Category: Tom Izzo

Michigan State Basketball vs. No. 2 Michigan: Starting lineups for both teams

Michigan State plays the first of two games against Michigan on Thursday night. Here are your starters.

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Michigan State Basketball faces arguably their biggest test of the season in less than 20 minutes, facing off against in-state rival Michigan, the No. 2 team in the country, on the road in Ann Arbor.

Like he has done all season, Tom Izzo will be tweaking the starting lineup for MSU in what has become a common occurrence for the Spartans.

Izzo will re-insert Rocket Watts back into the starting lineup at the point guard position, and go with Julius Marble and Malik Hall in the front court, likely to save Marcus Bingham Jr., who we think might be his secret weapon, to go up against Hunter Dickinson in the second half.

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Michigan State Starters

  • G Rocket Watts
  • G Joshua Langford
  • F Aaron Henry
  • F Malik Hall
  • F Julius Marble

Michigan Starters

  • G Mike Smith
  • G Franz Wagner
  • G Eli Brooks
  • F Isaiah Livers
  • C Hunter Dickinson

THREE SPARTANS TO WATCH: Link

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Is Marcus Bingham Jr. the secret weapon for Tom Izzo and Michigan State Basketball?

Michigan State is about to go up against one of the best big men in the country in Hunter Dickinson. Is Marcus Bingham Jr. the answer?

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You might not know this, but Marcus Bingham Jr. has the best defensive rating on the Michigan State team. In fact, he has led the team in defensive rating every season since he joined the Spartans.

Now, part of that is because of the minutes (or lack thereof) he has played. Bingham is No. 10 on the team in that particular category, only playing more than Julius Marble and Mady Sissoko among regular contributors. He has only started 5 games this season.

Despite the lack of minutes, the team is clearly better with Bingham is on the floor. He is the tallest and lengthiest player on the team, and despite lacking in muscle and strength, he is easily Michigan State’s best rim protector.

This makes you wonder if, with more minutes, he could be the secret weapon for Tom Izzo and the Spartans in this late-season run, first against No. 2 Michigan and then in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson is a 7’2″, dominant center, and Marcus Bingham Jr. might be the only player on the team capable of hanging with his size.

He was a huge factor in Michigan State’s win over Indiana, bothering Trayce Jackson-Davis with his length and recording 3 blocks on the night. Against Illinois, he made one of the best plays of the game against Kofi Cockburn, blocking Illinois’ star big man in a play that helped cement the win in the second half.

The numbers back up Bingham’s impact too. Below, host of Locked on Spartans Wil Hunter and MSU fan Anthony Garvert point out some data that supports what our eyes can see: Michigan State is better when Bingham is on the floor.

Michigan State is 12-4 when Bingham plays more than 10 minutes. They are 2-6 when he doesn’t. They also have a startlingly better net rating when Bingham is on the floor, as pointed out by Wil. Part of that comes down to foul trouble and limiting dumb mistakes, but at some point, you wonder if Izzo might be better off riding it out with someone who, on paper, is the best big on your team.

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The Spartans play No. 2 Michigan at 7pm ET on Thursday night. It will be interesting to see if Izzo uses Bingham against Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson. Bingham might be Izzo’s only hope to contain the 7’2″ star.

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Michigan State duel sport commit drops quadruple-double

Michigan State football and basketball commit Keon Coleman had another monster performance on the hardwood, dropping a quadruple-double.

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Keon Coleman is known to many as a member of Mel Tucker’s first recruiting class at Michigan State. The 4-star wide receiver has shown amazing things on the football field. What stands out most about Coleman though, is his star power on the basketball court as well.

Coleman will be a member of the basketball team at Michigan State as well as the football team.

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Tom Izzo played an integral role in the recruitment of Coleman, which ultimately led to his decision to come to East Lansing to play both football and basketball.

Coleman’s senior basketball season has been filled with 40-point performances, along with some amazing highlight reels. There was no exception the other night when Coleman dropped a quadruple-double.

Coleman gives Spartan fans a lot to get excited for both on the gridiron and the hardwood.

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Tom Izzo confirms that Foster Loyer had shoulder surgery, will miss rest of season

Tom Izzo confirmed that junior guard Foster Loyer has had shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the season.

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After a much-needed win over Indiana by his Spartans, Tom Izzo did have some unfortunate news to relay during his post-game press conference. Izzo confirmed that Michigan State Basketball junior and captain Foster Loyer will miss the rest of the season following shoulder surgery.

Loyer hasn’t played since MSU’s Feb. 16 loss to Purdue. He was averaging 16.6 minutes per game, scoring an average of 4.2 points per contest.

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The story the last few weeks around Loyer’s shoulder was that he wanted to try and tough it out and play through the injury, but Izzo finally helped him make the decision to have the surgery now instead of after the season.

Izzo said of the decision for Loyer to have the surgery:

“I want him to have a fair chance to play next year.”

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WATCH: Best highlights from Michigan State Basketball’s win over Indiana

Michigan State earns another big win, this time against Indiana. Here are the best highlights from the action.

Michigan State Basketball cleared another major hurdle to assist their NCAA Tournament chances on Tuesday night with a 64-58 win over Indiana.

It was absolutely not the prettiest game for the Spartans, but it was a win they earned with some hard-fought play and behind another star-making performance for Aaron Henry.

The Spartans also had some gutsy performances from Joshua Langford, Marcus Bingham, and Gabe Brown, along with some important crunch-time play from Joey Hauser.

You can watch the best highlights from the game below:

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Michigan State Basketball earns key victory against Indiana to boost NCAA Tournament chances

Michigan State earned a key victory against Indiana that will give them a big boost towards their NCAA Tournament hopes.

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Another heroic performance for Aaron Henry, another win for Michigan State Basketball as they continue their historic run to re-enter the NCAA Tournament picture. The Spartans beat Indiana at home on Tuesday night 64-58.

This was another game where Aaron Henry took control of Michigan State’s offense to will his way to an MSU victory. He ended up with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block, and had one of the most impressive runs of the season, scoring 12 straight points against the Hoosiers:

This was, primarily, an ugly game where neither team could get anything going on offense until Henry took over at the end. Langford was second on the team in scoring with 13 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and an assist. Gabe Brown also added 10 points, 7 rebounds, a block, and an assist.

Marcus Bingham Jr. also had a tremendous showing in just 16 minutes, netting 3 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal in his limited minutes including this huge, momentum-shifting effort on the glass:

Earlier today, Joe Lunardi of ESPN said that MSU would be in the Tournament with a win over Indiana. They got that win, and now will get to face their rival Michigan in two straight games to close out the season.

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Two Michigan State squads listed in Top-50 NCAA Basketball teams of all time

Two Michigan State teams from the past have been named in the top-50 NCAA teams of all time.

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Michigan State has been able to put together two of the greatest college basketball teams of all time, and now they are getting some recognition for those squads. On Tuesday, SB Nation dropped their Top 50 Men’s NCAA Basketball teams of all time, and MSU had two different units that made the list.

Coming in at No. 42 is the 2000 squad that beat Florida to win the NCAA Championship, led by Mateen Cleaves, Mo Peterson and the Flintstones. That squad has cemented Tom Izzo’s place in the history books.

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The second team is, of course, the 1979 squad that beat Indiana State, led by Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser and coached by Jud Heathcoate. That group of Spartans came in at No. 20.

The Issue:

Here is my biggest complaint about this list: Michigan’s Fab Five team is ranked at No. 20. That’s right, a Michigan squad that never won anything of consequence is ranked ahead of both of MSU’s Championship teams. It really makes no sense and is another example of the Fab Five being glorified despite not winning any titles, which is extremely frustrating to Spartan fans.

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Michigan State Basketball drops a crucial game at Maryland

In the midst of a late-season push to try and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State dropped a crucial game at Maryland.

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Maryland’s suffocating defense was the main cog in MSU’s 73-55 defeat in College Park Sunday afternoon.

Maryland jumped out to an early 11-0 lead to start the game, and it was a lead they would not relinquish. The early lead was fueled by the Terrapins red hot start from behind the arc, shooting 6-for-7 from the 3.

The Spartans would go into halftime down double figures, 35-25.

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A second-half that saw Michigan State try and do everything they could to get back into the game was stifled by Maryland. The Terrapins had an answer for every mini-run the Spartans were able to muster together. MSU got the lead down to 5, but couldn’t push through the wall.

Shooting woes on the offensive end really killed any momentum the Spartans tried to muster together. MSU shot 33 percent from the field and only 28 percent from three-point range.

Michigan State will look to bounce back in what seemingly feels like a must-win game against Indiana on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST inside of the Breslin Center.

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Michigan State Basketball vs. No. 3 Michigan: Game details, tipoff times announced

Michigan State will play Michigan two games in a row to close out the 2021 regular season. Here is everything you need to know to watch.

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Michigan State Basketball will close their season out with two straight comes against No. 3 Michigan, and we now know when both games will be played.

The first game will take place in Ann Arbor at 7pm ET on Thursday, March 4th on ESPN.

The second and final game of the regular season will take place in East Lansing on Sunday, March 7th at 4:30pm ET on CBS.

If Michigan State is able to split those games with Michigan, that alone might be enough to propel them into the NCAA Tournament.

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Michigan State Basketball: Bracketology predictions for MSU

Michigan State has played their way back into the NCAA Tournament picture. Check out how MSU is faring in bracket predictions.

Over a week ago no one expected the Michigan State Spartans to be in the NCAA Tournament picture. The Spartans tournament hopes were on life support, almost needing a miracle to go dancing this March.

One week, and three straight wins later, the Spartans have put themselves firmly back on the bubble with a chance to still improve their tournament stock.

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Michigan State took down two straight top-5 ranked opponents, downing Illinois on Tuesday and Ohio State on Thursday, and are now being talked about in the NCAA Tournament picture once again.

Let’s take a look at what the bracketology websites are saying about Michigan State’s tournament hopes: