MSU too much for overmatched Temple squad

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Denver — Last season, the MSU men’s basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and met one of college basketball’s powerhouses — North Carolina. After keeping up with the Tar Heels’ run-and-gun style of play, North Carolina eventually pulled away just by sheer depth and strength.

On Thursday, the Spartans were on the other side of that coin.

Many rebounds and strong put-back dunks left undersized Temple wondering, “Who are these guys and who have we been playing all season?”

With all due respect to the Atlantic 10, there are reasons for terms like “power” conferences and “mid-major” schools. Arguments have been made recently about whether or not those terms apply anymore, especially come March, but this 5-12 matchup was an indication as to why they exist.

MSU has been among college basketball’s elite for the last decade. It has played the best the NCAA has to offer under the brightest of spotlights. MSU head coach Tom Izzo’s efforts to play a tough schedule often aren’t rewarded, but it paid off on Thursday.

Compared to the Spartans’ recent contests, they were able to defend in the faces of the Owls and give a little hand check without a chippy foul being called and this worked to their advantage. Sure, MSU is not as physical as it has been historically, but they were still too much for Temple.

The Spartans knew it.

“This level, it’s not going to be the same as the Big Ten or the preseason,” MSU freshman guard Chris Allen said. “It’s going to be a lot tougher. Everybody knows the extremes of the game. Everybody’s going to be pushing, bumping and biting just to get this win. They probably weren’t used to guarding as many players as we’ve got.”

And the Owls knew it, too. Dionte Christmas — the top scorer in Temple’s conference with 20.2 points per game — was held to a season-low three points and said it was the tough test, most physical team he faced in his three-year career. Mark Tyndale, the Owls’ other threat, called MSU sophomore forward Raymar Morgan “strong and very talented.”

The Spartans set the tone right off the bat, feeding the ball to Morgan in the post for a strong post-up move. Izzo said after the game they were hoping to set the tone with Morgan’s strength and maybe even put an Owl in foul trouble.

“He’s a lot better in person than he is on film,” Tyndale said.

“He worked hard and was complimenting me and Dionte after the game. The sky’s the limit for him. He has a great future ahead of him.”

Maybe that’s a theme in comparing these two schools and their respective conferences — you can throw records, film and league standings out the window when they show up at the Big Dance. MSU played tougher competition in tougher situations and, in turn, has a tougher squad for a March tournament run.

Joey Nowak is a State News men’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at nowakjo2@msu.edu.

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