January 11th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
in 2016 our football team scored more against rutgers than MSU did in basketball last night. with OT.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 10:27 AM ^
game is the perfect DVR game. Record it. If by some miracle we win the game, watch it in perpetual glee. If what is going to happen does in fact happen, delete the game from the DVR and your mind and don't think about basketball until our bounce back game against Maryland.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
...at a sports bar full of Sparty fans, just because.
January 11th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
Just because you are a man and not a whiny snowflake.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
I think MSU and Duke are probably the top 2 teams in the country. They both still look very vulnerable. March should be even more interesting than it already is.
January 11th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
yet. They played an absolutely atrocious schedule. Their only decent win away from home was against UNC in a game UNC just could not hit an open 3 (they were 1-18!!!), they were embarrassed by OSU, couldn't put Rutgers away. They have issues against teams with a pulse.
I think there are several teams better than they are right now: Villanova, Duke, UVA, Purdue, maybe WVU.
That said, it's Breslin, we don't play well there, and the 20 percent chance kenpom gives us seems about right. We win it one out of five times. Hopefully that one is Saturday.
January 11th, 2018 at 1:54 PM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 2:27 PM ^
UM - 283rd
MSU - 296th
MSU somehow played a worse non-conference than UM did. Who intentionally scheduled, like, four full-on boat anchors. And got stuck with Chaminade thru bracket play in Maui. Incredible.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
Still not feeling good about it. Maybe if it were in Ann Arbor, but it's not a good matchup for us on the road. The 2013 Michigan team lost to Penn State before going on a big run, so I'm not ready to overwrite the overall body of work that MSU has had thus far.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
But Graham Couch assured me that this was impossible.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
That Michigan has a chance or that Rutgers could take Sparty to OT at Breslin?
January 11th, 2018 at 11:08 AM ^
Conference road games are a bear, but what Butler is doing to Villanova wouldn't happen to MSU or Duke. It's not Nova's resume is better than either of those teams, either. That Nova is No. 1 is an example of a trendy team getting votes. And once you're 1, no one looks closer.
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) December 30, 2017
January 11th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
Graham Couch is the dumbass gift that keeps on dumbassing.
January 11th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^
had a better resume? Because MSU has one of the worst SoS in major college basketball right now and they did at the time of this tweet.
Did everyone throw this back at him after the OSU bombing (which was even worse than what Butler did to Nova)?
January 11th, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
Yes and oh hell yes, including insults from NC State beating Duke.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
I don't know about 25, but I do think this could happen. I think it could be a "deer in the headlights" moment for some our younger guys (certainly Poole and Livers, but potentially also Teske/Simpson, as those guys have not logged big minutes in an environment like this before)
January 11th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
Every Spartan, from their miraculously still employed AD down to the trolliest troll of East TrollLansing, is focused on Michigan. I wouldn't be surprised if they cancel classes the remainder of the week so they can all bone up on their Wolverine Obsessesion Orientation Handbook.
Sparty wins by more than the number of times that shithole ignored claims against Nassar.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
This was my thought exactly. They were looking ahead to Michigan and didn't focus on Rutgers. They'll be ready.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
Just means we will get blown out by 30.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
That both teams will come out pretty hot BUT similar to the OSU game on Sunday, MSU will probably rip off an 11-0 run here or there when most of our bench brigade is on the floor and we may have trouble closing the gap. Anything is possible but I expect MSU to win by 10-14
January 11th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
UM bench >>>> MSU bench
January 11th, 2018 at 10:30 AM ^
I would have preferred to see MSU smoke Rutgers or win comfortably rather than the result last night.
They won't play that bad again, against a rival at home.
Michigan doesn't play that gross, gritty style that Rutgers showed last night. They got a lot of 2nd chances because their players just want it more. I'm not sure if Michigan has that type of style. It's not a good matchup.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
Of assessing where this team is at and where it can go. Don't be fooled by 2 poor games from MSU, they have a pretty good track record this year of getting it done. Even their Duke loss was very competitive. The OSU game really hinged on a couple minutes before the end of the half when MSU completely froze up. MSU does not have to bring their A game to win at the Breslin, but its hard to imagine Izzo won't have them ready for a Saturday game at noon.
Keys of the game:
Mo cannot get destroyed at the defensive end by Ward.
Matthews should look to attack the basket.
Cannot play hero ball at the end of the clock.
Role players must produce.
Prediction: MSU 82 - UofM 74
January 11th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
How else are we supposed to judge a team when they go into a tough situation? IE, situations they'll be facing in March?
This is absolutely a barometer to judge a team. Otherwise, what are we watching?
I don't expect Michigan to win. But I will be pleasantly surprised if it's within 5-10 points.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
State ground us up into a ball and shot us out of a canon at Breslin in 2013 and we went to the NC game. It meant nothing. College basketball and college football are two very different things and have different ebbs and flows. I think Tuesday night was a much better barometer of where the team is at right now.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
Comparison. The team in 2013 was 21-3 and we knew how damn good they were.
This team has been a slow climb into a somewhat better version of what they are now. This will be a good show as to how far they truly have come along.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
actually strongly disagree. I think this game is actually pretty irrelevant in terms of adjudicating how good this team is and can be. Two different perspective, I guess.
January 11th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
hate to say it, but the refs will play an important role. if they let ward play football in the paint and call mo for ticky tack fouls, UM will be in trouble.
if the refs call ward for a couple of offensive fouls, we have a chance.
January 11th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
of the 1st UM basketball game I took my son to. Ack
January 11th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Probably will whack us by 30 knowing them
January 11th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
to hell with the big ten for us only playing them once and it being in east lansing
January 11th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
In 2015-16, it's dumb that we don't play twice every year but the conference keeps it even in a 3 year cycle.
January 11th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
With the new 20 game conference schedule that starts next year, Mich/MSU, NW/Ill, and Purdue/IU are guaranteed a home-and-home so there will be no more one-offs like this.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
I was channel surfing when I came across the game. It raised an eyebrow when I saw that Sparty only had a 4 point lead with 6 minutes left. But I didn't think that would last and went on to watch something else. 30 minutes later, I was checking basketball scores on my phone and saw that the game was in overtime and I watched the final minute.
As glorious as it would have been to see them lose that game, I think it would have been worse for us if they had lost. But maybe that's moot too because I suspect they're going to shoot 90% against us regardless.
Yes, I'm Debbie Downer. Just like with football, I can't comprehend picking up a meaningful win against a good opponent right now. Seems like we're only allowed wins over bad teams and meh teams. And God forbid we beat a rival.
And I need a drink.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
MSU hit a 3 pointer on the next possession and continued to hit all of their clutch free throws after that to seal the win.
Bridges had a terrible game. He didn’t get his first bucket until well into the 2nd half.
I bet they bring their A game on Saturday as always, but they have not looked good in their last 2 games.
January 11th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
January 11th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
It was definitely not like the extended Charles Matthews gut wrenching review on Tuesday.