When the Spartans are struggling, one medicine always seems to provide the cure - Breslin Center.
It's no secret MSU has struggled on the road this year (1-6 in the Big Ten and 3-9 overall). But playing in front of the 14,759 home fans, including the boisterous Izzone has been the answer to the road woes.
Aside from one home blemish - an 81-76 defeat to Toledo on Dec. 30 - MSU (14-10 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) has been unstoppable at home. The Spartans are a perfect 11-0 at Breslin Center, including a 5-0 mark in conference play. That includes wins over then-No. 19 Indiana and then-No. 13 Illinois in back-to-back contests.
Regardless, those victories don't erase the fact MSU was torn to shreds by Illinois three days ago.
"We've got Syracuse coming up and we've just got to focus on that," sophomore guard Chris Hill said following the 70-40 loss.
MSU knows this game won't be a cakewalk. No. 15 Syracuse (18-4) is leading the Big East, ahead of No. 12 Notre Dame (20-5) and No. 9 Pittsburgh (18-4).
The Orangemen, winners of five of their last six games, are led by freshman Carmelo Anthony who averages just under a double-double per game (21.7 points and 9.7 rebounds). The 6-foot-8 forward has scored in double figures each game this season, topping the 20-point plateau in Syracuse's last five contests.
Helping Anthony on the offensive attack is Hakim Warrick (15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game) and Gerry McNamara (14.3 points and 5 assists per game).
The last time MSU and Syracuse met, the Orangemen knocked the Spartans out of last year's preseason NIT with a 69-58 win.
The MSU-Syracuse game will be the last out-of-conference contest for the Big Ten and the results of the first 127 are encouraging to the conference. The league has combined for an 89-38 mark, a .701 winning percentage.
Entering the week, the Big Ten had defeated eight ranked nonconference foes, trailing only the Southeastern Conference (12).
Illinois' 70-40 drubbing of MSU on Tuesday has all but negated head coach Tom Izzo's hopes of re-capturing the Big Ten crown.
The loss dropped the Spartans to a 6-6 record in the Big Ten and a tie for fifth place with Indiana in the conference standings.
Despite playing four of the remaining five games at Breslin, Izzo said improving his team going into postseason play was the crux of his concerns.
"It does seem obvious," he said. "The league race, we're probably out of now. I can't worry about that, I've got to worry about this team."
MSU won its last five games of the conference schedule last year, finishing just one game out of sharing the conference crown with a 10-6 record.
Sophomore guard Chris Hill was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 11 Second Team on Wednesday, joining Minnesota's Rick Rickert as the only other Big Ten player on the second-team roster.
Rather than honor players by conference, the NABC separates players by district. District 11 includes players from Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Illinois' Brian Cook, U-M's LaVell Blanchard and Wisconsin's Kirk Penney represent the Big Ten on the first team.
Despite a recent decline in offensive production, Hill ranks second in the conference in 3-point field goals made (65), third in steals (1.75 per game), and eighth in assists (3.92). His 13.8 points per game leads the Spartan team and is 13th among Big Ten players.
U-M just refuses to go away. Following Wednesday's resounding 78-67 win over No. 24 Purdue at Mackey Arena, U-M (9-3 Big Ten) sits alone atop the Big Ten standings for the second time this season.
Freshman standout guard Daniel Horton continued his campaign for Big Ten Freshman of the Year by pouring in a career-high 31 points, and senior Blanchard added 20.
