The Spartan men’s basketball team begins a crucial five-day span tonight, when it hosts Minnesota.
MSU (15-10 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) plays three games against the Big Ten’s best - beginning with surprising fifth-place Minnesota (14-9, 7-5) at 7 p.m.
Spartan head coach Tom Izzo said the upcoming week will play a major role in determining MSU’s NCAA Tournament fate.
“It’s no question that this week will pretty much determine our NCAA Tournament future,” Izzo said. “The only way I’ll feel secure is if we win the rest of our games.”
The Golden Gophers looked like a NCAA Tournament lock before dropping their last two outings.
Izzo said having Minnesota on MSU’s home floor makes the contest even more important.
“The Minnesota game is a huge game, because it’s a home game,” Izzo said. “It’s against a quality opponent and a team a week ago that was playing as well as anyone in the league before they fell on their two tough losses.”
The two teams are in similar positions with tournament selection a few weeks away.
“We’re fighting for our lives, and searching for some answers and some confidence,” Minnesota head coach Dan Monson said.
The Gophers got their first Big Ten win of the season Jan. 5, with a 70-67 win over the Spartans in Minneapolis. The win acted as the catalyst for a three-game winning streak, Monson said.
“For us to be able to play and win a game like that was a huge boost for our confidence level, and it’s given us a team with a mind frame that we can play with anyone in this league,” he said. “That game was very important for us at that point in the season, as this game has become after our two losses in a row.”
In the first meeting, MSU sophomore guard Marcus Taylor and junior forward Adam Ballinger didn’t play due to injuries.
The return of MSU’s first and third leading scorers present the Gophers with a different Spartan team.
“We’re going to send a different look at those guys with me and Adam back in the lineup,” Taylor said. “Hopefully we can come in and provide a spark in the first five minutes and break their confidence.”
The Gophers have gotten solid production from a variety of sources, but constantly look to their big men for scoring, Izzo said.
“It’s a different kind of team that has tremendous size and very good depth, and they’re very well coached,” Izzo said.
Forwards Rick Rickert and Dusty Rychart lead the Gopher offense with 14.6 and 13.3 points per game, respectively.
Center Jerry Holman rounds out the frontcourt with 9.1 points a night.
Rickert is the Big Ten’s top-scoring freshman, scoring from the inside and the perimeter. Rychart is one of the conference’s top offensive rebounders and provides senior leadership. Holman led the Gophers with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting in their win over the Spartans.
The three combined to score 40 of the Gophers’ 70 points in the last meeting.
But Taylor said regardless of who scores, the Spartans desperately need to find a way to win with time running out in their season.
“Our lives are on the line basically,” Taylor said. “It’s do or die right now.”
