TONIGHT'S HOOPS GAME
What: MSU men's basketball (7-2) vs. IPFW (3-5)
Where: Breslin Center
When: 7 p.m.
NOTES:
• MSU leads the Big Ten with a plus-11.4 rebounding margin. MSU hasn't finished a season with that large of a rebounding margin since 2001.
• The Spartans outscored IPFW in the paint, 42-12, when the teams met last season. MSU won that game, 84-73.
• IPFW's Dane Fife is the youngest men's basketball head coach in Division I. He runs his own blog at http://www.coachfife.com.
• The Mastodons have nine players averaging more than 13 minutes a game, but only one averaging more than 10 points a game (forward DeWitt Scott, 11.8).
• On Nov. 21, IPFW defeated Western Illinois in five overtimes — two periods short of the NCAA record.
KEY STAT: Almost half — 43 percent — of IPFW's shots this season have come from 3-point range (214-of-496). Only 28 percent of MSU's shots have come from behind the arc.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Freshman guard Isaiah Dahlman. He has yet to play more than 16 minutes in a game this season, but has been productive when on the floor. With starting freshman forward Raymar Morgan out due to a stress fracture in his shin, Dahlman should see extended minutes.
PROJECTED IPFW STARTING LINEUP:
G - Jakari Johnson (6-4, 171, So.)
G - Chris Perkins (6-2, 190, Jr.)
F - DeWitt Scott (6-6, 190, Jr.)
F - Justin Hawkins (6-6, 200, Sr.)
F - Tyler Best (6-9, 240, Sr.)
