UCLA-MSU, in their words

It was a loss MSU will feel for a while, a game the Spartans led for 39 minutes, 32 seconds and let slip away. It was also a signal that this MSU team could end up being awfully dangerous.

    Finally, it was a game that started so late, I wasn't able to get quotes into our Wednesday editions. Nice event here, great arena, but 10:20 p.m. tipoff time for the title game? Come on.

    Here are some of those quotes:
Tom Izzo:
“I’m sure there’s a lot more good in this than bad. … but I told the guys, you only have so many chances at a No. 1 team, and we had the game in hand.”

on the officiating:
“I was disappointed with the way it was called inside, to be honest with you. If (Kevin Love) can move around and do whatever he wants, displace guys … I was very disappointed in that.”

on UCLA's 22 offensive boards and 37-28 advantage overall:
“It’s an insult to me and the players that played before us that we gave up the offensive rebounds we gave up tonight. That will change. ... We don’t understand what each possession means yet, and probably shouldn’t. But we got beat on an effort-related stat. That should never happen – it’s enough to make me sick.”

Raymar Morgan, on whether the rebounding was more about UCLA or MSU:
“Us, I think, especially me. I just didn’t have a knack for the ball tonight.”

Drew Neitzel, who threw up in the morning, again after the pre-game meal and said he was playing at 60 percent capacity, tops:
“We’ve got to learn to finish games. We were up in both games. … We’ve got to learn from it and get better, especially down the stretch.”

Durrell Summers, who was praised by Izzo and who did a lot of nice things in an 11-point, six-rebound effort, on the growth of the freshmen:
“We’ve got to bring it. We’re just as much a part of the team as everyone else. We’re gonna keep playing hard and see what happens.”

Drew Naymick, on Kevin Love:
“He’s definitely very big, very skilled, very strong. He reminds me of (Tyler) Hansbrough – good footwork, good at drawing contact. They called a pretty tight game tonight and we didn’t adjust. That’s the way it goes, but we’ve got to do a better job than that, and on the glass. We got killed.”

On UCLA showing its experience late:
“We’ve had experience in big, tight games, too. The bottom line is, we could have fought and got big rebounds at the end, and we didn’t.”

More Naymick:
“Turnovers and second-chance points killed us tonight. That’s unacceptable.”

UCLA coach Ben Howland, on his team's 10-0 run to finish the game:
“That showed a lot of moxie and poise. … Our guys never give up, and that’s a sign of mentally tough kids.”

On the winning shot, in which Mbah a Moute hit a 3 on MSU's zone, a defensive strategy we've seen more than usual from Izzo this season:
“They went zone there and we were very patient. … When a team zones, usually they’ll give up the outside shot.”

On MSU's execution, and specifically the lob to Gray for a reverse dunk:
“They were picking us apart when we got fatigued at the end of the first half. That was not a fun thing for our guys to witness.”

    There you have it (not all of it, I'll use many more comments in a follow-up story in Thursday's paper). This was a victory that was MSU's for the taking, and the Spartans could have put it in their back pockets and brought it out in March for seeding purposes.

Comments

[T-Bone]

Oh, man...can't believe I stayed up this late to watch the disgusting display of defensive rebounding and turnovers (especially in the second half). I swear, some of our turnovers we have even my freshmen boys bball team doesn't make (Suton!!). I know it's still early, but that was a game we SHOULD have won...so frustrating...similar mistake as last year in crunch time...can't handle pressure. Yes, I KNOW UCLA's a good team, but still...they had NO business winning that game.

[zeke]

Vitale is so annoying. We realize Kevin Love is good, but not everyone has a man-crush on him. We all understand that UCLA will be better with Collison back in the lineup, but it doesn't need to be said every time State does something good. It's hard to believe how poorly we've played with the lead in the second half so far, but it's still very, very early. Tough to see a game like that get away though. Time to regroup and get healthy.

[Dr.J]

To me, the difference in the second half was that they were allowed to be physical with our guards without consequence. Westbrook clobbered Travis on that turnover that tied the game.

Meanwhile, we were definitely rough with Love, but it wasn't like he was an angel. I thought you were supposed to earn that type of treatment from refs after years of excellence?

[Mary Lou Heinig]

Vitale is annoying. So were the officials. I personally get so tired of the partially which was so evident in last night's game. However, where were points by Suton. And the rebounding plus turnovers. The freshman outplayed him. You are not consistent because of your lack of consistency in practice time.

Drew, I do not know you survived out there not having anything in your stomach and looking like a ghost.

It does scare me when I see games slip away when we have leads. This is a couple nights in a row. You cannot dribble a ball in a crowd. It will be taken away every time. That is 5th grade stuff.

But you have great potential. Come on upperclassmen. Get going you big men. There is not excuse for lack of rebounding, etc. Neymick you had a couple nice plays and I know you can keep adding to this team.
.

[Steve]

Hopefully the team will learn more from the loss than if they had won the game. Even if they had won it.....they played terrible. Our big men were outplayed by Love. Seriously, I have not seen any improvement in out bigs over the last 3-4 seasons. This team will go as far as our smaller players take us. Overall, the freshman are getting great experience and all look good at times.

[Bryan]

Good game by the boys. If they can hang with one of the best teams in the nation without their best player, the best is still to come. Hate to point the fingers at the zebras, but how could you not. If Love can put his elbow into Sutons side and move him, there is a problem. We all knew it was going to be a physical game and the refs let it become a patty cake contest. Let the big boys bang and if you are going to call the touchy fouls do it on both sides. Other than that, I am happy with they way they are playing this early with the amount the freshman are playing. Sparty on.

[Pistol]

I couldn't stay up for the game, but after a good game on Monday I was sure that Suton was going to be a no-show. THe box score shows no shot attempts!?!?!? Good try guys!

[FLASpartan]

I know this is a basketball blog at this time, but the Big Ten Network (which I have) is predicting MSU's football team going to the Motor City Bowl provided Ohio State does not get into the National Championship game. The BTN has MSU going to the Insight Bowl if OSU goes to the National Championship game. The team they have ahead of MSU in both scenarios is Indiana.

They say that the feel good story of Indiana/Terry Hoeppner would override MSU's victory over the Hoosiers in both cases. Also, they say that Indians has never been to a Florida bowl game, so IU would go to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando over MSU if OSU gets to the BCS title game.

[Robert]

Give them a nod. They played an outstanding team and took it to the wire. State has the talent to go far this season and they likely have learned from their inability to contain Love. The only downside to the game was the incessant chatter of Vitale (the big-mouth Billie Mays of sports announcing). I get sooooo tired of him, especially last night with his fulsome praise of UCLA and his motor mouth. Do others find him as irritating as I do?

[Scott Skiles]

Looks like SOSs of the last 6 years to me. Good but not great. Lacking killer instincts and playing scared with a lead.

I was really dissappointed in the second half by the lazy play and the lack of a killer instinct. You guys had the number 1 team on the ropes, knock them out. You could tell the Spartans were defending a lead and not attacking. OMG, and what was up with all the silly turnovers. Being agressive in attacking the defense and having a pass picked off I can accept, but trying to dibble through a double team and getting picked, dribbling the ball off your leg and foot, a lazy pass on the perimeter right into the hands of charging defender; these are all stupid stupid stupid turnovers. And the rebounding was a joke. Just grab the ball!! Don't try to tip it to yourself or to another player, be agressive and grab it.

Enough venting, what I liked is that Summers showed some real improvement and explosiveness. This guy is good. Allen also showed his shooting touch is as advertised. Lucas had a little bit of a setback and showed his decision making skills and recognition of defenses needs is a work in progress. Overall, these guys are showing that they are ready to play and wll see significant time in the Big 10 season.

Raymar Morgan in foul trouble early again was a real problem. It is clear that he is vital to our success against quality opponents. Drew, you looked like hell out there, and yet played pretty well, hats off to you Bro. At least you had an excuse for playing at 60%, I just wish some of the other guys didn't follow your example.

Lets hope they can win the remaining preseason games. A Big 10 championship is not looking good guys. Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio State are all tough and it is looking like the Spartans will probably struggle again mightily on the road in the Big 10. Thus, I really believe we are looking at a 7 or 8 loss season, 3rd or 4th place Big 10 finish, and around a 6 seed in the tournament.

[db]

Between the refs and Vitale, I was ready to throw something at the tv screen. Too many penalties, too many passes that were picked off. Sad ending that should have been different.
BTW, is anyone tired of seeing Gray running around like he's just won the national championship, struting around and flopping his tongue? Gray needs to have more consistent and smart plays before he can go on his big strut. Keep your tongue in your mouth, smile and then get on with your job!
Coach I will definitely use this as a learning experience and I expect to see great things from our green and white this year!

[Pooper McDuffy]

Our big guys have no hands.
Walton needs to learn to dribble with his left hand.
Refs need to call 3 seconds once a tournament at least!
Nice new arena in KC!

[MSULordyoda]

Glad I'm not the only one who saw the refs let Love do whatever the hell he wanted. And of course as someone else mentioned, the guards were able to mug ours at will in the second half. Take away half of UCLA's first half free throws and they don't even score 20 for the first half. Unfortunately, I see the same thing happening this year as in year's past. The officials are going to be all over MSU and consistently put us in foul trouble and disrupt our rhythm. You could pretty much tell Vitale and ESPN wanted UCLA to win that game.

That being said, too many silly turnovers in the second half really didn't help either.

[Dave O]

The performance (and the comments here) are similar to last year. Gray, Suton and Naymick have shown absolutely no improvement. They can't hang on to the ball with those soft hands. No rebounding, ball strips, turnovers. Pathetic. These big guys play like freshmen. Same with Raymar and his fouls. In the end, it looked just like last year... do whatever we can to get Neitzel the ball and let him shoot. I'm afraid we're in for the same results as last year unless the team grows up.

I couldn't believe Izzo would continue to let Lucas bring the ball up the floor, when UCLA consistently trapped him, and forced 4 turnovers as a result. Obviously UCLA saw something about his ball handling in the game films; truly freshman mistakes.

Anybody notice that Summers is 13 of 13 from the line! Nice job!

Note to Marquise: Keep your big ugly tongue in your mouth. You were schooled all night, and 4 dunks doesn't make you a stud. You were outplayed, so stop showboating. Man, that is a nasty tongue.

Re: Refs - Spartans got what they deserved. It was almost like hack-a-shaq out there. But Love did get away with a lot.

[steve suns]

Man---are most of you idiots. The big men have definitely improved. Naymick can provide some offense now and Ibok stuffed several shots. Two very good teams played and the better team won. State will get better although UCLA will to. Leaves these guys alone.

[Gabriel]

So I'm watching the game last night, and in the 1st half I'm thinking "WOW, were LOADED, great depth, but, more importantly, no "MENTAL MIGETS"--" Thanks for proving me wrong....Goran Suton!! We don't turn the basketball over this year we MAY win it all. Two nights in a row turnovers in the 2nd half. I thought after being a mental miget team for several years (Chris Hill, Alan Anderson, Torbert ect ect) we would have finally learned how to FINISH. I also thought the officiating was horrendous--for both teams. If an offensive player initiates the contact then give some "LOVE" to the defensive player. Oh, welol, long way to go. But to my fellow Sparties...we are going to bew very very good. GREAT depth, just hope we can find a way to create some shots for Mr.Nietzel.

[first half]

I was only able to stay up for the first half and agree with the comment that a 10:20 Tuesday night start for a college basketball game is ridiculous. Dick Vitale is the poorest announcer in broadcasting. He spends a lot of time talking about him self and anything else that happens to cross his mind. I frequently mute the TV and turn on the radio so I can avoid his drivel. How long before the networks understand that he hurts their ratings?

[Spartan95]

We would have won if.....blah,blah
It's the players job to adjust to the refs. Clearly Izzo's approach was to manhandle Love. Upperclassmen should be smarter, but our bigs don't have the skills. Anything we got from Neitzel was a bonus. I don't think any of us would have gone to work after throwing up all day. Walton played hurt, too. The year will depend on the freshmen growth because our upperclassmen are as good as they'll get. I bet we don't get outrebounded again anytime soon.

[r scarbeck]

Outside of the collapse last night. I was happy to see the freshman play and make a difference. they should improve over the course of the season and MSU will be in the hunt thats for sure!!

[r scarbeck]

Outside of the collapse last night. I was happy to see the freshman play and make a difference. they should improve over the course of the season and MSU will be in the hunt thats for sure!!

[Spartan95]

And yes, Vitale is even more irritating two nights in a row. I just hope he's never on the same broadcast as Billy - Duke is my lover - Packer.

[MSU alum]

Hey Joe,
I predicted the exact score MSU 63 UCLA 68 in my comment yesterday and guess what I wrote Goran Suton has to be good. He got 0 points last night. This is a good learning experience but we should have won this game.

[SpartanMike]

Too many of us in here sound like Ketucky b-ball fans or worse UM football fans. All this negativity about blowing the game and our big men sucking. This is a very very good team. They lost to the number 1 team in the nation and led them for most of the game.
I don't see the point in bitching about every little thing that isn't excuted perfectly like a UM fan does. Calling out one player (Sutton) and just spewing hate on him makes me wonder how delusional you must be. Izzo and the guys will work through the problems, some will be able to improve others won't. Were going to be a great B-10 team this year - enjoy it!

[Dave]

The most disturbing thing about last night was the offensive rebounds that were allowed. Izzo's comments above mention it, but to me it's maddening-- you play great defense and force the other team into a miss and then you allow them a second chance. That's been the calling card of Tom Izzo teams-- you miss a shot and it's the only chance you're going to get.

Overall, it was good to see this team play well. The turnovers have been a problem for several seasons now, but the disturbing thing about last night was the fact that some came from the guards including Walton and Neitzel.

Looking at the big picture, the issues that were exposed last night are all things that the coaching staff can fix, and you know that these guys are gonna get some hardcore Tom Izzo rebounding drills for the next few weeks.

Yes, it was a disappointing loss, you don't get a chance to knock off #1 too often, but it was a good opportunity to measure this team and the good parts far outweigh the bad!!

[MSU '00]

What ever happened to the media being impartial, it was disgusting having to choke down Vitale's UCLA love all night.

Normally I have a hard time complaining about physical play given that Izzo's Spartans are renowned for it but the officiating in general was very one-sided. UCLA shot 31 freethrows to MSUs 15 and anyone that's played the game knows that's too big of a discrepancy to overcome against a quality opponent. Quite simply, the post play was called very tight and on the perimeter you could maul people which just happened to work out in UCLAs favor.

Still I'm don't see this as a reason to get worked up or overly concerned about the team, it's only November and you outplayed the supposed number team in the country so get a grip people and wait until the calendar turns before flipping out over a hard fought loss.