This weekend’s game at Loyola University marks the first road game of the season for the No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team.
The undefeated Spartans (6-0) hold the nation’s second-longest home court winning streak at 34 games, but MSU won’t have the student cheering section, the Izzone cheering it on this weekend.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo said defeating two of last year’s Final Four teams in the last two weeks - Florida and North Carolina - was a great accomplishment. He said now the Spartans need to keep up their guard.
“We got through another test and now we’ve got our first road game against an opponent that isn’t as nationally ranked, and that’ll be another test,” he said. “I don’t know when these tests are going to end, but we’ve got a lot of them ahead of us, I’m afraid.”
Last year MSU faced a similar situation. After playing tough early games against North Carolina, Arizona, Kansas and Kentucky, the Spartans were upset by little-known Wright State 53-49 on the road.
This year the Spartans have already faced two top 10 teams - then-No. 6 UNC and No. 8 Florida - and next play a 2-4 Ramblers team.
The Ramblers are led by guard David Bailey, who’s averaging 17.8 points per game, good enough for third in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.
Listed at 5-foot-8, Bailey yields a considerable height advantage to the Spartan guards, with senior Charlie Bell and freshman Marcus Taylor both listed at 6-foot-3.
On the season MSU has out-rebounded its opponents by 20 per game. With such a considerable size advantage, the Spartans should maintain that edge.
Izzo said he’s aware of the comparison between Loyola and Wright State. He said this year’s team is different and the upperclassmen learned from last year.
He said MSU still doesn’t have a solid rotation and its use of substitutions will be important on the road.
“I still don’t think I did a great job of substituting,” he said. “Our substitution pattern is not where it needs to be yet.”
Izzo said the quick development of Taylor and fellow freshman center Zach Randolph will help with the rotation.
He said for the freshmen to continue receiving a lot of minutes they must maintain their intensity every night.
“These guys are starting to learn how to play harder,” he said. “You don’t play at this level unless you play that hard every night.”
Izzo said MSU’s first away game is only the beginning of the Spartans’ holiday season worries. With games against Kentucky, No. 7 Seton Hall and a rematch with Wright State, he said the Spartans must maintain focus.
Taylor said finishing the non-conference schedule strong is important. He said the transition from high school hasn’t been easy but he’s starting to get a grasp.
“This first month of the season, I’ve spent learning the system,” he said. “It’s very demanding to play point guard at Michigan State because you are expected to do the job on both ends of the floor.”
Fresh off a career high seven assist performance, where Izzo labeled many of his passes incredible, Taylor has continued to impress critics. Randolph is also fresh off a career high 27 point performance.
How the freshmen will play away from Breslin Student Events Center is still unclear, but Randolph said he’s looking forward to playing on the road.
“I’ve really had to be patient this first month of the season,” he said. “I knew my time would come. I’m real excited.”
