Drew Neitzel is the 2007-08 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, and he is the Big Ten’s leading returning scorer from last season. Neitzel is an Associated Press Preseason All-American, and was named to the CBE Classic All-Tournament Team.
Michigan State Game Notes
MSU VS. NC STATE NOTABLES
Series History
North Carolina State leads the all-time series with Michigan State,
5-1. The Spartans, however, won the only meeting in East Lansing, taking a 78-60
victory at Jenison Field House on Dec. 20, 1976.
The Last Meeting
No. 7 seed North Carolina State defeated No. 10 seed Michigan
State, 69-58, in the First Round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Washington,
D.C. (3/15/02). The Spartans took a 30-18 lead into the half, thanks to a 12-2 run.
NC State, however, opened the second half on an 11-2 run. The Wolfpack also
had second-half runs of 9-0 and 13-3, giving them control of the contest.
Freshman
Chris Hill led MSU with 21 points, while Marcus Taylor added 18 points and six assists.
For the Wolfpack, Anthony Grundy and Julius Hodge each scored 16. MSU
shot just 32.1 percent from the field, and was outscored, 31-17, at the foul line.
Coach Lowe
Sidney Lowe (St. Paul’s, 2006) is 24-17 in his second season at
North Carolina State.
Lowe brings 15 years of NBA coaching experience to the
Wolfpack bench, including five years as a head coaching including stints with the
Minnesota Timberwolves and Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.
Lowe was a four-year
letterwinner at North Carolina State, averaging 11.3 points for the 1983 NCAA
Championship team.
Wolfpack Notes
North Carolina State spent the Thanksgiving weekend at the Old
Spice Classic in Orlando, capturing the title with a 69-68 win over Villanova ... The
Wolfpack are led in scoring (18.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) by freshman J.J. Hickson
... NC State is allowing opponents to shoot just .354 from the field ... At 6-foot-9,
Brandon Costner leads the Wolfpack with 22 3-point attempts, connecting on eight.
Familiar Foes
Michigan State freshman Chris Allen and North Carolina State
freshman J.J. Hickson were AAU teammates in Georgia. Both were members of the
2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-State First Team.
Michigan Connections
Two Wolfpack freshmen call Michigan their home. Clayton
Beard attended Detroit Country Day, winning a Class B State Championship at
the Breslin Center last year. Tracy Smith is a Detroit native, but attended Mt. Zion
Academy in Durham, N.C.
MSU NOTABLES
Finding Success At The Foul Line
Michigan State is shooting a Big Ten-best .776
from the foul line. The Spartans are averaging 26.8 attempts and 20.8 makes per contest.
In fact, MSU has made more free throws (104) than its opponents have attempted
(89). In the Spartans’ lone loss to UCLA, they made 93.3 percent of their attempts, but
attempted just 15 free throws. Last season, MSU averaged 19.2 attempts and 13.8
makes.
Individually, Raymar Morgan has the most trips to the foul line (34), averaging
4.8 points per game at the stripe. Durrell Summers has connected on all 13 attempts
this year. Drew Neitzel is MSU’s career leader in free-throw percentage (.868).
I Love The 80’s
The Spartan offense has scored more than 80 points in three of
five games this season. Last season, MSU scored 80 or more points in just five of 35
contests.
Hitting The Boards
Through five games, Michigan State has a +12.3 rebound margin.
Goran Suton paces the Spartans at 8.6 boards per contest, having grabbed 20 against
Oakland, becoming the first Spartan since Kevin Willis in 1983 to record 20 boards in
a game. In MSU’s four wins, the Spartans have a +16.5 rebound margin, but lost the
only game in which they were outrebounded (UCLA; 37-28).
In 2006-07, MSU posted
a +7.0 rebounding margin, outrebounding 24 of 35 opponents while tying three other
teams. Last season, three different Spartans (Marquise Gray, Drew Naymick and Goran
Suton) grabbed 10 or more rebounds in a single game.
Maintaining The Defense
Michigan State is holding its opponents to 38.0 percent
shooting overall, and 31.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. Last year, MSU allowed
opponents to shoot just 38.4 percent, the lowest percentage since 1958-59.
Freshmen Contributions
Michigan State has played three true scholarship freshmen
(Chris Allen, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers) this season. The trio is averaging 23.0
points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 56.6 minutes.
Home Sweet Home
During Tom Izzo’s career as head coach, the Spartans are 167-
22 (.884) at home, including 144-13 (.917) over the last 11 years.
Morgan Named Big Ten POW
Raymar Morgan was named co-Big Ten Player of the
Week on Nov. 19, sharing the honor with Indiana freshman Eric Gordon. The Spartan
sophomore averaged 19.0 points and 14.5 rebounds in the East Lansing Regional of
the CBE Classic, earning Regional MVP honors.
Neitzel Among Career Leaders
Drew Neitzel sixth in MSU history with 460
assists. He is the Spartan career leader in free throw percentage (.868) and ranks fourth
in 3-point field goals attempted (466) and fifth in 3-point field goals made (189).
Neitzel Moving Up Scoring List
Drew Neitzel ranks 32nd in Michigan State career
scoring with 1,106 points. He needs four points to pass Al Ferrari (1,109 points) and
41 points to pass Pete Gent (1,146 points).
Neitzel scored his 1,000th-career point
against Marquette in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
MSU’s Sixth Starter
Under head coach Tom Izzo, Michigan State has a tradition of
bringing an experienced starter off the bench on its most successful teams. On the
1999 Final Four squad, Morris Peterson became the first non-starter in league history
to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors. In 2000, David Thomas started early in Mateen
Cleaves’ absence, then became a key reserve. During MSU’s run to the 2005 Final
Four, seniors Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert, two three-year starters, accepted reserve
roles to aid the bench depth.
This season, Izzo has opted to bring junior co-captain
Travis Walton off the bench to lend experience to MSU’s depth. Last year, Walton was
the only Spartan to start all 35 games, while ranking second in assists per game. In
addition, he is one of the nation’s best on-the-ball defenders.
MSU In November
Michigan State has an all-time record of 75-23 in games played
in the month of November. This includes a 54-3 mark at home. This is the second
earliest start to a season in school history. Last year marked the earliest start ever to
a regular season as MSU opened on Nov. 8.
MSU’s Block Party
In 2006-07, Michigan State blocked a school single-season record
162 shots. Drew Naymick led the Spartans with 55 rejections, good for the second-best
single-season total in MSU history. Idong Ibok had 33 blocks, the seventh-best single-season
total at MSU.
Naymick currently stands in fifth place on the MSU career blocked
shots chart with 78 rejections. He is 19 blocks shy of Matt Steigenga in first place.
Returning Talent
The Spartans return 89.8 percent of their scoring (2,043 points),
92.6 percent of their rebounding (1,021 rebounds), 93.2 percent of their assists (522
assists) and 89.4 percent of their minutes (6,256 minutes) from the 2006-07 squad.