Some people had a bad feeling about how the Spartans would respond to this game prior to the showdown on Thursday night. I attended the Pistons game on Wednesday night with a customer who is a MSU grad and a big Sparty hoop fan and he admitted that he was concerned about this game and did not have a good feeling about it. It turns out Ben was right.
Right now Michigan State is spiraling and circling the drain after losing to rival Michigan at the Breslin Center 61-57. With the loss the Spartans fall to 12-8 on the year and will fall out of the top 25 and quite possibly be out for the remainder of the year . Michigan, with a record of 12-9, were led by Zack Novak's 19 points and a Stu Douglas 3 pointer with 20 seconds to go to was the dagger to seal the fate for the Spartans. Michigan, which was coming off a 6 game losing skid, won for the first time in the Breslin Center since 1997 and that my friends is a long time. They out rebounded the Spartans and easily outshot them from the 3 point land. Michigan shot close to 50% while MSU shot only 26% from beyond the arc. Kalin Lucas had a nice game with 27 and Durrell Summers played well (finally) pitching in 13 with 10 rebounds. This Spartan team is in trouble and it could be greater trouble than dismissed player Kory Lucious is in. Speaking of, no one is speaking. This is the tightest kept secret of a dismissal that I have known. On the no one seems to know theme, this rates up there with where is Hoffa buried and where is Obama's birth certificate and college transcripts.
BYU (#9), 20-1 defeated previously undefeated San Diego State (#4), 20-1, the other night and National Player of the Year consideration candidate, Jimmer Fredette, showed a national viewing audience how good he is. He dropped 43 in this one including 10-11 from the free throw line and 5-8 from long range. This kid has a beautiful stroke. Sophomore Kawhi Leonard had a great game for SDSU hitting for 22 while contributing 15 rebounds. This game was closer than the score indicated as BYU pulled away in the end for a 71-58 victory. This should be a good rematch when they meet again on Feb 26 in San Diego.
Oakland University continues with its run and their high powered offense is in full gear. They scored 88 in a 88-85 win at home over Oral Roberts to stay unbeaten in the Summit league. They had 3 players score 20 or more in the win showing the balance they possess this year on the offensive side of the court. Hudson lead with 22, Hamilton 21 and Benson 20. Sharp shooter Travis Bader hit for 15 while going 4-5 from the 3 area. In January he is 62% (23-37) from behind the arc, that is hot ........as hot as the Oakland team is right now.
College Upsets:
#8 Villanova loses to Providence on Wednesday 83-68.
#9 Syracuse gets crushed at home against Seton Hall on Tuesday 90-68
#20 Illinois loses to Indiana on Thursday 52-49 - First time in 19 games that Indiana has beaten a ranked team
NBA - You don't see me comment much on NBA because I just don't have the same interest as high school and college. However I went to the Pistons - Nuggets game on Wednesday and I was reminded why I have only been to two games this year. The NBA is difficult to watch. Way too much standing around, one on one basketball and lack of hustle for me. It was not and unusually is not exciting until the 4th quarter when it seems to mean something to these players and they start playing hard. I want to see this every quarter not just the fourth. The Pistons made a run of it late in the fourth quarter and actually got it to a 2 point margin before the Nuggets won 109-100.
Is it just me or does anyone else like to see the Heat lose like I do. They lost again to the Knicks last night for their 5th loss in their last 6 games. Lets just say I was happy with that outcome and the Heat's performance of late. I realize they have not played with the Holy Trinity (James, Wade, Bosh) in all these games but they had LeBron and Wade (still having migraines) in the game.
HIGH SCHOOL
Avondale beats Stoney Creek by 20, 70-50 but the real story line is that the dynamic duo did not combine for 40. Tony Harris had 17 but Sugar Ray Tillman only had 11 and that's 28 combined. They must have been ill because this hasn't happened in over 6 games.
Rochester (5-1 league) wins a big league game over Hazel Park (4-1 league) 68-57 as Taylor Perry scores 32. Taylor must have read my negative press and decided to show me that I am clueless on evaluation. He has scored 32, 27 & 22 in his last 3 games and appears to be hitting that AAU summer performance level stride. Good for him, go Taylor and go Falcons.
UPSETS
Troy loses to Lake Orion.......bad.........66-47 and James Young does not hit double digits
Warren DeLaSalle loses to UD Jesuit on Tuesday and loses their top player to injury
Detroit Douglass loses to Detroit Denby - in OT by 83-78 - not that big of an upset as Denby is now 10-2.
Ferndale - with Baker and Harvey this team will be climbing in the rankings real soon.
Look for Player rankings coming soon
Your Basketball SNOB
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