Defense will be the name of the game Wednesday for the No. 11 MSU men's basketball team as the Spartans look to shut down Minnesota's dynamic duo of center Jeff Hagen and guard Vincent Grier.
Grier has been hurting teams with his penetration into the lane, which the Spartans were able to stop in the teams' Jan. 22 meeting in Minnesota, as Grier was held to only 10 points in 38 minutes.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo said he plans to stop the explosive Grier "with everybody at this table," referring to the dozen beat writers seated alongside him during Monday's press conference.
Even with that type of manpower, it might still be difficult to stop Grier, who was the Big Ten Player of the Week last week for running over Wisconsin for 32 points in an upset Golden Gophers' victory. His dribble drive is one of the most dominating in the country.
"I've never seen a guy do it as well as he's doing it now," Izzo said. "I thought he was good before, but in the Wisconsin game, they couldn't guard him with two fish nets. It was unbelievable."
Izzo said a key to the game, and shutting down Grier, will be the transition defense after Minnesota picks up a defensive rebound.
As for Hagen, the big center picked up 16 points and six rebounds on one good leg in the previous matchup between the teams. Izzo called what Hagen did "a heroic deal," after the game.
Now with two good legs, Hagen will look to do to the Spartans what Ohio State center Terence Dials did last Wednesday with 22 points.
Izzo wants the team to do a better job against Hagen than last time.
"We're going to look at digging and doubling, and we will have that in our package this time," Izzo said. "We're not just going to sit there and let him score like we've done in the past."
Izzo expects to give sophomore center Drew Naymick, who has been effective in the past against bigger centers, more minutes.
"Naymick has done a good job with his size against some of these big guys," Izzo said. "He did a pretty good job against Dials, and he may see a little more time."
If it ain't broke...
Izzo confirmed freshman Drew Neitzel will once again start at point guard on Wednesday against Minnesota.
Chris Hill played more minutes than Neitzel against Michigan on Saturday, picking up 25 while Neitzel played only 15.
It will mark the fourth start of Neitzel's young career.
"I still, in a lot of ways, think I may end up going back to it, but I'm not going to do it right now," Izzo said.
