LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe

Trannon picks the right sport

Matt Trannon is joining fellow MSU alums such as David Thomas and Adam Ballinger in taking his basketball skills to Australia. Check this link.

   

A nod to Travis Walton

A shameful admission here: I thought there was a chance Travis Walton would have his minutes squeezed as a senior, with all that young talent behind him and considering the way he struggled for stretches of his junior season.

Iowa City, 35 minutes until tipoff

Well, Raymar Morgan was the last one out of the locker room, but he participated in the pre-game shootaround and looked OK. It'll probably be another 20ish night for him, with shorter stints because he can't maintain his wind.
Iowa is letting its students in free to try to enhance the atmosphere here, but so far not many have arrived.
Prediction: Delvon Roe gets a double double tonight. He'll have to be able to defend perimeter-oriented players to stay on the floor, but if he does he can take advantage on the other end.

No Tate, more students

That's what MSU can expect tonight from Iowa. The Spartans will gladly take the tradeoff, no doubt, considering what Cyrus Tate has done to them recently. Here's a look at Tate's ankle situation and here's a story on Iowa's push to fill its student section -- including the players visiting sorority houses to spark some interest. No joke.

Big Ten tourney tix

Here's a press release from the Big Ten on single-session tickets for the Big Ten Tournament in Indy:

MSU health updates

They've been required regularly this season, haven't they?

Bully for Bullough

Max Bullough (2010 linebacker recruit) will be the next in the family to hit ballcarriers for Michigan State, joining grandfather Hank, father Shane and uncle Chuck. Meanwhile, Chuck made news Monday when he was named UCLA's defensive coordinator. Here's a link. Anyone remember that bleeding head in Ann Arbor in 1990? Not someone with whom to mess.

In the zone

The thing about Michigan State is that is usually picks zone defenses apart. If the Spartans don't commit scads of mindless turnovers (like they did against Northwestern) and do hit enough of the open shots that a zone allows (like they didn't against Northwestern) they produce.

Summers, Lucious starting for Walton, Lucas

MSU basketball SID Matt Larson just confirmed that Travis Walton and Kalin Lucas will come off the bench today, with Durrell Summers and Korie Lucious starting in their place. We'll have to find out exactly why from Tom Izzo after the game, but apparently Walton and Lucas missed or were late to something, perhaps a class or team meeting. Larson said both are expected to play in the first half.

P.S.: Raymar Morgan just left warmups (3:25 p.m.) and went into the locker room, looking quite queasy. Any way I can change my prediction?

Catch 22 and MSU

Greetings from Columbus, where MSU basketball will try to shake off its case of the Cobles today. I bring you links today, with a pair of stories in tandem with our annual Catch 22 list of the state's top prospects -- on the trend of acceleration in college football and how it relates to MSU, and on the latest setback for those who want an early signing period.