After a night in which freshman forward Nick Ward earned his first ever start at the collegiate level, his thoughts were humble and modest.
“I was ecstatic,” Ward said. “I didn’t know what to expect really, but we just played hard to get the win in whatever way possible.”
Ward led the way in MSU’s 77-65 win over Oakland University Wednesday night. Ward, the 6-foot-8 freshman, set a game-high and personal best in scoring with 25 points, and was one rebound shy of his second career double-double with a game-leading nine boards in 25 minutes on the floor.
Head coach Tom Izzo said in his post game press after the game the decision to start Ward came from the improvement he has shown in game situations and in practice.
“He was just never able to do the things that he’s able to do now,” Izzo said in his post game press conference. “He’s just starting to figure out what he can do. And he can run, and he can run hard. And he can jump. ... At the end of each day, I see him making progress and so it’s kind of fun. I know the game’s important to him.”
Ward finished shooting 7-for-12 from the floor against the Golden Grizzlies and was the only Spartan to take more than six shots from the free-throw line, where he converted on 11-of-17 shots. As a team, MSU found the net on 24-of-37 shots from the charity stripe, a success rate of 64.9 percent for the game.
“That kid (Ward) has lived on the free-throw line,” Izzo said. “Even his misses looked good other than one today. He kind of got what he deserved, which is how life goes I guess. He has spent days on that free throw line. He even made 16 in a row the other day, which is a North American record.”
As the season progresses, so does playing time for Ward. Through the first six games of the season Ward averaged 14.8 minutes and 10 points a game, and in his last seven games — including Wednesday’s win against Oakland — he has averaged 20 minutes and 15.9 points per contest.
“Don’t be fooled by some players in the NBA that score a lot of points and their teams never win,” Izzo said. “You have to play both ends. But I think the biggest thing that Nick’s had to go through is the conditioning part. ... Nick’s got quick feet. He’s just got to stay focused on what he has to do and realize that he’s got a new body.”
Ward was one of five Spartans on defense who forced seven blocked Golden Grizzly shots and forced a season-high 21 turnovers. The effort came against a team tied for a Horizon League-best 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, a defensive toughness Izzo said the team has been missing all season.
“What I’m most pleased about is that we played the hardest that we have in a while,” Izzo said. “Guys were diving on the floor all over the place.”
After falling to Northeastern University last Sunday, Ward said the team had extra motivation to end the non-conference slate with an exclamation point, as the team looks forward to Minnesota on Dec. 27 to start conference play.
“We had a mission to prove everybody wrong,” Ward said. “They're calling us soft, saying we don't play hard. So, we played the opposite. We played hard, and we played as a team. We felt like we had something to prove.”
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