Couch: Conner George's big night for Michigan State vs. DePaul doesn't need exaggeration

PORTLAND, Ore. – The idea that Conner George saved Michigan State’s basketball team Thursday night against DePaul is, to put it mildly, overstated.

But he did matter. And to actually matter in an MSU basketball game of consequence is no small thing for a walk-on from Okemos known mostly for being his mother’s son. This was, without need for exaggeration, a monumental night in George’s life and basketball career.

To matter on the court when the game is in doubt, to be in the playing rotation, at MSU, that’s something. That’s different than playing the final two minutes of a blowout home game and trying to get a bucket to the delight of the student section. Way different. 

George played it cool after MSU’s 73-51 win over DePaul late Thursday night at the PK80 Invitational. He behaved like one of the guys, like any other MSU player being interviewed in the locker room after a game. Because, for the first time, he was any other player.

I think, inside, he was jumping out of his skin with excitement.

“At the end of the game (in mop-up duty), you’ve still got the adrenaline,” George said, “but the first real time that you go in and it’s a tie game in a big game versus DePaul, we’re on the ropes …

“I just knew I needed to be solid.”

For every player, there is a different definition of solid. For George, this was it: Seven rebounds, five of them offensive, two points, one steal and a plus-10 point differential in a whopping 16 minutes, partly in place of injured star Miles Bridges.

“Ho, oh, that was way more (than I hoped for),” MSU coach Tom Izzo said of George’s performance.

“Give him credit. He got every loose ball and made a helluva drive there, didn’t turn the ball over and played pretty good defense. He gave us as much …”

I think Izzo was going to say “as he’s possibly capable of,” or something like it, but Izzo changed course midstream, as he often does, perhaps not wanting to convey entirely how surprised he was or George’s limitations as a player.

“As Miles said (in the locker room), (George) saved us,” Izzo continued. “He said, ‘He saved me. And saved us.’ I kind of would have to agree with that.”

George did not do that. But he was an important part of the collective response.

The 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore entered the game for the second time with the Spartans trailing 24-20 and facing severe foul trouble with 5 minutes left in the first half. MSU needed quality minutes. He provided them, playing through a 9-2 run that became a 31-31 game at the half.

“He knew his role was just to bring energy,” MSU point guard Cassius Winston said. “His role wasn’t going to be no bigger than that. We didn’t need him to go out there and score or anything like that. We just needed him to sop up some minutes, get some dudes some breaks so they won’t get into foul trouble and play his hardest. He went out there and played his heart out.”

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George’s Dennis Rodman-like rebounding numbers came after halftime. He checked in as the Spartans were beginning to seize control, ahead 48-37, and grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first 70 seconds he was on the court. He much later had a sweeping layup over defenders, but that shot came in the final minutes, with the game long since decided. Essentially mop-up duty. It’s just that he was already in the game this time.

“He’s got guts, and he knows his role, and he played his role,” MSU assistant coach Mike Garland said of George, whose mother, Cathy, is MSU’s long-time volleyball coach. “I told him, ‘You’ve been watching Spartans play probably since you were 6 years old, so you know what to do.’

“It’s par for the course with what Tom has built here,” Garland continued. “Guys just, it’s a culture. Guys come in, and they do their part, and they hustle, and they play hard, and they change the whole game. (He) changed the whole game entirely. And, you know, he can shoot the ball. He didn’t take a shot because he’s not in game rhythm yet. If we get him few more minutes each game, he’ll start knocking some 3s down, too. Because he’s one of our better shooters.”

George did change the game. He gave it “a lot of life, a lot of energy,” as Winston said. He put some fight into the Spartans.

“When I walked on here, obviously my goal was to play at some point and help this team out no matter what,” said George, who was put on scholarship for this year because the Spartans had one available. “First things first, I knew I was going to be on the scout team. I just was patient. I’m not saying I’m going to get significant minutes tomorrow or the rest of the year. But I’ll be ready to go. This is what I came here for.”

He’ll have a spot in the rotation at least as long as Bridges is out. After that, given injuries to Kyle Ahrens and Kenny Goins and the Spartans’ lack of backcourt depth, he might find his way into a few meaningful minutes anyway. It’s a lot more likely after Thursday.

“Now Coach (Izzo) won’t be afraid to stick him in there,” Garland said. “He’s going to help us. He was guarding. He did what he needed to do. We needed rebounding. We needed defense. We needed hustle plays. He changed the game.”

Mostly, he mattered. That in itself is nothing to sneeze at.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.