The MSU men's basketball team will be heading into some unusual territory Thursday.
The No. 9 Spartans are hopping on a plane to Alaska where they will compete in the Great Alaska Shootout beginning with a contest against Montana at midnight.
Not only are the Spartans (1-0) looking to pick up victories, head coach Tom Izzo said the four days his team will spend together will help bond the team - something he feels is a necessity for a championship squad.
"I think this is the time that we need to get some of our camaraderie together and the four or five days we're up there will be good for our team," Izzo said. "Not just playing wise, but also them getting to know each other."
Izzo mentioned he was looking for the team to go dog sledding. The only problem - Alaska has no snow at the moment. His backup plans include glacier viewing and anything else he can think of.
Senior forward Al Anagonye laughed at the idea of dog sledding, but said it would be a great bonding experience.
"Maybe if we have time to do that, but we've got a mission to accomplish up here first," Anagonye said. "The number one thing right now is to get that trophy from up there."
Anagonye and the rest of the Spartans begin their mission against the Montana Grizzlies. The Grizzlies (0-1) played a late game against Denver on Tuesday night, and came up short in its first contest against Northern Iowa 77-71 on Nov. 22.
"We definitely know they're a team you can't sleep on," Anagonye said.
"They got guys that can shoot it outside. They got two low post guys that can stick it inside. So that combination can give anyone in the country problems."
One of the guys that launches three pointers is guard David Bell. The 6-foot-1 guard dropped 26 points in the Grizzlies loss.
He's the one player Izzo said the Spartans need to focus on to avoid an upset.
"David Bell is definitely their best player," Izzo said. "He's averaging 26 a game and I think he took 15 threes in one game. That's always a bit of a worry because I don't think there's any question we'll be favored in the game and one of the ways of upsets is hitting a lot of threes."
But to counter the barrage, the Spartans are looking to use some of their strengths - depth.
"I like to play 10 guys and run more and I'd like to run other teams down," Izzo said. "One of those will be a team like Montana that doesn't have that much depth.
"There's two or three teams in this thing that don't have much depth, and we're hoping to use that to our advantage."
MSU's possible semi-final opponents include Villanova (1-1) and Loyola Marymount (2-0). If the Spartans reach the championship game, which they are projected to do, they would face either Oklahoma State (1-0), Alaska Anchorage (1-1), College of Charleston (2-0) or Wyoming (1-0).
History is on the Spartans side. MSU appeared in the tournament in the 1989-90 season, taking home the title.
MSU finished that season with a 28-6 mark and went on to win the Big Ten Championship with a 15-3 conference record.
The Spartans said their eyes are set on doing one thing consistently this year - winning championships. And senior forward Adam Ballinger wasn't bashful when asked if the Spartans were expecting anything less.
"It's simple, we plan on winning," he said.
