Izzo's Record Breaking 341st Comes In 106-68 UMASS Hammering

MSU 106 - UMass 68 Atlantic City, NJ The story of today’s game was number 3-4-1. Three hundred forty one wins in only fifteen seasons. Coach Izzo was

MSU 106 - UMass 68

Atlantic City, NJ

The story of today’s game was number 3-4-1. Three hundred forty one wins in only fifteen seasons. Coach Izzo was quick to shift the praise to his predecessor Jud Heathcote, the man who owned the record before today and the man that hand picked Tom as his successor. Tom appeared emotionally touched having received a plaque from his players commemorating #341. When I asked Coach Izzo about the milestone, he seemed more excited to talk about the milestone as a part of Jud’s legacy sighting the real number was the collective wins between the two of them at 681. “To talk about this really feels like I’m stealing it from him. Seventy-five percent of what we do comes from him. I like to think of it as 681 wins between the two of us.” Nothing but class from one of the classiest men in college sports, it was exactly what I expected from Coach Izzo.

When it came to the basketball game, it was an all too familiar theme for the Michigan State opponent. When the Spartans can run, the opponent is usually done. UMass was no exception.

With Kalin Lucas in early first half foul trouble, the Spartans used Korie Lucious as their floor general. Lucious got the Spartan weaponry involved early and often dishing out three assists and scoring thirteen before the half time intermission. Both Morgan and Roe got into the act early, but then again, virtually every Spartan was a part of the stat sheet as they amassed 55 points before the half.

The second half was more of the first half. Chris Allen picked up where he left off dropping in a couple threes. Roe had a dunk, Green had a dunk and the rout was on. Michigan State scored its 80th point before the eleven-minute mark in the second half.

Yesterday’s loss to the Gators likely served as a wake-up call. Michigan State’s guards took much better care of the basketball against UMass. The passes were crisp, decisively thrown and the recipient seemed to know what to do with the ball when it was thrown his way.

MSU’s reserves played a lot. Herzog scored MSU’s 100th point shortly before the 3:30 mark in the second half. It was hard to say if MSU was just that much more dominant than UMass or if the overmatched A-10 squad was just a poor opponent. Maybe it was a bit of both.

One thing is certainly clear, the Spartan hibernation better be over. The schedule stiffens next week against North Carolina and the Spartans need the road win to recapture a little respect that was lost last season to the Tar Heels.

I asked Raymar Morgan about his performance after the game. When Ray gets an easy basket early, the game seems to be much easier for Morgan the rest of the way. “If I get going early, I am better off. I keep shootin’, stay aggressive and good things happen.” I spoke with Coach Izzo about the very same topic and he lauded Raymar’s effort. “I don’t want to add to the pressure that is already on Ray, but we are a much better team, no question… when he is playing well.”

The three pointers rained from the heavens today like the basketball Gods themselves were Spartan fans. MSU shot 14-22 from beyond the arc for a whopping 64%. Raymar buried one, Lucas knocked four of them down, Summers dropped one in, Allen canned four of them, Lucious had three and Dahlman drained one on the evening. When the Spartans shoot ‘em like that, I don’t think they can be beaten. Stay tuned… the Tar Heels are next.