Michigan St.-Illinois Preview

3/5/2008 4:35 PM

By DAN PIERINGER
STATS Writer

Michigan State had several chances to re-establish itself as an elite team with a win over a ranked opponent in February, but failed to take advantage of any of those matchups.

After delivering a convincing victory over a Top 25 team in their first game of March, however, the 17th-ranked Spartans look to continue what they hope will be a much more successful month as they visit Big Ten rival Illinois on Thursday.

Michigan State (23-6, 11-5) ended January as the eighth-ranked team in the nation with a 19-2 record. The Spartans, however, went 3-4 in February, including an 0-3 mark against ranked teams. They were outscored by an average of 13.4 points in those three losses, and ended the month with a disheartening 57-42 defeat at then-No. 10 Wisconsin.

They finally got a signature win on Sunday, however, shooting 60.7 percent from the field and recording a season-high point total in beating then-No. 12 Indiana 103-74 to finish 17-0 at home. It was Michigan State's first win over a ranked team since it beat then-No. 4 Texas on Dec. 22.

"Today was a huge step for us," said senior guard Drew Neitzel, who had 17 points with five 3-pointers. "We want to play to the potential we showed today and build on a game like this."

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo isn't ready to say that the Spartans are back to where they were earlier this season, but Sunday's victory has made him cautiously optimistic about the postseason.

"It doesn't mean we're ready for a long tournament run," said Izzo, whose team finishes the regular season at Ohio State on Sunday. "But it makes you feel good that you can reiterate to say, 'I don't want you to do something you can't do, but something you have done.' Hopefully, we'll learn and grow from that."

Izzo has led Michigan State to four Final Fours and one national championship during the team's streak of 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments - a run that's likely to continue this season.

"March is a great time at Michigan State and we're going to try to make it a special month," Izzo said.

To follow through on that goal, Izzo's team will likely have to beat the lowly Illini (12-17, 4-12), who are winless in seven games against ranked opponents this season.

Illinois is coming off just its fourth win in 17 games since Dec. 30, overcoming 38.8 percent shooting to beat Iowa 58-47 on Saturday in a matchup between two of the lowest-scoring teams in the conference.

"It's a good win for us. Any win's good, especially the struggles we've gone through," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "I joked all week that the first team to 40 wins, and that's what kind of happened."

Shaun Pruitt led the Illini with 18 points and seven rebounds while going 7-for-10 from the field Saturday, and is shooting 70.0 percent in his last seven games.

Pruitt, though, was 2-for-8 for a season-low five points as the Illini lost to the Spartans 51-41 on Jan. 30. No Illinois player scored more than seven points in that game, while Neitzel led Michigan State with 15.

Neitzel is averaging 14.5 points and shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 43.0 percent from 3-point range in the Spartans' 23 wins. He's been held to 9.8 points, 27.9 percent shooting from the field and 25.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc in their six losses.

Izzo is 13-11 against the Illini since taking over at Michigan State before the 1995-96 season, but the Spartans have dropped four in a row at Assembly Hall by an average of 17.7 points.