Thursday, March 28, 2024

Richardson, Hutson set to play despite problems

March 21, 2001

The Spartans continue to do battle with themselves as injuries and sickness persist to plague MSU.

Senior forward Andre Hutson (right shoulder injury) and sophomore guard Jason Richardson (flu) both sat out Tuesday’s practice. However, both are expected to start in Friday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup against Gonzaga.

Keeping a humorous tone, head coach Tom Izzo followed the announcement with, “everybody else is 100 percent. That’s the good news.”

Hutson’s injury occurred Sunday in No. 1-seed MSU’s second-round NCAA Tournament win over No. 9-seed Fresno State.

It was originally called a light sprain, but Izzo reported Tuesday that the shoulder became slightly dislocated, making the injury different from Hutson’s past shoulder sprains.

“It popped out a little bit,” Izzo said. “It’s in the back, which is actually good news because he can get his arms above his head and he’s shooting pretty good.”

Hutson returned to Sunday’s game against the Bulldogs with a shoulder harness to finish with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Izzo said he hopes to see Hutson return to practice today, but added it’s day-to-day.

“The other bad news we got early in the morning is Jason Richardson came down with the flu,” he said. “They took him to the hospital (Monday) night because he was a little dehydrated.”

Izzo said he’s hoping it’s a 24-hour flu, but added Richardson is also day-to-day.

Richardson is averaging 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament.

“There’s no sense in going a week without something happening to somebody,” Izzo said. “As long as we’ve been winning that way we’re going to stay true to form.”

Confused fan?

Former MSU head coach Jud Heathcote (1976-95) hasn’t missed an MSU NCAA Tournament game since retiring.

However, no previous game has troubled Heathcote more than MSU’s Sweet Sixteen matchup with Gonzaga.

Perhaps because he lives in Spokane, Wash., just down the road from Gonzaga University.

“We’ve had season tickets here for six years,” he said of Gonzaga. “We’ve become friends of the program.”

Heathcote said he’d like to see both teams win, but added he’ll be pulling for MSU.

“We’ve been very, very close to the Gonzaga program,” he said. “But in all honesty we’ve been closer to the program at Michigan State.”

Izzo joked about Heathcote wearing a green shirt with blue underwear at Tuesday’s press conference. However, he doesn’t doubt where Heathcote’s heart is.

“I know where Jud’s head and heart is,” he said. “That’s all that matters to me.”

Dickau, Skiles?

Gonzaga junior guard Dan Dickau is averaging 24.5 points and five assists per game in the NCAA Tournament, drawing comparison to Spartan great Scott Skiles.

“There is not a lot of guys that are good enough to read shot and read pass at the same time,” Izzo said. “I compare him a little to Scott Skiles.

“He’s got a flare for the game where he’s kind of unorthodox. I’m very impressed with the kid. For us around here Skiles is probably the best, because he can do both.”

During the regular season, Dickau averaged 18.3 points and displayed the ability to shoot from anywhere on the court with a 47.2 three-point field goal percentage.

Izzo said Dickau is a multi-dimensional player who knows the game well enough to make adjustments as the game progresses. He said the Spartans will use several defenders on Dickau.

“He has some quickness, and being able to go right and left gives him one more step on the opponent,” Izzo said.

“We will be switching.”

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