" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

The Spartans triumph over the Longhorns 67-63 in a 66-possession game.  Official box score.
Some stats:

MSU shot 8-17 from the free throw line.
Chris Allen didn’t score a single point.
Raymar Morgan took three shots from the field and turned the ball over 6 times.
Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton shot a combined 7-21 from the field.
Texas pulled down [...]

MSU streaks by Alcorn State 118-60 in an 81-possession game.  Official box score.
When your back-up point guard has 11 assists, you know it’s been a very long night for your opponent.
Michigan State dominated this game in every way possible:
Stats by StatSheet.com

Most indicative of the way this game was played, though, are the following numbers:

MSU recorded [...]

MSU runs by the Braves 75-59 in a 78-possession game.  Official box score.
The final margin was right in the range it should be against a medium-strength mid-major like Bradley.  But this win felt unsatisfying for several reasons:

MSU came out looking unprepared and a step slow against Bradley’s perimter-oriented offense.  The Braves scored 17 points in [...]

Going into this weekend, I said a 2-1 record in the Old Spice Classic would be a “solid outcome.”  But that was contingent on winning the opening game against Maryland–which we didn’t.
Nevertheless, I don’t think we should get too despondent about MSU’s Old Spice Classic results (although yours truly was pretty despondent late Thursday night).  [...]

I hadn’t been to Midnight Madness for a few years and I was impressed with the program last night.  They did a great job with the 70s theme (women’s players in 1970s outfits, men’s players in short shorts, VW bus for Izzo’s arrival, funny video about Izzo taking a trip across America to the 1979 [...]

Eric Lacy has the first report up from MSU basketball’s media day. Tidbits:

Delvon Roe is expected to be ready for the first exhibition game.
Draymond Green is not expected to redshirt.
Korie Lucious has played well in the offseason.
Regarding this weekend:

The team’s “Midnight Madness” event is Friday, kicking off the season, but Izzo has his heart set [...]

The MSU beat guys all participated in Tom Izzo’s second annual practice day for media types yesterday:
Steve Grinzcel wants to know why anyone would need to learn how to dribble two basketballs at once.
Eric Lacy reports that Delvon Roe is “ahead of schedule” in recovering from his two knee surgeries.  Also, he’s definitely a true [...]