University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Gophers Face Michigan State in Big Ten Battle
1/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Matchup
The Minnesota Golden Gophers will face their second ranked opponent in a week as they play host to the #16/19 Michigan State Spartans. Minnesota bounced back after its first loss in 46 days by gutting out a hard-fought, 60-56, overtime win in Columbus. Michigan State also rebounded from a weekend loss to defeat Purdue, 71-64, at home. The Spartans have won eight of their last nine games and squandered a late lead at Wisconsin last Sunday for their only loss since Dec. 4.
Scouting the Spartans
The more things change the more things stay the same. Head coach Tom Izzo has another Spartan team in the top 20. They are a talented veteran team that is one of the deepest teams in the country. MSU has five players averaging in double figures and none of those players are named Chris Hill. HIll has the most career points of any active Spartan with 1385 points, 12th all-time on the Spartan scoring list. Junior Maurice Ager leads the team at 13.9 points per game, but the offense flows through junior center Paul Davis. Davis averages 13.3 ppg and leads the team at 6.8 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Shannon Brown and senior Alan Anderson each average 11.9 ppg and senior Kelvin Torbert is the top scorer off the bench averaging 10.3 ppg. The Spartans have 10 players averaging more than 10 minutes per game and are the top free throw shooting team in the country (.795).
The Series
Minnesota leads the series 55-49 including vacated games. The Gophers lead in Minneapolis 34-17, but MSU won last years meeting in overtime. The Spartans won both meetings last season and have won 10 of the last 13.
What's Next
Minnesota battles the Indiana Hoosiers on Wednesday at Williams Arena. Game time is 8: 00 p.m. The game will be shown on a tape delay basis at 9:45 p.m., on FSN North.
