Mid Major Boise State Gives Major Scare to #15 Michigan State as Spartans Scratch Out a Win 74-70

Breslin Center East Lansing, MI Coming in to this alphabet soup game the question was not if the Michigan State Spartans would improve their record to 3-1, but

Breslin Center

East Lansing, MI

Coming in to this alphabet soup game the question was not if the Michigan State Spartans would improve their record to 3-1, but what would the margin of victory be. Well it took only a few seconds before all of those ideals and suppositions were thrown out.

Already down Travis Trice, super star freshman sensation Gary Harris went down with a shoulder injury. It happened on a hard pick. Izzo said of the injury after the game that, “Harris is not good. Don’t know what it is, but will have an MRI tomorrow. He will be out for a while. Best case scenario he sprained it and worst case is he did a lot more and is out a lot longer. Should know tomorrow (Wednesday) by 10 A.M."

Boise State has good players and much improved coaching over the sacrifices that have entered the Breslin already this year. With MSU down two star players the Broncos attacked. They were only down six (38-32) at the half, and made it even closer only losing by four:  74-70.

This was a great test for MSU. It got a lot of players a lot of minutes. In the end ten Spartans played and seven had double digits minutes. Four Spartans had double digit scoring (Appling 22, Dawson 10, Valentine 12, Payne 10) and five had four or more rebounds. Appling & Dawson had five boards While Nix, Valentine, Payne each grabbed four.

Izzo said of the contest, “Well it was a weird game. They played hard, they played tough and give us credit for hanging in there through some bizarre things, yet somehow we found a way to beat a good team. Wasn’t a very good game for us but we found a way to win.”

Boise State head coach Leon Rice couldn’t have been prouder with his Broncos and the way they fought. He said about the game, “Our guys kept battling. I was really proud of our guys, but we aren’t satisfied.”

Coach Rice had some nice things to say about the Spartans. “They have so many great players. They are one of the programs I have always respected. It is a great college basketball atmosphere. He (Izzo) is someone I have always respected.”

Keith Appling played all 40 minutes and added seven assists and three steals to the rebounds and scoring already mentioned. Izzo said of his junior star, “Keith Appling was the man. He has done it the old fashioned way. He has just worked his way. He played forty minutes, but the guy did an unbelievable job down the stretch.”

Michigan State returns to action on Friday at 8:15 PM when Oakland comes to town. That game can be seen on BTN. Stay tuned to Spartan Nation for updates on the health of Gary Harris. Make sure you follow me on Twitter for nearly instantaneous Spartan sports updates at @HondoCarpenter