 1979 throwback jerseys with a script "State" across the chest and a basketball on the right leg of the shorts.
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.
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, including 40-3 at home.
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 (167), fifth in career attempts (400) and sixth in career three-point field goal percentage (.418). Hill has made at least one three-point field goal in 66 of 69 games in his career.
Spartans Spread Minutes - Thirteen different Spartans have seen game action this season, including nine averaging 10 minutes or more per contest. Six average 21 minutes or more, while no one is 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 75 of its last 79 regular-season games in Breslin, a winning percentage of .949. In addition, the Breslin Center has been sold out for 85 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 227 of 270 games (84.1 percent).
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.
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.
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.
