Before I get the recap going, I want to take a moment to extend a big congratulations to TOC writer Robbie Bettelon on getting married this past weekend. No more Bobby the Bachelor. He will be back soon to his recap duties, and we can expect much more mature writing moving forward from him. Congrats, Robbie!
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The beginning of the Michigan State Spartans Basketball season came with some concerning news. Big man Jesse McCulloch was not going to be playing in the opener due to a head injury sustained either in practice or during the pregame, I did not quite catch the announcement. But we did see McCulloch with his teammates on the bench, so that is probably a good sign. The starting five was Jeremy Fears, Jasiah Jervis, Jordan Scott, Coen Carr, and Anton Bonke. Tom Izzo was going with a small ball lineup.
The game started with some trouble with the jump ball, but the referees decided to just give the ball to the Spartans. On our first possession, Fears passed the ball to Bonke in the low post. Bonke tried to spin baseline and take it to the rim, but he lost the ball of his leg for a turnover. After a stop on the other end, Fears swished a triple from the top of the key for the first points of the season. Next time up, Fears hit Carr with a lob from across the lane for Carr's first dunk. And then Scott got in on the fun with a three-pointer from the sideline. Next time down, Bonke tried to get in on the three-party, but he missed badly. Tom Izzo pulled Bonke out for a possession to try to calm his nerves. When he came back at the next whistle, he scored his first points on a layup. The Spartans led 10-6 at the first break in the action.
Tom Izzo went to the bench after the commercial. Carlos Medlock got things started with a triple, and Kur Teng splashed one of his own on the next trip down. Carr hit his 2nd bucket, a jumper. After that, it was a whole bunch of Medlock as he scored the next 6 points including an and-1 on a drive, though he missed the FT. And just to show he can do more than score, he hit Cam Ward for an alley-oop on a fast break for a 26-12 Spartan lead at the 2nd TV timeout.
In the third segment, MSU hit a few FTs to add a few more points to their total, one from Jasiah Jervis for his first points for the Green & White. Kaleb Glenn got his first two points as a Spartan shortly after on a layup. Bonke got his 2nd bucket on a put-back, and then Glenn got another layup. On defense, we began to see Bonke settling in and causing disruption in the paint, but some of that may have to do with the massive height advantage he had over any of the Bobcats players. MSU led 35-14 at commercial #3.
The scoring slowed down after the under-8. Kur Teng hit another triple early in this section of play. Ethan Taylor hit a FT for his first career points after missing two earlier tries. It was 39-18 at the under-4.
The scoring resumed for the final stretch before halftime with MSU adding another 13 points to their total. Ward hit a couple from the line. Bonke had another offensive rebound putback. Fears hit a jumper and Carr got to the line when he was fouled trying to run down an offensive rebound on the next trip, and he would make his two freebies. In the final minute of the first half, Jervis connected from downtown after Fears kicked it out to him on a drive, and Fears called his own number on the last possession with a scoop layup just before the buzzer. MSU went to the locker rooms up 52-24. Avent got some playing time in the last segment with the big lead, and with McCulloch not playing, but he would end up being the only Spartan not getting in the scoring column. Fears and Medlock were the leading scorers at halftime with 9 each. Anton Bonke had 9 rebounds to lead that statistic.
With the teams switching ends in the 2nd half, the Bobcats came out and suddenly found their scoring touch. The visitors outscored the Spartans 12-4 in the first four minutes of action. Only Carr scored for MSU, first with a FT and then with a three-pointer. He was the first Spartan in double-digits. The lead was down to 56-36 at the under-16.
The Spartans got things going again after that. Cam Ward made two straight buckets, Kur Teng connected on another deep splash, Fears scored inside, and Ward hit two more from the stripe to push MSU to a 67-40 advantage with less than 12 minutes to play.
Kaleb Glenn was the next Spartan up to give the home team two consecutive baskets. After another Fears layup, Glenn got another basket to fall, this one from downtown. Another Bonke putback dunk and a split at the line from Ward gave MSU a 79-46 lead at the under-8. As the game was going to commercial, Izzo had Bonke come over for some coaching points. I don't think Bonke understands his coach yet, as the Vanuatuan giant had a big grin on his face while Izzo clearly was angered by something. Coach Saddi Washington had a chuckle about it in the background.
After Bonke made 1 of 2 coming back from commercial, Jordan Scott made three straight buckets for MSU, the third being a dunk. Carr followed that up with a dunk of his own after a Scott steal, and a pair of technical FTs by Teng led to the under-4 timeout with MSU up 90-52.
In the final stretch, MSU added a few more highlights. Bonke converted an alley-oop with an assist from Fears. Julius Avent was back in the game and scored his first points on a layup. And with the deep bench in for the final few plays, former student manager Matthew Watkins showed the world he belongs, scoring on a fast break layup to give MSU their final points. The final score was 96-59.
6 Spartans reached double figures. Fears led the way with 13 points, followed by Carr with 12. Scott, Bonke, Teng, and Glenn each had 11. Medlock and Ward just missed, with both finishing with 9 points. Jervis was the only starter not to get to ten points, as he struggled to a 1-6 shooting night for 4 points. Bonke also had 13 rebounds and Fears had 11 rebounds to give MSU a pair of double-double players in the opener. As a team, MSU went 36-62 on FGs for 58%. They were 9-23 from deep, good for 39%. Free throws were problematic as they were 15-26, matching the FGs with 58%. The Spartans outrebounded Quinnipiac 46-27 and also recorded 10 steals and 8 blocks.
Certainly some things to clean up, but it was still a dominant win over a lower level of competition.
VICTORY FOR MSU!!!
