Michigan State coach compares Bradley to Gonzaga; Les says Spartans in class with 9 others
PEORIA - Tom Izzo has a pretty good idea what he and his ninth-ranked Michigan State basketball team are in for at 8:05 tonight at sold-out Carver Arena.
"It's our first real road game this year and I know what the atmosphere will be like," the Spartans' coach said. "Some nonconference games you can go to a place, play average and win. The problem with this game is we know we can't play average and win. We could play great and lose. That makes it a little scarier.
"It'll be a very difficult game for us. The only plus for us is we know it. We're not going in there thinking this is just another school. (BU coach Jim Les has) built a reputation there. That program is heading in the Gonzaga way of things. That's not a bad way to go."
A nice compliment there for the 6-2 Bradley Braves. Les didn't need much prompting to return the favor toward the 6-1 visitors.
"They look like a top-10 team," he said. "They're big, physical, well-coached, athletic and have a lot of weapons. They're a sound, fundamental basketball team that doesn't come at you with trickery or needing to make huge adjustments. They are who they are and we are who we are. How those styles match up against each other remains to be seen."
Those BU style points, many coming in groups of three, are another concern of Izzo's.
"It'll be critical to see if we can defend a team that's completely opposite of anybody we've played so far," he said. "They're a tremendous 3-point shooting team with very good guard play, as good as any tandem we'll play all year. And they've added some size this year, which should help 'em."
And the Braves have been pretty good at home, with a 29-game nonconference winning streak at Carver. Although BU has averaged 9,372 in its four home games this season, Les doesn't think they've provided much of an advantage so far.
"I'm looking for a response from our fans," Les said. "I don't think the atmosphere in our building has been that great this year. Our fans need to step up, energize, come with great enthusiasm and get off their hands a little bit. This is a great opportunity for our program, but I also want appreciation shown from our fans, too, and start to create the environment we want to have."
Bradley faced that sort of crowd mayhem at East Lansing, Mich., last season when the Spartans broke open a 19-19 game with a dominant second half on the way to an 82-53 rout.
"For about 15 or 16 minutes, we guarded 'em very well and took them out of stuff they wanted to do," BU guard Jeremy Crouch said. "We were just so impatient offensively it eventually led to some easy baskets for them and they made a big run on us. The biggest thing we need to do is take them out of their sets with our pressure and our denial."
And hit a bunch of 3-pointers. And get a big lift from the crowd.
While there are other resume-building games ahead for the Braves, this clearly is the one that will resonate the loudest when March arrives.
"The guys have had this one circled on the calendar," Crouch said. "We're extremely excited right now."
Braves briefs: A couple of noteworthy top-10 teams that visited Peoria as Bradley opponents, both Missouri Valley Conference members, were left off Monday's list. Larry Bird and Indiana State came to town as the nation's second-ranked team in February 1979 and left with a 91-72 victory. Also, during the 1981-82 season, No. 2 Wichita State visited and was beaten by the Braves 55-47. That makes Bradley's home record against top 10 visitors 18-9 overall. ... With standing-room only tickets sold Monday, Bradley could challenge its all-time best crowd of 11,444, set last season against Illinois State.
----- Michigan State leads series 2-0. ... The teams met last year in East Lansing with the Spartans earning an 82-53 win. The first meeting came in 1969 at Salt Lake City when Michigan State won 89-87. ... This season, the Spartans have beaten Chicago State (86-53), Louisiana-Monroe (83-65), Missouri (86-83), Oakland (75-71), North Carolina State (81-58) and Jacksonville (80-51) while losing only to UCLA (68-63). ... All were at home except the Missouri and UCLA games, which were at the CBE Classic in Kansas City. ... Bradley has won 29 consecutive home nonconference games, which is tied with Arkansas for the fifth-longest active streak nationally. Duke's 55-game streak is the longest and Michigan State is third at 31. ... The game features the nation's top two active career assist leaders in Ruffin, with 533, and Neitzel, with 471.
KEYS FOR SPARTANS: Dominate boards, collect second shots and get Braves into a halfcourt game
KEYS FOR BRAVES: Turn up defensive pressure and force turnovers; make plenty of 3-point shots and make use of inside bodies
PEORIA - Tom Izzo has a pretty good idea what he and his ninth-ranked Michigan State basketball team are in for at 8:05 tonight at sold-out Carver Arena.
"It's our first real road game this year and I know what the atmosphere will be like," the Spartans' coach said. "Some nonconference games you can go to a place, play average and win. The problem with this game is we know we can't play average and win. We could play great and lose. That makes it a little scarier.
"It'll be a very difficult game for us. The only plus for us is we know it. We're not going in there thinking this is just another school. (BU coach Jim Les has) built a reputation there. That program is heading in the Gonzaga way of things. That's not a bad way to go."
A nice compliment there for the 6-2 Bradley Braves. Les didn't need much prompting to return the favor toward the 6-1 visitors.
"They look like a top-10 team," he said. "They're big, physical, well-coached, athletic and have a lot of weapons. They're a sound, fundamental basketball team that doesn't come at you with trickery or needing to make huge adjustments. They are who they are and we are who we are. How those styles match up against each other remains to be seen."
Those BU style points, many coming in groups of three, are another concern of Izzo's.
"It'll be critical to see if we can defend a team that's completely opposite of anybody we've played so far," he said. "They're a tremendous 3-point shooting team with very good guard play, as good as any tandem we'll play all year. And they've added some size this year, which should help 'em."
And the Braves have been pretty good at home, with a 29-game nonconference winning streak at Carver. Although BU has averaged 9,372 in its four home games this season, Les doesn't think they've provided much of an advantage so far.
"I'm looking for a response from our fans," Les said. "I don't think the atmosphere in our building has been that great this year. Our fans need to step up, energize, come with great enthusiasm and get off their hands a little bit. This is a great opportunity for our program, but I also want appreciation shown from our fans, too, and start to create the environment we want to have."
Bradley faced that sort of crowd mayhem at East Lansing, Mich., last season when the Spartans broke open a 19-19 game with a dominant second half on the way to an 82-53 rout.
"For about 15 or 16 minutes, we guarded 'em very well and took them out of stuff they wanted to do," BU guard Jeremy Crouch said. "We were just so impatient offensively it eventually led to some easy baskets for them and they made a big run on us. The biggest thing we need to do is take them out of their sets with our pressure and our denial."
And hit a bunch of 3-pointers. And get a big lift from the crowd.
While there are other resume-building games ahead for the Braves, this clearly is the one that will resonate the loudest when March arrives.
"The guys have had this one circled on the calendar," Crouch said. "We're extremely excited right now."
Braves briefs: A couple of noteworthy top-10 teams that visited Peoria as Bradley opponents, both Missouri Valley Conference members, were left off Monday's list. Larry Bird and Indiana State came to town as the nation's second-ranked team in February 1979 and left with a 91-72 victory. Also, during the 1981-82 season, No. 2 Wichita State visited and was beaten by the Braves 55-47. That makes Bradley's home record against top 10 visitors 18-9 overall. ... With standing-room only tickets sold Monday, Bradley could challenge its all-time best crowd of 11,444, set last season against Illinois State.
----- Michigan State leads series 2-0. ... The teams met last year in East Lansing with the Spartans earning an 82-53 win. The first meeting came in 1969 at Salt Lake City when Michigan State won 89-87. ... This season, the Spartans have beaten Chicago State (86-53), Louisiana-Monroe (83-65), Missouri (86-83), Oakland (75-71), North Carolina State (81-58) and Jacksonville (80-51) while losing only to UCLA (68-63). ... All were at home except the Missouri and UCLA games, which were at the CBE Classic in Kansas City. ... Bradley has won 29 consecutive home nonconference games, which is tied with Arkansas for the fifth-longest active streak nationally. Duke's 55-game streak is the longest and Michigan State is third at 31. ... The game features the nation's top two active career assist leaders in Ruffin, with 533, and Neitzel, with 471.
KEYS FOR SPARTANS: Dominate boards, collect second shots and get Braves into a halfcourt game
KEYS FOR BRAVES: Turn up defensive pressure and force turnovers; make plenty of 3-point shots and make use of inside bodies
