Taking it to the badgers

Great first half, especially for Suton.  I didn't think we had much of a chance in this game, especially being down early (we had 4 points in the first 9 minutes).

But no matter what else you say about this team, they always play hard.  Even if they're sick or hurt or both, the effort has always been there.

Looking forward to another strong second half and closing out the sweep of at least one Big Ten rodent.

Comments

[Doug]

Do you think the officials could call more fouls in this game?

[markv]

The better team lost today. We were screwed in too many ways to count, from start to finish.

The tragedy of someone like Bo Ryan is that when they are "successful," their attitude ruins their entire fan base. It will take 300 years for Indiana to heal itself from Bobby Knight, and it's apparent from this game that Wisconsin is beginning to have the same problem.

Great game, Spartans. Good future ahead.

[DrChuck]

Awesome game!!!
I think our young team fought hard and showed true SPARTAN grit. I cant wait till the DANCE. And im already dreaming of next year. We are gonna rock!

GO STATE
GO M-S-Drew

[UG]

Why?

With just 3.9 seconds, why would you have Neitzel, not at 100%, inbound & try to run the court to take the shot?! Great way to hang in the game just sad to see their effort end that way.

[john]

Big Ten refs are a joke. 25 to 55 free throw attempts in the last two games. It is no wonder the home team always wins

[ZSpartanZ]

This loss falls solely on the shoulders of Goran Suton. I know Naymick missed a dunk, but that happens once every 15 years. However, Goran's missed lay-up is inexcusable. If this were the first time he missed a shot inside of 3 feet, he would have earned a pass. However, he has shown time and time again, that despite his ability to hit the open 17 footer, he can absolutely not make a shot from anywhere near the basket. Any shot that involves glass or a little bit of touch absolutely never goes in. He has a vivid history of this (remember @Iowa and vs. Texas this season). Until this problem is completely corrected, he needs to find a spot on the bench, and let post players who know how to PLAY IN THE POST get a bit more playing time.

[jj]

Did you watch this game? Did you see Suton's reverse layup? He hit a couple tough jumpers off the glass, and without Suton today we would have been blown out.

[roger smith]

Why is it that Donnee Gray is allowed to call MSU games?? I swear we lose every game this SOB ref's. Their is a definite trend of anti-spartan bias. It's crap when we overcome the home court advantage, senior day, half of out team being sick... and still get jobbed by no calls on Naymick, no call on moving screen, shot clock violations etc..etc.. etc..

[Chris K]

I cannot believe how poor the officiating is in the Big Ten. Perhaps, the Big Ten Commissioner should not allow officials who are old enough to collect social security ref 18-22 athletes. Just a thought.

[JRQ]

The refs ruined the flow of this game and it was bad on both sides of the ball… just much worse for the Spartans. They basically had to play with one hand tied behind their back for the entire second half and I thought they showed tremendous heart even staying in this one given the circumstances.

And how can you say that Suton played a bad game? Without him this game is not even close, although I do have to admit that missed lay-up hurt. (I still remember the Gonzaga game last year where he blew the bunny) He is the one big man other than Morgan that can create his own shot off the dribble and make something happen inside.

You got to hand it to Wisconsin, they hit a very tough 3 to win the game and that is what #5 ranked teams do in the Big Ten at home on senior night. This team has the ability to make some noise not only in the BTT but during the NCAA’s…. not bad for a team that is supposedly rebuilding.

[Jim]

I've been saying it all season - MSU has consistently been called for way more poor fouls than thier opponents. I think Wisco was in the bonus with over 13 minutes left to play in the 2nd half. Ridiculous for such a gap between two teams that play similar styles of defense. I also think at one point we had 3 charges in four offensive possesions, although Wisco had some offensive fouls called, too. Had Walton and Morgan been able to play more, I think we would have taken this one despite all the mistakes (Naymick and Suton missing point blank, Neitzel's missed free throw, and several unforced turnovers). Hopefully they can put everything together for atleast 1 win in the BTT to shore up an NCAA bid.

[markv]

First, MSU has the NCAA bid now. The only question has been how we perform on the road, and against Wis. and OSU we've now shown even with losses that we're not a home-only team.

Second, Suton definitely has a mental block that hurts, but you have to take the bad with the good. I agree you're not going to see any plays run for him in the last 2 minutes of the game, but without him today we lose by 15.

Third, you don't have to hand Wisconsin anything. They're heading for early exits in both tourneys. This is not a rebuilding team. This is a team built around 2 senior all-Big Ten players. See if any of the experts pick Wisconsin to go to the Final Four. Everyone knows this is the weakest top ranked team in the field.

Which leads me to...GO OHIO STATE!!!! I think MSU would very much like to see UM go down to the 8 seed, so that we're set up to play Wisconsin 2nd round instead of OSU. We need OSU to wrap that up for us.

[Herb Riedel]

Hey, will everybody lay off of Suton for a change? The guy is still a work in progress and is playing his heart out and still has about 50%+ upside potential. You knuckleheads don't understand the psyche of a teenager that grew up in a former Soviet Bloc country. Heck, Izzo probably scares the crap out of him.

No one is crucifying Naymick for going up for the one handed dunk or Neitzel for missing the free throw.

These are teenagers, stop throwing negativity at them.

No one railed on Paul Davis for basically going away and hiding during some games when his father even said "Paul does take some games off."

We weren't even supposed to be in this game, let's give our team some love.

[ZSpartanZ]

I agree, give the Spartans some love. But call a spade a spade. These aren't only teenagers, as there are plenty of people younger than Suton in the NBA right now. And lets not forget they are getting a free education at the same school I paid to attend.

You miss an easy shot here or there, and no question should people lay off of it. I was simply pointing out something that has been a continuing problem for a couple of years now: Suton's inability to make an uncontested shot inside of 3 feet.

No one is grilling Naymick because he doesn't typically miss dunks. With Suton, this is a reoccuring problem.

And yes, aside from the layup, he played well today (but you MUST make it when it counts).

[Izzone]

I think we played great, simply great. We should stick together and support this team and make sure they WILL DANCE this month.

GO STATE
GO IZZO

[Stephanie]

Why does everyone hate on Suton???Seriously...its all over facebook too. Did everyone forget that he only avg 14 minutes last season while under the shadow of Paul Davis?? He is still working on his game, and he has improved immensely this season! Some people have aggresiveness built in, others have to work at it, and he is. I dont understand why even when Suton has a good game (today) State fans are his biggest critics! Ill admmit i cringed earlier this season when he touched the ball in fear of him having butterfingers, but not so much anymore. Why dont we stop being our bigs' worst critics and support them and boost em up in good times and bad.

On a diff note...Wisconsin is very lucky they got 22FTA to our 10 otherwise they would not have won this game. Morgan only played 8 minutes....
Anyone else think this is not a #5 team let alone a #1(b4 we bumped em)???I mean if you look at their schedule they played all the worst teams in the B10 twice while we played them all once (which could account for the B10 W-L records.)They are a good team...but are they really THAT good?We beat them at home by more than they beat us today AND we were given the short straw on refing plus illness today on THEIR senior home game day....

[Ques Kid]

As unbearable as the first nine minutes were watching Michigan State stink, watching Alando Tucker's mom for two seconds was worse. Every single time Alando did something good, ESPN just had to show her jumping and screaming. Did anyone else get sick of this?

[buddy j]

ZSpartanZ is a donkey. Without Suton this year, you could have another 2 to 3 losses. If your going to post, then have an idea.
First, the NCAA ought to look into whoever Wisconsin has running their clock and fire the clown. That kind of cheating has no place in the Big Ten. Second, this complaining about State getting more fouls is because as I've said all year, we do not have "lock down" defenders who can consistently play man to man.
Can you say "quick?"
Izzo doesn't believe in the zone and avoids it like the plague. Third, when we he did play zone late in the game today, they shut down Wisconsin twice in a row. The call on Morgan was cheap, but that's what you get when you reach in. Then he went back to man to man. So what happens? Four, in the post game show, Izzo said that "my assistants wanted to play zone," referring to why Taylor (2-9) hit the game winning three point shot. I want to ask the coach if it was the assistants who called time out with 52 seconds and the lead? Was it the assistants who designed that "goofy" inbounds play that had the ball going into the corner? Izzo's postgame interview was one of the most dispicable pieces of whining I've heard coming from any coach in a long time. If your going to blame the assistants for the loss, at least have the decency to name who they were. By the way, if their making decisions, what are you doing? It appears that Neitzel has a green light for anything he wants to do and that the others are afraid to do anything other than what they are being told to do from the bench. This is a very good team but it's being over coached to a point that they are ineffective against other good teams. Okay, bring it on.

[msumick]

Ques Kid: Absolutely correct about Tucker's mom, sickning'ZspartanZ, 100% wrong about Suton. He will be are go to big man next year. Best game he's played all year. I'm so proud of these guys. I'll bet there's not one of you that thought they even had a chance at Whisky. This has been Izzo's greatest job of coaching. Period.

[donaldo]

Today wasn't about what wasn't achieved. It was about what could be achieved. Certainly the opportunity for a huge victory was right there, but this team knows that they can play with anyone. They played with heart, determination, and great defense, overcoming illness and a huge foul discrepancy.

They will be in the big Dance. Next weekend is an opportunity to make a statement. This is a very strong defensive team and defense and free throw shooting is what wins close tournament games. The defense can carry this team quite a ways. They do give away too many potential points on turnovers, and the free throw shooting has been uncharacteristically poor recently. Those are things they have the ability to improve upon and must.

I don't think other teams look forward to playing the Spartans. A team with heart can overcome a disparity in talent and that is what is so refreshing about this group of players. We had far more talent over the last few years, but not enough grit. After the loss today, I felt pride in their effort.

As for Suton. He has some things he can work on to be a more complete player, but the criticism of his effort today is ridiculous. I think after a summer working on his weaknesses, he will be a huge cog on this team next year. I see him a lot like Morris Peterson. I don't know how many people remember Peterson's sophomore season. It was mediocre, but as a junior he emerged in a big way.

Let's finish out this year in a big way and look forward to next.

[JMCSpartan08]

Suton played a great game. Thr problem with the missed layups is that they are all for not...when you are less than a foot from the basket and 6'11" DUNK THE BALL!! That said...he was dominant today, we prolly did get jobbed by the ref. And BuddyJ you're an idiot.

[Andy]

UG - that play where Drew inbounds, rubs the ball and gets to go with it is perfect. Otherwise, I promise you, much like the empty possession with 19 to go, he doesn't get a touch. Tough players suck it up at the end, sick and winded or not. That was the right call every time.

[msumick]

donaldo" Excellent post, enought said.

[BWhite]

Great effort by MSU that falls short on the road again, thanks to some shakey home cookin' refs/calls (I know, excuses excuses), but oh well, that game locked up MSU's NCAA bid (in combination with UM blowing their game against OSU today... wow!). I didn't catch Izzo's postgame conference, but if he's being accused of whining, then Bo Ryan should immediately be crowned King of the Whiners. That guy is unbelievable at working the refs non-stop and I personally am beyond sick of his act. Trying to be realistic and rational, I truly don't see Wiscy doing much of anything in Big Ten or NCAA tourneys. MSU is a better team than the Badgers right now, believe it or not. With neutral court games from here on out, I would not be surprised at all to see MSU in the Big Ten tourney final next Sunday (assuming Izzo and coaches can adjust the fellas D style to the tight ref whistle we are seeing of late). With that said, MSU had ample opportunities today and got beat by a great shot at the end, but they continue to grow as a team and I think it will pay off in the Big Ten & NCAA tourneys this year (and obviously next year with everyone returning). GO STATE!

[kirk]

IT REALLY AMAZIES ME HOW LITTLE MOST OF YOU KNOW ABOUT BASKETBALL. I CAN TELL THAT MOST OF YOU NEVER PLAYED THE GAME , OR AT A VARSITY LEVEL. THE SPARTANS CANNOT OR WILL NOT GUARD THE THREE BALL SHOOTER, AND THATS A COACHING PROBLEM.THATS WHY WE LOST THE LAST {TWO} GAMES AND MANY OTHERS IN THE PAST.