EAST LANSING – After suffering its first loss of the season against top-ranked Kansas in the Champions Classic, Michigan State returned home to get right.
It almost went horribly wrong as Bowling Green walked into the Breslin Center and dominated early. The Falcons led by as many as 12 in the first half and were still in front before the Spartans closed on an 18-0 run for an 86-72 victory last year.
“I definitely remember the game,” point guard Jeremy Fears said after practice on Tuesday. “They made some tough shots, they started out early and I think that was on our part. We let them get a feel and get a lot of confidence going too and we were crawling from behind the whole game.”
Michigan State will get another crack at their MAC counterparts when it hosts Bowling Green on Thursday (7 p.m., BTN+) in its exhibition opener. It won’t officially count but will still be the first time a new-look lineup takes the floor in a competitive matchup following a nearly seven-month offseason.
“It’s a long time for these guys, in fairness to them,” coach Tom Izzo said. “Coaches can handle it but, players, I understand why they get a little sick of playing each other so I think they’re excited to play Thursday, I know I am.”
Izzo is heading into his 31st year leading the Spartans and coming off a season in which he passed Bob Knight for the most career Big Ten wins. He also guided a team that opened the season unranked to a conference title by three games in a 30-victory season that ended in the Elite Eight.
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Michigan State will look a lot different on Thursday after losing seven scholarship players from last season, including its top three scorers. Four experienced veterans return in Fears, wing Coen Carr and bigs Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper.
The Spartans added four transfers – guards Trey Fort (Samford), Divine Ugochukwu (Miami) and Denham Wojcik (Harvard) to go with wing Kaleb Glenn (Florida Atlantic), although Glenn will miss the season due to a knee injury. There are also a pair of four-star freshmen forwards in Cam Ward and Jordan Scott.
“I don’t know who’s got what, that’s going to be determined in the next couple weeks, a lot of work to do,” Izzo said. “We’re excited to go and I think our guys showed it today and practiced pretty good.”
Bowling Green is the first of two exhibitions Michigan State will play before opening the season against Colgate on Nov. 3. The second will be at UConn on Tuesday and the Spartans will have a much better feel for what the Huskies present off the jump.
The Falcons have 17 players on the roster this season and 10 of them are new to the program, including former Division II and JUCO players. Michigan State won’t have to worry about big man Marcus Johnson, who scored a game-high 23 at the Breslin last year while impressing Izzo, because he’s now at Kansas State.
“This is another thing that I said I’m going to do next year is whoever I scrimmage, I’m going to see if we can exchange some tape of our practices because it’s so ridiculous that we have so many new guys,” Izzo said. “Not their fault, but harder for (the media) to get something out of me (about the matchup). We’re watching tape of junior college games, we’re watching tape of two or three different teams on one guy, we’re watching EYBL tape. That’s the part that’s a little confusing.”
Unlike a year ago when Michigan State tested a new roster by playing three games during a 10-day trip to Spain, all the offseason work has been internal competition on the practice floor. Lining up against anyone new is welcomed.
“We’ve been competing against each other all summer so just being able to finally play with each other is great,” Fears said. “I think it helps our conditioning and our fatigue and everything just because we haven’t had no subs, so it’s like 5 vs. 5 with no subs.”
Strength in numbers was the driving force for the Spartans last season and Izzo expects to go deep again from the start with 11 or 12 guys getting on the floor Thursday. As last season showed, a lot can change but the starting five looks pretty set for now minus one spot.
Fears is back for his second season running the point while Carr, Kohler and Cooper should make up the front court. Joining Fears in the backcourt is the question with sophomore Kur Teng, who played sparingly last year, competing with Fort to start at shooting guard. Izzo has been pushing both to step up on the defensive end and Teng may have the early edge.
“We’ve got to get better, all of them,” Izzo said. “Every one of them has to improve in that area. I think we’re shooting the ball better, I think our bigs are playing a lot better, Jeremy has had a heck of a run and Coen has become really a playmaker along with everything else he does.
“The biggest key will be will we be able to defend and then if you’re giving up dribble penetration – which at times our wing guards do – then it’s harder to rebound. That’s going to be my number one thing for this week.”
Teng and forward Jesse McCulloch, who took a redshirt while not playing as a true freshman last season, are expected to take on much larger roles. The Spartans will also get to see how their freshmen fit with the lineup.
“I’ve been really impressed with Cam.” Izzo said. “He’s Antonio Smith but better skills than (Smith) had at the same age. He’s tougher than nails, he’s very smart, he’s going to help us. And then Jordan, who we thought would be a year away but – it will be interesting when the lights go on. When the lights go on it’s different, but I think this kid is going to play good and he’ll get his chance to play Thursday.”
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