Big Green survive vs Iowa, unlike other wannabees

Unlike Michigan, or Duke, or Georgetown...

Michigan State also played its worst game of the year... but was talented enough -- especially on defense -- to pull out a victory in the Big Ten quarters vs. Iowa.  Now, time to bulk up for Ohio State at 4 pm ET tomorrow.  The ES is a stalwart believer of this Big Green team and its potential for a deep run in 2013.

In recent weeks, MSU has come close on the road but folded when it mattered most, but not today. The Spartans offensively played their worst game of the year but still found a way to win in the last 5 minutes.  Bring on the Buckeyes!  

B1G Ten Tourney.... Gholston HOF Cafe Watch Party... Vegas Title Odds

ES is all jacked up for the B1G Ten Tourney championship.  At around 3:30 today, ES was in a meeting with several colleagues today who figured last Sunday a few of us Spartans were pulling for the Wolverines to beat Indiana to get MSU a share of the regular season title. NOT!!!!  We SOUNDLY denounced his sacrilege and referred to the new Pope maybe needing to forgive our sins in tone and language.  At 3:30, we may have been the first to ask this Pope Francis for forgiveness... but NAHHH.

What is hilarious is the scUMbags get to play an extra game. Thanks, Francis, God is good.  ES could care less about the performance of those wearing stupid yellow-glow-in-the-dark blinding uniforms.  Bumble-bee uniforms in football, and blinding yellow high-lighters in basketball.  They may be great engineers and doctors, but they are color-blind artists in Ann Arbor.  We'll still kick their butt and their extra game.

JOIN GHOLSTON AT HOF, FRIDAY, 7:45
As for the tourney, well it shall be fun - the ES will be at the Spartan HOF Cafe with his fam and work colleagues at the Spartan HOF for a Mid-Michigan Spartan Alum watch party.  Wanna come out for some brews, food, auction items, and fun while we kick Iowa or Northwestern's bootie?  Game time, tipoff is ETA 7:45 pm on Friday, on BTN.

We'll be hangin' with William Gholston if you're interested...  Need to contact SRothw@aol.com if interested...  GO GREEN!

RPI RATINGS
OK, we'll be throwing some smack at Bracketology all week long if Lunardi doesn't give the Spartans props with at LEAST a #2 seed (and maybe a #1 if they win the B1G tourney?)  But real-time RPI ratings, which are significant in determining NCAA tourney qualifications, so far place the Spartans at #9. should be a great week in March, as is always!!!!  It is IZZO TIME.
FAVORITES?
Check out VegasInsider.http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/futures/  Spartans are 12-1 to take the title, Michigan is 10-1, and Indiana is 9-2... ES likes our chances, and the $20 he put in the Spartans in Vegas in November.  Here are the full lines below:

Indiana	9/2
Duke	5/1
Louisville	6/1
Florida	7/1
Michigan	10/1
Miami, FL	10/1
Gonzaga	10/1
Georgetown	12/1
Michigan State	12/1
Kansas	15/1
Ohio State	20/1
Syracuse	25/1
St. Louis	30/1
New Mexico	30/1
Arizona	40/1
Pittsburgh	40/1
UCLA	50/1
Kansas State	50/1
Oklahoma State	50/1
North Carolina	60/1
Wisconsin	60/1
N.C. State	60/1
Marquette	75/1
VCU	75/1
Minnesota	75/1
Field (any other team)	100/1
Missouri	100/1
Butler	100/1
Kentucky	100/1
Memphis	100/1
UNLV	100/1
Notre Dame	100/1
Colorado State	100/1
Creighton	100/1
Wichita State	200/1
Illinois	200/1
Oregon	200/1
California	200/1
St. Mary's	200/1
San Diego State	200/1
Colorado	200/1
Belmont	200/1
Alabama	300/1
Oklahoma	300/1
Temple	300/1
Villanova	300/1
Davidson	500/1
Arkansas	500/1
Mississippi	500/1
Virginia	500/1
LaSalle	500/1
Iowa State	500/1
Tennessee	500/1
Vanderbilt	500/1
Baylor	500/1
Xavier	500/1
Cincinnati	500/1
Maryland	1000/1
BYU	1000/1
Purdue	1000/1
Seton Hall	1000/1
St. John's	1000/1
West Virginia	1000/1
St. Joseph's	1000/1
Drexel	1000/1
Stanford	1000/1
Southern Miss	1000/1
Mississippi State	1000/1
Providence	1000/1
Oregon State	1000/1
Ohio	1000/1
Northern Iowa	1000/1
Texas A&M	1000/1
South Florida	1000/1
Washington	1000/1
Dayton	1000/1
Clemson	1000/1
Rutgers	1000/1
Texas	1000/1
Florida State	1000/1
Long Beach State	1000/1
Northwestern	1000/1
Iowa	1000/1
Murray State	1000/1
LSU	1000/1
George Mason	1000/1
Marshall	1000/1
Virginia Tech	1000/1
Georgia	1000/1
Harvard	1000/1
Ole Miss	1000/1
Richmond	1000/1
DePaul	1000/1
Utah State	1000/1
Nevada	1000/1
USC	1000/1
South Carolina	1000/1
Georgia Tech	1000/1
St. Bonaventure	1000/1

 

Live Chat:: #8 MSU vs Iowa, B1G Tournament

MSU at #9 in Lunardi's Bracketology; Predicts a Spartan win over JoePa

OK, Lunardi finally posts his Bracketology, and Michigan State moves up to a #9 in the West.

As for today? ES prediction... Michigan State 67, Penn State 55. Any team (Penn State) that wins a game scoring less than 40 points (scoring 36 in yesterday's win over Wisconsin) has no offense -- and MSU can relate to that! MSU has its mojo back, and enough offense to move on.

Mich State a 2-1/2 pt fave over Penn State; move up to #9 in Bracketology

OK, the ES is excited post-Purdue destruction.... Some early thoughts heading into today's Big Ten semi-finals. Early line out of Vegas has Michigan State favored by 2 1/2 over Penn State. The game tips at 4 pm, on CBS television.

Bracketology update: Joe Lunardi is still nursing his hangover as of 10 am on Saturday. What's ESPN paying him the big bucks if he can't wake up during tourney time to update his bracket? MSU still listed as last one in, #12 SE.

Bracketology #2 update: But, give Bruce Marshall over at VegasInsider.com some kudos for updating his bracket. He inks in Michigan State right now as a #9 seed in the East.

Jeff Sagarin: Even the MIT guru punched his numbers this morning, moving MSU up to #34 overall. That's IN my friends.

See you at the Peanut Barrell at 4 pm!

We Kicked Boiler Arse!!!

OMG - where has this team been all year? Just total in-your-face defense, but shots finally fell!!! God bless Kalin Lucas, with his 30 points he hit shot after shot. But, the bigger deal was MSU's interior defense, with Roe, Green, and Nix, blocking shots and with body blows that made it impossible for Purdue.

This was Michigan State's best game of the year. At exactly the right time. And, we didn't just win - we kicked their arse!!!! MSU wins by 18: a dominating 74-56 win (video).

Michigan St.
Name	FG	3Pt	FT	Off	Reb	Ast	PF	Pts
Keith Appling	3-4	2-2	2-2	2	6	2	4	10
Draymond Green	2-9	1-4	3-4	1	13	5	2	8
Mike Kebler	3-6	0-0	2-2	0	1	1	1	8
Kalin Lucas	8-16	4-7	10-11	0	1	3	2	30
Derrick Nix	0-0	0-0	3-6	0	0	1	2	3
Adreian Payne	0-2	0-0	0-0	1	2	0	1	0
Delvon Roe	2-8	0-0	3-4	4	8	2	3	7
Garrick Sherman	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0
Durrell Summers	2-4	0-1	2-2	0	5	0	3	6
Austin Thornton	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	1	2
Totals	21-51	7-14	25-31	8	36	15	19	74
Percentages:	.412	.500	.806

Purdue
Name	FG	3Pt	FT	Off	Reb	Ast	PF	Pts
Kelsey Barlow	0-3	0-2	1-4	0	1	1	3	1
D.J. Byrd	1-2	1-2	0-0	0	0	1	3	3
Travis Carroll	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	2	0
Lewis Jackson	1-4	0-1	0-1	0	2	3	4	2
JaJuan Johnson	9-19	0-3	3-4	1	9	0	1	21
Terone Johnson	1-8	0-4	3-4	0	3	0	4	5
Sandi Marcius	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	0	0	1	1
E'Twaun Moore	5-10	1-2	6-9	0	3	4	2	17
Ryne Smith	2-5	1-4	1-1	0	4	1	0	6
Totals	19-52	3-18	15-25	2	23	10	20	56
Percentages:	.365	.167	.600

MSU dominates Purdue.... in the first half

At least it looks good for a half. MSU 37-23 DOMINATING Purdue.

Michigan St.
Name	FG	3Pt	FT	Off	Reb	Ast	PF	Pts
Keith Appling	2-3	2-2	0-0	1	3	2	1	6
Draymond Green	1-4	1-2	1-2	0	7	3	0	4
Mike Kebler	1-3	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	2
Kalin Lucas	7-10	4-5	0-0	0	1	3	1	18
Derrick Nix	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	0	1	1	1
Adreian Payne	0-2	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	0
Delvon Roe	0-3	0-0	0-0	0	1	2	1	0
Garrick Sherman	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0
Durrell Summers	2-3	0-1	0-0	0	4	0	0	4
Austin Thornton	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	1	2
Totals	14-30	7-11	2-4	2	17	12	6	37
Percentages:	.467	.636	.500

Purdue
Name	FG	3Pt	FT	Off	Reb	Ast	PF	Pts
Kelsey Barlow	0-1	0-1	1-2	0	1	0	1	1
D.J. Byrd	1-2	1-2	0-0	0	0	1	1	3
Travis Carroll	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	2	0
Lewis Jackson	1-3	0-1	0-1	0	2	2	1	2
JaJuan Johnson	5-8	0-2	0-0	0	3	0	0	10
Terone Johnson	0-2	0-1	2-2	0	3	0	0	2
Sandi Marcius	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	0	0	1	1
E'Twaun Moore	2-7	0-1	0-0	0	2	3	0	4
Ryne Smith	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	2	0	0	0
Totals	9-25	1-9	4-7	0	13	6	6	23
Percentages:	.360	.111	.571

Bracketology sez MSU is LAST ONE IN. Purdue prediction

Will the bubble burst on Tom Izzo and Michigan State? Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Michigan State now as THE LAST TEAM in the field of 68, a #12 seed in the Southeast.

They take on projected #3 SE seed Purdue today. Purdue is a 7-pt favorite. Looks like Kalin Lucas will play, and if Durrell Summers does not break out of his slump today (both offensively and defensively), the Spartans may find themselves OUT.

Jeff Sagarin has MSU at #37, Purdue at #7, and an 8-pt Boilermaker win. Real time RPI has MSU at #47 and Purdue at #8.

Sorry, but the ES just doesn't see how the Big Green can pull off a win today sans a 100% healthy Lucas. Purdue kicked our butt by 20 points in the Breslin Center last meeting, and we lost by 10 at Purdue. ES sez.... Purdue 76, Michigan State 62.

ES sez Michigan State 68, Iowa 64

Do we really want Purdue again? I'd rather play Ohio State... oh well, only in the Big Ten chumpionship game if we are lucky.

First things first, to take care of the Ugly Chickens. Spartans are 7 point favorites against the I-Men. Make it: MSU 68, Iowa 64. Will Durrell Summers finally show up? We shall see....

Bracketology still has MSU in, as the first of "Last Four In". A #11 Seed in the West, playing in DC vs Virginia Tech (that's a home crowd for the Purple and Pink).

Jeff Sagarin has MSU at #39 (and Michigan #40, BTW). Iowa is at #105. Sagarin projects it as a five-point win for Sparty.

RPI Ratings has MSU at #47... and Iowa at #172 (ouch!).

So... a loss here and Michigan State is T O A S T. A win, and they are still on the bubble. To play PurDO.

Izzo hates the Big Ten Tourney

OK, so it sucks we lost in OT vs Minny yesterday in the Big Ten tourney. Not having Chris Allen hurt more than the ES thought on the offense, not so much on defense. The Spartans lost that game with a few mistakes at the very end of regulation, even though they had turned that defensive intensity to broiling point. Letting Joseph nail the three was brutal, but the missed layup by Kebler (talk about him in a minute) and the last play with Lucas driving and not getting a shot off... well, so be it. Still, the ES figured we'd sink 'em, but the missed FTs by Morgan and Lucas in OT -- both visibly gassed -- told the tale. A surprise, but a hard fought and physical game. With Allen, that game was a W. Morgan was a BEAST, his best game of the year...

OK, the story continues... then today Minny goes out and stomps on Purdue by 27 - my god - 69-42, just a crushing win.

The lineup last night at crunch time was, well, weird. Izzo puts in Kebler (he had 20 minutes) and Nix... sure we dropped a Minny 10 point lead to zero. But we needed points after getting back to square one and both Morgan and Lucas were exhausted. Shit, Summers was in the doghouse the whole second half. Kebler is a very very good defensive player, esp. as a walk on. But, when on the break and the dish from Lucas, he just couldn't get it done on offense... and the TO was critical.

It makes one wonder the extent that Izzo values the Big Ten tourney. These guys went through a brutish schedule and cliched a share of the regular season... and then the best players aren't in on crunch time in the tourney? The ES figures Izzo is saving legs for the NCAAs, and trying to skate by with playing around with lineups... almost like a hockey coach playing with his lines.

Morgan went freaking nuts on Friday nite, it is too bad it was for naught. But, methinks these guys are just fine, esp. if Allen comes back watch out. Remember, we clamped down on Minny the last 7 minutes of regulation and completely shut them down. and, then they turn around and beat Purdue by 27??? We ain't so bad, and we know what we have. Defense wins championships. Bring on the NCAAs, and we welcome any chumps from Ann Arbor to join on the bandwagon.

MSU will likely be a #4 seed in the tournament, esp. with all these other teams falling early. But, if you take Bracketology today, I'd take it... we'd run the region.

MSU favored by 3 over Minny

#3 Spartans are favored by 3 in its matchup at 9 pm tonight vs. #6 Minnesota.

So far today: #1 Ohio State nipped #8 scUM Yellow Bellies, #5 Illinois defeated #4 Wisconsin.
Up next: #2 Purdue vs #7 Northwestern, Big Ten Network

MSU vs Minnesota, 9 pm Tonight

Big Ten Tourney schedule below...

Friday. #3 Michigan State tips off vs Minnesota, 8:55 pm. BTN.
Saturday. MSU vs Purdue/Ind. 4 pm. CBS.
Sunday. MSU in title game. 3:30 pm. CBS.