Michigan State basketball shifts to Big Ten time with opener against Minnesota

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EAST LANSING — From island time to conference time.

Tom Izzo knows Michigan State basketball can’t get too fat or sassy with itself after beating North Carolina to take third place at the Maui Invitational and move into the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll rankings for the first time this season.

“Maui was good for us,” Izzo said after practice Monday, “but there’s no banner hanging. So it wasn’t that good.”

The next chance for the 25th-ranked Spartans (6-1) to win a title begins Wednesday. The urgency kicks into overdrive — at least temporarily — on the road as they open their 20-game Big Ten schedule with the first of two December league games.

Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo reacts during the first half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Feb. 6, 2024.

Izzo’s team travels to face Minnesota (8:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) at Minneapolis’ Williams Arena, a place where MSU was upset in its last visit, on Feb. 6.

“We just got to play solid,” said junior Tre Holloman, a Minneapolis native who scored a career high 19 points against the Tar Heels. “They got some transfers, too, So we can’t take them light.”

The Spartans are coming off a 2-1 showing in Maui, featuring a 94-91 overtime win over then-No. 13 UNC last Wednesday and a win over Colorado sandwiched around a loss to Memphis, which went from unranked to No. 15 in Monday’s poll. MSU played the thrilling final victory without freshman guard Jase Richardson, who in the first two games scored 13 against the Buffaloes and 18 against Memphis. He sat out the finale while in concussion protocol, but Izzo said the 6-foot-3 combo guard will be back against the Gophers, .

One of the biggest developments on the trip, though, came from Xavier Booker’s big performance in the third-place game against the Tar Heels. The sophomore forward lived down low and played perhaps his most aggressive game as a Spartan, scoring 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting inside (he also missed…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-basketball-shifts-big-110727943.html

Author : Detroit Free Press

Publish date : 2024-12-04 11:07:00

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