Men’s basketball tipoff: Michigan State vs. Oral Roberts
•What: Oral Roberts at MSU
•When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday
•Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing
•TV/Radio: Big Ten Network / Spartan Sports Network, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM.
•Records/Rankings: MSU is 4-4 and unranked; Oral Roberts is 1-6 and unranked.
•Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 528-209 in his 22nd season, all with the Spartans. Oral Roberts — Scott Sutton is 321-231 in 17 seasons, all with the Golden Eagles.
•Series: This is the first meeting between the two programs.
Oral Roberts
Pos. | Name | PPG |
C (44) | Albert Ownes (6-9) | 16.3 |
F (23) | Emmanuel Nzekwesi (6-8) | 11.1 |
G (1) | Kris Martin (6-6) | 9.6 |
G (10) | Jalen Bradley (6-1) | 10.3 |
G (00) | Aaron Young (5-11) | 7.7 |
MSU
Pos. | Name | PPG |
C (25) | Kenny Goins (6-6) | 2.7 |
F (0) | Kyle Ahrens (6-5) | 1.5 |
G (20) | Matt McQuaid (6-4) | 7.5 |
G (14) | Eron Harris (6-3) | 12.9 |
G (11) | Tum Tum Nairn (5-10) | 3.9 |
•MSU update: The Spartans enter Saturday afternoon with a starting frontcourt of 6-foot-6 Kenny Goins and 6-5 Kyle Ahrens. I can promise you Tom Izzo never thought those two sophomores would be his center-power forward combo. Miles Bridges’ ankle injury will keep him out at least a couple of weeks, according to Izzo, which will further test a frontcourt that’s already without expected starting center Gavin Schilling and graduate transfer Ben Carter. Bridges is MSU’s leader in scoring (16.6), rebounds (8.8) and minutes played (32.5). If there’s ever a time for him to be out, this is it. The Spartans will be favored in each of their next five games, all at home — though if Bridges is still injured on Dec. 21, MSU might not have much of an edge in the last of those games, against Oakland. Ahrens is likely to start. But Bridges’ absence changes the dispersal of minutes throughout the rotation, including at times having Goins and Nick Ward play alongside each other.
MSU's Cassius Winston growing through freshman mistakes
•Oral Roberts update: The Golden Eagles are 0-6 against Division I competition this season, including a 92-64 thumping at the hands of Oakland on Thursday. That’s not entirely representative of their season, however. They lost to Ole Miss on a neutral court in overtime and were fairly competitive with Baylor, losing 76-61 in Waco to open the season. That’s their only common opponent with MSU. The Spartans lost to Baylor in the Bahamas, 73-58. This was expected to be a tough season for Oral Roberts, which is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Golden Eagles were picked near the bottom of the Summit League.
Couch: Michigan State is anything but an NCAA tournament bubble team
•About the matchup: Oral Roberts junior center Albert Owens has scored more than 20 points four times already this season. He’s a wide-bodied lefty with a nice touch around the basket. He’ll be a worthy challenge for Goins and Ward. Forward Emmanuel Nzekwezi, a 6-8, 230-pound redshirt freshman had 15 points against Baylor and 20 in the OT loss to Ole Miss. Oral Roberts doesn’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter and isn’t a very good rebounding team, either. Hence their record.
•Prediction: MSU can only go so far without Miles Bridges. But there have been times early this season when the Spartans have played better without him for whatever reason. In these next few games, Bridges’ absence may actually fuel internal competition for minutes and perhaps help keep the Spartans focused, knowing their margin for error is less. That’s as much sunshine as I can blow into the situation.
» Make it: MSU 77, Oral Roberts 60
— Graham Couch