AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — To start the game, No. 5 MSU looked as slow and sluggish as the traffic outside the arena. One of those slow drivers for MSU was senior guard Keith Appling, who finished the first half with more turnovers (four) than points (three).
But once the second half started, the battered and bruised Appling put the pedal to the metal and scored 18 second half points to lead MSU past Oakland, 67-63. Head coach Tom Izzo complimented Appling for carrying the team despite twisting his ankle during the game to go along with his bruised hip and sprained wrist he was already playing with.
“What he did at the end of today, he just sucked it up,” Izzo said. “I told him, ‘you got to go with it, you got to bring us,’ and he did.”
As for the pain, Appling said after the game his hip was “a little sore,” but credited medicine for his sprained wrist that kept him out of a few practices this week.
“I took some Ibuprofen to help ease the pain a little bit,” Appling said. “It’s OK right now, but I’m pretty sure when I wake up tomorrow morning it’s going to be sore a little bit.”
Ellis on the rise
Before MSU’s game against Oakland, freshman guard Alvin Ellis III was averaging just six minutes of playing time per game.
However, Ellis saw that number more than tripled, as he saw himself on the court for 19 minutes against the Grizzlies. He made the most of his time on the court, producing two steals and one block as well as locking down OU guard Travis Bader down the stretch in the second half. Izzo mentioned after the game how relieved he was to have the young guard as a viable option after guards Travis Trice and Denzel Valentine shot a combined two-of-15 from the field.
“Alvin Ellis was a bright spot, because we had a couple other guards that were bad spots,” Izzo said. “But Alvin did what we tell (Dawson) to do all the time, to play with energy.”
Ellis’ energy ended up being a crucial trait down the stretch for the Spartans, as he stuck on Bader in the expiring minutes of the game. With help from Dawson, the duo switched on-and-off guarding Oakland’s main shooter and held him to one-of-five shooting in the final five minutes of the game. The defense not only was key to MSU’s finish, but it was also a main reason Ellis got going on the court.
“I was really comfortable,” Ellis said of his increased minutes. “It started on D, when I was getting stops and deflections and stuff like that. I was feeling really comfortable getting out on the breaks and getting the ball.”
However, it wasn’t all smiles for Ellis, as he committed three turnovers in the game, including one with just over a minute in the game that led to an Oakland bucket. Nonetheless, Izzo still saw a look into his freshman’s bright future during his first game with a surplus of minutes in place of injured sophomore guard Gary Harris.
“We said if there’s one thing we’ll get out of missing Gary Harris, somebody else maybe will step up,” Izzo said. “Alvin Ellis can guard, he can run and he’s a better athlete and he’s very, very smart.
“He’s going to be a good player here as his shot continues to get better and he quits turning the ball over.”
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