MSU beats Texas 78-72 in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate. I just wrapped up watching the game on DVR (it’s midnight) so I’m going to go rapid-fire bullet-style on the recap. Box score here.
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I was surprised when I pulled up the box score and calculated this was only a 67-possession game. MSU definitely pushed the ball on offense. I think the pace wasn’t higher because MSU forced Texas to work for their shots. But I’m definitely chalking up my prediction that MSU would push the ball on offense as a success.
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And the man who did most of the pushing was Kalin Lucas. Breakout game. 18 points (although he did take 18 shots to score those points); 6 asssists vs. only 1 turnover. Lucas is going to be awfully good if he can hit the outside shot consistently, as he did early tonight.
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Only 7 turnovers! That’s a TO% of just 10.4%. There’s no limit how far this team can go if they hold on to the ball like they did tonight.
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My other prediction–that defensive rebounding would be the key–didn’t pan out. The Spartans gathered a pretty average 66.7% (28 of 42) of defensive rebounding opportunities.
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The key turned out to be perimeter defense. The Spartan guards did an excellent job switching and hounding the Longhorns on the perimeter. Augustine is tremendously quick, but the MSU guards managed to stay in front of him most of the game and force difficult shots (6-17 on FGs). And they stuck with Abrams as best they could. He finished 6-15 on 3-pointers. Thankfully, he didn’t get hot until the last minute, when he hit four of those 3-pointers to give us Spartan fans a few moments of anxiety.
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To emphasize that last point, MSU held arguably the best offensive team in the country to 40.6% shooting on 2-pointers and 37.9% (11-29) shooting on 3-pointers. Remove Abrams’ last-minute barage and that second number drops dramatically. The relatively small number of made baskets prevented Texas from getting into their zone (did you catch the box-and-one they ran against Neizel?).
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Tonight’s small gripe (let’s just ignore the free throw woes in the last two minutes, OK?): Somone needs to teach Marquise Gray how to put the ball up more quickly when he’s right in front of the rim. He had his shot blocked 3 or 4 times as he seemed to be gathering the ball for a dunk. Suton’s quick layups aren’t the stuff of highlight reels, but are much more effective.
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Finally, Raymar Morgan played a tremendous all-around game tonight. 18 points on 11 FG attempts. 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 fantastic blocks.
An early Christmas gift for Spartan Nation. This game will be huge when it comes to securing a #1 or #2 seed for the Big Dance.
No further posting until Wedensday or Thursday. Next game is Wisconsin-Green Bay next Saturday. Merry Christmas, all.
Now let’s hear your predictions for the Champs Sports Bowl…
Mine: If Javon Ringer breaks one off for more than sixty yards at any point during the game, we’ll win.
Kalin did have a break out game. Izzo had a game plan of containing the Texas guards and the team did an excellent work of staying in front and double teaming when the guards got some penetration. Offensively, this was an all round performance and though Neitzel scored only 12-13 points, the longhorns were so focused on him that it helped Kalin and others to step. The unsung heroes have to be the big guys along with a stellar performance from Morgan. Naymick, Suton and Gray were good (Gray could have performed better..with a miss dunk early in the first half).
This game should help MSU in the seedings, probably a difference between a #2 and a #3.
Lucas was simply entertaining to watch Saturday night. He looked comfortable, confident, and nothing like a freshman. They smothered Neitzel pretty well with that box and one, which wasn’t what State had been anticipating, I don’t think. That simply freed up Lucas, who made it look ‘too easy’ near his hometown. What a great night for a great kid who has a great career in front of him here in East Lansing.
I was pleased with Suton and Walton, and Raymar was feeling his shot as well, in the second half. I was very impressed with our ability to take care of the ball, even though overall rebounding took a hit.
Regardless, this win against yet another ranked team at a technically neutral site (we all know it wasn’t neutral — just as Missouri and BYU weren’t) should serve as a coming out notice not only for Kalin Lucas, but collectively for the Spartans. This team, while still inconsistent at times, shows far more resolve and grit than any have in the past few years. It’s great to see, and exciting to watch.
Keep up the intensity against UWGB and into the conference schedule! And get well Chris, we can’t wait to have you back!
[...] chance to relive perhaps the peak moment of the 2007-08 Spartan basketball campaign, when I was saying things like “There’s no limit how far this team can go if they hold on to the ball like they did [...]
[...] year, MSU beat Texas 78-72 in Auburn Hills, in what was probably our best win of the season. Despite returning four of five [...]