Jeremy Warnemuende
For every basketball team, there typically is one key stat or trend that indicates whether a game is going to end in a win or loss. It can be 3-point shooting, rebounding or the play of a star player.
When it comes to the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team, that indicator appears to be the play of the Spartans’ newcomers this season — particularly freshmen guards Branden Dawson, Brandan Kearney, Travis Trice and senior guard Brandon Wood.
In two straight road losses last week, the previously mentioned group struggled as a whole. Whether it was finding themselves overwhelmed by the big moment or uncomfortable playing in a foreign arena, the freshmen trio and Wood — a Valparaiso transfer — did not perform.
Their return to East Lansing on Saturday against Purdue was an entirely different story. Dawson led the Spartans in scoring and combined with Kearney, Trice and Wood to score 30 points, grab six rebounds and dish out four assists.
Not coincidentally, MSU ran away with an 83-58 win to climb into a tie with No. 19 Michigan and No. 6 Ohio State atop the Big Ten standings. Granted, the Boilermakers weren’t at their best Saturday after travel difficulties forced them to leave West Lafayette, Ind., on a bus at 5 a.m. the day of the game.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the Spartans’ three freshmen guards and one-year transfer played well, and the Spartans won.
Because while senior forward Draymond Green and sophomore guard Keith Appling are MSU’s best players, the Spartans have gone as their newcomers have gone all season long. And head coach Tom Izzo knows it.
During his postgame press conference Saturday, Izzo said Dawson, Trice, Kearney and Wood are “of the utmost importance” to his team’s future success. Adding MSU’s two redshirt freshmen — guard Russell Byrd and forward Alex Gauna — to the mix, Izzo said all of his newcomers will be factors down the stretch.
“They’re going to play — not necessarily a lot of minutes — but they’re going to play,” Izzo said. “They’re going to have to get better, and as the teams get more physical in this league, they’ve got to realize you have to answer the bell.”
They answered the bell Saturday. It wasn’t the first time they played well, but after looking like deer caught in the headlights for much of the previous two games, it was as vital as any game this season for the Spartan newcomers.
Not only was it important for their confidence, but it also was important for the rest of the team’s confidence in them. Green said the more he sees out of the young players, the more he trusts them on the floor.
And although Purdue might not be the best team in the Big Ten, Green said Saturday was an important step toward the rest of the season.
“(Saturday) was a win we needed to get,” Green said. “And for guys to come out and step up — especially the young guys — that was big for us.”
Jeremy Warnemuende is a State News men’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at warnemu3@msu.edu.
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