LIVE BLOG CHAT - MSU vs Oklahoma: Sweet 16

Join the ES at 9:30 ET tonight for a LIVE CHAT - Cover it Live open for comments all evening as we watch the Spartans take on the Sooners in the Sweet 16 - on TBS.  Will go live immediately upon the end of Louisville-NC State.

Live Blog MSU vs Oklahoma, 2015 NCAA Men's Hoops Sweet 16

 

MSU ROLLS: Derrick Nix and the HOT LICKS

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Spartans, What is your profession???!!!! And the Big Green Machine just keeps ROLLING right along...

What a beautiful game by the Michigan State interior, particularly Nix, Payne, and Dawson.   This trio DESTROYED Memphis with its athleticism and just flat out great play.  This MSU Spartan team passes the eye test as a great team to watch, doing all the little things right.  Nix, Payne, and Dawson combined for – get this –  24 rebounds, 5 assists, 8 steals, and 6 blocks.  Combined shooting from the three was 12 of 26, a respectable 46%, but it was the dominance on the glass that made the difference.

For any who questions the Spartan dominance in the second half, just look at the box score: the Spartans scored TWICE as many points as Memphis in the second half: 38 to 19. Ouch. 

Read this lovely pin-up by ESPN's Michael Rothstein.  Nice.

Nix, in all honesty, has turned into an absolute beast for Tom Izzo’s gameplan in this tourney. Derrick Nix, the guy who was fat and couldn’t hit a free throw, is the next edition of Izzo’s great reclamation projects.  This guy has grown into the most consistent, dominant force for Michigan State.  Every single time he touches the ball, and he WANTS IT EVERY SINGLE TIME the Spartans are on the offensive end of the floor, he either takes a great shot or finds the guy to take the shot.  But, even more importantly, on defense, Nix can’t be moved.  He is an absolute brick wall of a defense.  It brings tears to mine eyes. 

Third man of the game?  Give Denzel Valentine some credit, he had a pretty good game and he seemed up to the task for most of the game, weaving in and around the Tiger defense all game long, with excellent ball handling and dishing for points.  Valentine finished with 9 pts, 6 rebs, 6 assists, and ZERO turnovers. 

Turning point:  the blow up on the MSU sideline. Nix and Appling were jawing at each other, and Dawson was brokering the concern.  Wow.  For us watching on tv, Nix was showing more concern and “give-a-shit” at that one moment than he did most of his career.  After that sideline demonstration, MSU exploded and crushed Memphis.  The intensity on defense was stifling. 

The Dukies or the Blue Jays better watch out. Here comes a Big Mean Green!

Michigan State 59, Northern Iowa 52: MSU to Elite 8, again

The Spartans are one step away from the promised land, again. Michigan State's Korie Lucious filled in the for the injured All-American Kalin Lucas, and played the best game of his career... efficient with the hoops and minimizing turnovers, engineering a 59-52 victory over Northern Iowa. Lucious (10 pts, 4 asts, 4 stls, 6 rebs) was excellent and avoided the turnover bug that he's been accustomed to all year. He played in control all game long. His spin around jump shot with 1:30 left was huge. And, Raymar Morgan played like a monster in the end, with a gorgeous he-man shot in the paint. The best player? Durrell Summers (19 pts, 7 rebs) made timely shot after timely shot. But, it was the Michigan State defense that played just excellent all game long.

How good was the defense? The Spartans held Northern Iowa scoreless from the field in the last 10:22, and NIU shot just 24% (5-21) in the second half. Beautiful. MSU was outrebounded 17-10 in the first half, but turned the tables and outrebounded NIU 26-9 in the second half.

And the last Big Ten team standing is? ..... MICHIGAN STATE. In all his brackets, the ES picked MSU to the final four. One win away, baby. Bring on Tennessee, 2:20 pm EST on Sunday.



MSU hoops on aircraft carrier

It looks like the game on the aircraft carrier may still be in play... on 11/11/11, Veterans Day. MSU would play North Carolina and Navy plays Air Force on the deck of the USS John F. Kennedy in Jacksonville, Florida.

FIRED UP!!!!

GO BIG GREEN! On to the Elite 8!!!!

The ES is JACKED UP for the game tonite, a spanking of Northern Iowa is in the ES' crystal ball. See u at the Peanut Barrel.

National Predictions: Michigan State vs Northern Iowa

#5 Michigan State (26-8) vs #9 Northern Iowa (31-4)
Friday, 9:37 pm EST
CBS Sports

Predictions: ESPN/Dick Vitale (MSU); Freep (MSU 66-59); Lansing St Journal (MSU 65-59); Mlive (MSU 66-62); Rivals/Yahoo (NIU 65-62) ; Bet-Firms (NIU 63-57); Bang the Book (NIU); ESPN/Earnon Brennan (MSU); Point-Spreads (MSU); Gather (NIU); Fox Sports; Bleacher Report (NIU 72-66); Fan IQ (MSU 72-68); College Hoops Net (MSU); Associated Content (NIU 65-59); Chicago Tribune (NIU); Detroit News

Enlightened Spartan: It is tough to think Northern Iowa can keep on their unbelievable run. They are a great basketball team and MSU will need to play its best to win. But, a healthier Allen & Roe, and with time to game plan for coach Izzo, and with Izzo's tourney success.... well, chalk this one up to Michigan State. Player of the Game? Raymar Morgan, again.

ES prediction: MSU 64, Northern Iowa 60.

Statistical Match Up:

MSU Category NIU

26-8 Record 30-4
72.9 Scoring 63.6
64.4 Opp. scoring 55.0
8.5 Margin 8.6
.473 FG% .430
.406 Opp. FG % .406
.343 3-pt% .356
.330 Opp. 3-pt% .332
5.0 3-pt/game 6.7
6.8 Opp. 3-pt/g 5.8
.684 FT% .761
+9.0 Reb margin +2.8
-1.4 TO diff. +1.6
6.6 Steals 5.6
3.2 Blocks 2.0

Mich State favored by 1.5 over Northern Iowa

Michigan State is back to the Sweet 16, and the Big Ten Conference co-champion is listed as a 1 1/2-point favorite over Northern Iowa. The other two Big Ten co-champs: Purdue is an 8-point underdog at Duke, and Ohio State is favored by 5 over Tennessee. It would be sweet indeed to get a rematch with Ohio State for rights to go to Indianapolis in the Final Four

INJURY UPDATE: A ruptured Achilles' tendon in Kalin Lucas' left foot has been confirmed; he will need surgery and he will be out 4-6 months. Hopefully the additional rest will help Chris Allen's ankle heal enough to have a greater role vs Northern Iowa; Delvon Roe's knees are killing him and he may need surgery after the season. Hang in there, guys... leave it on the court. Damn you're a fun team to watch.

BIG TEN vs BIG LEAST: What about the Big Least and the Big Ten? All year long, everyone is talking down the Big Ten as a weak conference and the Big Least as the best conference in basketball. This discussion has been going on for years, matter of fact. And last year, well Michigan State defeated two #1-seeds back-to-back, both from the Big Least, in Louisville and UConn. And this year, West Virginia and Syracuse are all that are left... while the Big Ten has three teams in, all its regular season co-champs. When will people wake up that the Big Ten is superior to the Big Least? The numbers just prove it. We're among the last ones standing, again.

GREAT COMMENT BY REXRODE: "And how about this game, where does it rank? I claim most dramatic shot and win in MSU NCAA history. Steve Smith had a buzzer beater to beat Tony Bennett and UW-GM in 1991. But it was a tie game. This was a win-or-lose shot. And although the MSU-Kentucky game of 2005 is hard to top (and is still a "bigger" game because it was for the Final Four), I think this one buries it. No question. The last two minutes, the speed of it all, the emotional swings on both benches, were like nothing I've seen in person on a basketball court."

AWESOME ARTICLES by MIKE ROSENBURG/Freep: here (Mar 22) and here (Mar 23).