Although final exams come every year, dealing with them this past week was a much different story for MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo.
Most years, he said, almost no one had exams Thursday or Friday. This year, he said players combined to have eight exams Thursday and 11 on Friday, including junior guard Kalin Lucas, who had two Friday.
That, combined with nine days between games, led to a sluggish performance Saturday afternoon at Breslin Center, but MSU’s play was enough to defeat IPFW 80-58.
“If anybody ever tries to put athletes in a position where they’re treated like a normal student, I just want to tell you, you’re insane,” Izzo said. “Our guys went through a lot this week. … It was nerve-wracking for me.”
Izzo said the team practiced sparingly the final two days after getting three practices in earlier in the week.
“All in all, I just felt we looked tired,” Izzo said. “And I understand why and it’s kind of disappointing.”
Senior forward Raymar Morgan, who was on point with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes, said the blame can’t really be placed on exams for the team looking tired.
“(But) I think it did play a little part,” he said. “A lot of guys had exams on Friday, two to three exams, and that’s tough. But we still have to come out and compete.”
The lack of energy showed itself at different points during the game. At one point in the first half, IPFW was outrebounding MSU and late in the half, MSU allowed the Mastodons to pull within seven points with a 3-point shooting barrage.
“We got that game out of our system, which is good so we don’t have that game against Texas,” sophomore forward Draymond Green said.
Thinking Fife
IPFW head coach Dane Fife always has been a favorite of Izzo. Izzo recruited Fife to play for him and has been a big help in his career, Fife said.
“He’s probably been the person who’s been the most influential, in terms of what I do as a coach,” Fife said. “When I first decided I wanted to be a college coach, coach Izzo met with me in his office. He’s been willing to call recruits for us and you just don’t see that very much.”
Izzo has scheduled Fife’s squad the last five seasons, including playing them in Ft. Wayne, Ind., last season.
“He’s a guy that, anytime he’s out of a job, I’ll help him to get one or be looking to hire him,” Izzo said. “I think he does a great job for them.”
Odds and ends
Freshman center Garrick Sherman looked good in limited time Saturday, scoring a career-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in eight minutes.
Senior guard Isaiah Dahlman had an interesting night, scoring on a reverse layup and then going crashing into a courtside photographer. He stayed down for a few seconds and got up holding the back of his head, which was bleeding. He went to the locker room but later returned.
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