At the end of the MSU men’s basketball game against Oakland on Saturday, junior center Goran Suton had 20.
Not 20 points. Not 20 minutes played. Not even a size 20 shoe.
Suton grabs 20 rebounds as Spartans edge Grizzlies
Freshman guard Chris Allen attempts a field goal during the MSU vs. Oakland game Saturday. Allen contributed eight points to the 75-71 Spartan victory.
But 20 rebounds — a feat no Spartan has accomplished since Kevin Willis in 1983. Eleven of the 20 rebounds came on the offensive end.
Suton’s 15 points and career-high 20 rebounds helped MSU (4-1) sneak past the Golden Grizzlies (2-3), 75-71, in front of a sold-out crowd at Breslin Center.
Sophomore forward Raymar Morgan had a game-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with his six rebounds. Oakland forward Derick Nelson paced the Grizzlies with 19 points and nine rebounds.
The Spartans pulled down 41 rebounds to Oakland’s 33, and in MSU’s four wins, the Spartans have outrebounded their opponents. In seven contests, the Grizzlies have never defeated the Spartans.
“We emphasized rebounding, especially after that loss to UCLA,” Suton said. “They went hard to the boards and you’ve got to learn something when you lose to your opponents.”
Inconsistency was a noticeable trait in the team’s play, MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
“Our goals in the rebounding were good, but we gave up 20 offensive rebounds still,” Izzo said. “Your guess is as good as mine as to how Goran Suton can get 20 rebounds one night and zero (points) the night before. I think that’s the inconsistency I’m talking about.”
In the first half, there were 10 lead changes as the game stayed neck and neck until Oakland went up 25-18 with just under six minutes to play.
Soon after, the Spartans went on a 15-2 run, which senior guard Drew Neitzel started with a momentum-changing 3-pointer. MSU led 33-27 at the break. MSU never led by more than nine points in the second half, but didn’t surrender the lead.
The Grizzlies’ attempt to come back via 3-pointers failed them, as they shot 6-for-27 from beyond the arc.
“I am not surprised by the amount of threes we took and I’m not upset in any way, shape or form at the shots we took,” Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said.
Neitzel secured the victory in the closing 33 seconds on 3-of-4 free-throw shooting.
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The Spartans made 23 of 32 free throws, an aspect of the game that they typically thrive on.
Izzo’s squad has made more free throws this season than all of their opponents’ attempts combined.
Another thing remaining consistent within MSU’s first five games is the amount of times the Spartans have coughed up the ball.
MSU turned the rock over 16 times Saturday. The Spartans now average 16.2 turnovers per game — a fact Izzo recognizes and continues to have his team work on.
“If you look at the negatives, it would be the number of turnovers,” he said. “I still thought we made some ridiculous turnovers.”
The Spartans shot just better than 45 percent in the game, with 24 second-chance points.
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Neitzel, who was still battling a stomach flu, was held to 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting in 29 minutes. He dished out six assists with one turnover.
“I think you might want to ask Drew Neitzel what he thinks of Johnathon Jones,” Kampe said. “I have to believe he guarded Neitzel probably as well as Neitzel can be guarded.”
MSU squares off against North Carolina State at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Breslin Center in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
The Spartans are the only Big Ten team with a winning record (4-3) in the challenge’s eight-year history.
The ACC has never lost to the Big Ten.
