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MSU Flies by LU, 80-54

12/17/02
by John C. Thomas
EAST LANSING-- The Ramblers traveled to the Breslin Center in East Lansing to face #15 Michigan State on the 99th anniversary of the first airplane flight and got shot down by the high-flying Spartans. MSU skied for a double-digit rebounding advantage while many of Loyola's missiles misfired, and the Spartans crushed the Ramblers 80-54.

Both teams started slowly, and the Ramblers benefited by hanging two quick fouls on MSU's senior center Adam Ballinger. The Ramblers trailed 13-7 when Loyola made their first substitution of the game, and Corey Minnifield saw his first court time of the year. Loyola shot only 31% compared to MSU's 47% in the first half, but Loyola had only three turnovers to MSU's seven. Paul McMillan helped the Ramblers stay within striking distance of the Spartans with 11 first half points, and MSU led at the break, 34-25.

MSU came out of the locker room for the second half with markedly increased defensive intensity. The Spartans forced turnovers on the first three Loyola possessions, but could not pull away from the Ramblers, thanks in large part to horrible free throw shooting. The Spartans-the best free throw shooting team in the Big 10-shot only 15 of 28 from the line.

Meanwhile, Loyola seemed to find the three point range. David Bailey, Terrance Whiters, and Corey Minnified each hit on three pointers to put Loyola within striking distance at 54-43 with 11:22 left to play.

But two minutes later, Demetrius Williams was called for an intentional foul, and soon after that David Bailey was called for a technical as Michigan State pulled away down the stretch and Loyola shot errant three pointers in desperation.

David Bailey led Loyola with 15 points, and Paul McMillan had 14. MSU's Chris Hill led all scorers with 18.

The Ramblers certainly expended a lot more effort in the game than they did at Belmont. But there were more bad decisions, bad shot selection, and lack of hustle-particularly getting back on defense after a made basket-that are never seen on a quality team like Michigan State. Those errors aren't even seen on most winning teams, let alone on the top-notch teams in the country. The contrast between the Ramblers and Michigan State on the hustle plays, the teamwork and execution was glaring. If the Spartans hadn't missed nearly half their 28 free throws, Loyola could have easily lost by 35 points.

Coach Farmer should get a copy of the tape and have the team watch it with him to count the easy baskets that were given up by lack of hustle and compute what the final score might have been without them. They might be surprised to see how close they can hang with some of the best teams in the country if they hustle like they're supposed to and keep their heads in the game.

Click Here for game photos.