Spartans Tip Off Season With Madness At Munn
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 12, 2007
Marquise Drew Photo Gallery Madness At Munn Video
A capacity crowd joined the Michigan State men's basketball team as it officially started its 2007-08 campaign Friday night with Madness At Munn at MSU's Munn Ice Arena. Coach Izzo and the team signed autographs and gave the fans a sneak peek for what to expect on the hardwood this season.
The night began with the MSU cheerleaders, dance team and Sparty taking the court at 10 p.m. The Michigan State marching band played the fight song and things were underway. The fans cheered as mini-basketballs were thrown into the crowd, and a dance routine featuring the dance team and cheerleaders.
After the MSU women's basketball players were introduced, the MSU drumline took the court wearing masks of the immortals from the movie `300.' The Spartans were introduced to the crowd at 10:30 p.m. following an MSU basketball highlight video mixed with scenes from the Spartan blockbuster.
One-by-one, the Spartans entered the arena through the aisle dressed as Spartan warriors with green capes, masks and shields. The final Spartan to take the floor was senior guard Drew Neitzel. The team captain went to center court, knelt down on the block `S', removed his helmet and raised his sword, and asked the MSU faithful, "What is your profession?" The players formed a phalanx around their leader, who addressed the crowd dressed in full Spartan armor and cape and with warrior face paint. Coach Izzo's wife, Lupe, and children, Raquel and Steven, then joined Coach Izzo at center court dressed as Spartan royalty.
Following the MSU women's team's eight-minute scrimmage, the Spartan came back on the floor. A two-line lay-up drill turned into a high-flying dunk contest, highlighted by junior forward Marquise Gray jumping over three teammates for a slam dunk.
"Last year, I jumped over Sparty, so I didn't know what to do to top that," said Gray. "I just made it up on the fly. I saw Travis and said 'I'm going to need you.' I asked Drew to help and he looked at me a little strange. And then I grabbed Kebs (Mike Kebler). I'd like to thank my teammates for the assist."
Michigan State played a 20-minute, running clock scrimmage with a few timeouts allowing Coach Izzo to talk to the crowd. The Green, led by Durrell Summers' 19 points, defeated the White, 51-45. Neitzel added 14 points, 12 of them on 3-pointers, for the Green. The White was led by Gray with 14 points and freshman Chris Allen with 13.
Allen got the crowd into it early with an alley-oop dunk that gave the White a 6-2 lead. Neitzel scored five straight points to put the Green up, 7-6.
Gray answered with an alley-oop dunk from Travis Walton and back-to-back threes to give the White a 14-7 lead.
The scrimmage went back and forth until timeout was called with 4:24 remaining, when Coach Izzo declared the Spartans would play at full speed. Coming out of the timeout, Idong Ibok threw down a thunderous dunk to give the Green a 42-37 lead. Later, two lay-ups in transition by Gray would put the White back up 45-44.
Green finished the exhibition with a 7-0 run, keyed by a flying alley-oop dunk in transition by Tom Herzog and a pair of lay-ups off turnovers by Summers.
The Spartans will host Grand Valley State in an exhibition contest on Friday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. at the Breslin Center. MSU tips off the regular season at home on Tuesday, Nov. 13 against Chicago State. The contest is the first round of the CBE Classic.
