The MSU men’s basketball team may have been wearing practice jerseys in the annual Green and White game Saturday at the Breslin Students Event Center, but the players dove for every loose ball, leaving the same amount of skin on the floor as they would in a regular-season game.
The White team took an early lead but went to the locker room with a 42-41 halftime lead. That’s when things got confusing. MSU head coach Tom Izzo shuffled the lineups by swapping players on both teams.
Even though some players simply flipped their reversible jersey and contributed to the other team, the White still came out on top, 92-87.
Izzo said he moved players back and forth from each team because he wanted to see how different players worked together.
“I was just looking to play different guys with different people so that I could catch it on film,” Izzo said. “I also wanted to play some different guys at different positions. So I was trying to get both done and did so fairly successfully.”
The Green team, mostly made up of players who will come off the bench this year, was able to keep up with the White team with aid from an unlikely source. Freshman forward Adam Wolfe, who redshirted last year, led all scorers with 21 points.
Wolfe, along with Jason Andreas, has not played in an organized game since high school.
“By no means are the cobwebs all gone because it’s just the Green and White game,” Wolfe said. “We’re playing against ourselves, which we do every single day. It’s just that you throw in some fans which makes it a lot more fun, but it’s truly not a game.”
Izzo said Wolfe put up big numbers Saturday, but Andreas played his role by doing the small things needed to win games.
“I was pleased with both guys,” Izzo said. “Of course Wolfe had all the stats and looked really good but Andreas did some things that I think are important for us. He banged some people, he got some rebounds - he did some things that are critical if we are going to be a good team.”
Wolfe and Andreas weren’t the only players experiencing big-time college basketball atmosphere for the first time. Freshman guard Marcus Taylor and freshman center Zach Randolph got their first taste of Breslin’s energy, too.
Taylor said the game was a learning experience for him and the rest of the freshmen because they could afford to learn from their mistakes without the pressures of a big time game.
“I kind of figured out where guys want the ball and how fast guys run out on the wing,” Taylor said. “That helped me out a lot so I can know exactly who to throw (the ball) and where to hit them at.”
Izzo was generally happy with the team’s overall effort, while the players critiqued their own performances.
While Wolfe graded his performance a “C” - pointing to his defense and ability to run the floor, sophomore forward Al Anagonye said he still needs to improve his game.
“I’m going to keep on trying to work hard,” Anagonye said. “I’m not satisfied with what I have right now. I did everything average today, but now I hope to be able to take this game and add more repertoire to my game.”
