The men's basketball team lost its season-opener to Michigan State University last night, 45-34, but not before making Spartans' Head Coach Tom Izzo and the large MSU cheering contingent sweat a bit. Brown erased a 13-point, second half deficit and closed to within five points with 3:24 remaining.
Just when Brown seemed ready to finally overtake them, however, the Spartans hunkered down and sank six straight free throws in the closing minutes to extinguish any chance of an upset.
Neither team looked particularly sharp in what was the earliest a Bears team has ever begun a season. The two squads were matched up for the first time in their histories as part of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, a 16-team tournament hosted in four locations across the country. The champions of the four regional contests move on to Madison Square Garden for the championship round next week.
"It was a really exciting game to play in," said forward Scott Friske '09, a Michigan native who had more than 50 friends and family members in the stands at MSU's Breslin Center. "It's not every day you get to play in an environment like that. It was exciting too because we felt we could win and we had a chance at the end."
In the early going, it looked as though Brown might be in for a long night in East Lansing. It took the Bears more than six minutes to score its first points of the season. After the Bears missed their first four shots, Friske finally put the Bears on the board with a layup at 13:59.
Michigan State was just as cold. The Spartans only made eight of their 20 shots in the first half and were continually harassed by Brown's pressure defense. For the majority of the half the Bears played a 1-3-1 zone and were continuously able to get into the passing lanes and disrupt the Spartan offense.
"We really wanted to focus on being physical tonight," Friske said. "We knew they wanted to come in and push us around and we didn't let that happen. We run a few different zones ... they're fun to play and Michigan State obviously had some trouble with it. (Head Coach Craig Robinson) did a good job of implementing it."
Co-captain and starting point guard Marcus Becker '07 teamed with shooting guard Damon Huffman '08 to force the Spartans' offense to start each possession well behind the three-point arc. The trapping up top also caused Michigan State to utilize most of the 35-second shot clock on each possession, limiting the number of looks they had over the course of the half.
After a Maurice Joseph three-pointer gave the Spartans a 13-6 lead at 11:43, Huffman struck right back with a three of his own on the next possession. Brown pulled within two a minute later thanks to some fine defensive work by Huffman, who stripped point guard Drew Neitzel near the Brown bench and hit a streaking Becker in mid-stride in the center of the court. With forward Keenan Jeppesen '08 trailing the play, Becker finished off a one-handed dunk to make it 13-11.
MSU extended its lead to 18-11 before Friske swished a three-pointer, but the Spartans responded with an 8-2 run to take a 26-16 lead at the break.
Brown suffered a major blow just before the break. With 1:12 remaining in the half, Huffman went down with a left knee injury and did not return.
In the Bears' defensive end, Huffman was at the bottom of the zone underneath the basket. When he went to the foul line to provide coverage on an unguarded Spartan, his left knee buckled and he collapsed to the court in obvious pain.
Friske said the team was a bit disheartened at halftime after seeing one of its top guards go down with what could be a season-ending injury. Another Michigan native with a large cheering contingent, Huffman's injury also left an impression on Friske.
"As a kid, you grow up dreaming of playing in a game like this and it's a blessing from God to be able to," he said. "I felt so bad for Damon and all his family here when he went down. It doesn't look good." Friske could only speculate as to the extent of Huffman's injury but said the team hoped an MRI would reveal the damage to be limited to a sprain or something even less significant.
Despite the offensive struggles and the loss of Huffman, Brown hung tough in the second half. MacDonald and Mark McAndrew '08 both made a pair of three-pointers in the half, and Brown let the Spartans attempt only 12 shots in the last 20 minutes.
"The biggest reason we wanted to keep it close was that Coach told us that in a close game they would be a little nervous like us and prone to more mistakes," Friske said. "They're just basketball players like we are. Just bigger."
Michigan State's ability to get to the line - and to make its free throws - proved to be the difference down the stretch. The Spartans sank 16 of their 20 shots from the charity stripe, accounting for over one-third of its points. Brown mustered only a one-of-four showing.
All in all, it was an impressive appearance from the Bears, especially in terms of defensive effort. Robinson took a loss in his collegiate head coaching debut, but Friske said he thinks the Bears might be able to deliver him his first victory as soon as this afternoon.
"I really wish we could have gotten the win for him," Friske said. "Coach Robinson is an extremely fun guy to play for. He's excited to win, he played basketball so he knows exactly what we're going through."
With the loss, Brown was bumped to the consolation bracket of the tournament and will face Central Michigan University today at 4:30 p.m. CMU lost to Youngstown State University in the other semifinal earlier on Wednesday.
