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 Tuesdays practice. However, both are expected to start in Fridays Sweet Sixteen matchup against Gonzaga.
Keeping a humorous tone, head coach Tom Izzo followed the announcement with, everybody else is 100 percent. Thats the good news.
Hutsons injury occurred Sunday in No. 1-seed MSUs 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 Hutsons past shoulder sprains.
It popped out a little bit, Izzo said. Its in the back, which is actually good news because he can get his arms above his head and hes shooting pretty good.
Hutson returned to Sundays 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 its 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 hes hoping its 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.
Theres no sense in going a week without something happening to somebody, Izzo said. As long as weve been winning that way were going to stay true to form.
Confused fan?
Former MSU head coach Jud Heathcote (1976-95) hasnt missed an MSU NCAA Tournament game since retiring.
However, no previous game has troubled Heathcote more than MSUs Sweet Sixteen matchup with Gonzaga.
Perhaps because he lives in Spokane, Wash., just down the road from Gonzaga University.
Weve had season tickets here for six years, he said of Gonzaga. Weve become friends of the program.
Heathcote said hed like to see both teams win, but added hell be pulling for MSU.
Weve been very, very close to the Gonzaga program, he said. But in all honesty weve been closer to the program at Michigan State.
Izzo joked about Heathcote wearing a green shirt with blue underwear at Tuesdays press conference. However, he doesnt doubt where Heathcotes heart is.
I know where Juds head and heart is, he said. Thats 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.
Hes got a flare for the game where hes kind of unorthodox. Im 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.