Michigan State big man Nick Ward impresses Indiana coach Archie Miller
EAST LANSING – Archie Miller had high praise for Nick Ward.
Especially after Michigan State’s sophomore forward went over, through and around the new Indiana coach’s defense for much of Friday night.
Ward scored 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season in MSU’s 85-57 victory at Breslin Center.
“Their running game is the paint. They attack the paint off the advance pass,” Miller said. “They have the best rim-runner in college basketball in Nick Ward, and they forced the action and the transition game.”
The 6-foot-8 sophomore, who scored just seven combined points in MSU’s two Big Ten losses, was flattered by the compliment. He was a big reason the Spartans outscored the Hoosiers 38-18 in the paint, which included buckets in the half-court offense, a putback dunk and running in transition.
“That’s something that I’ve worked hard on since I was little,” Ward said.
Ward also was a lot better in dealing with double-teams, which Indiana threw at him often. He had just two turnovers but also had two assists.
“Nick was a lot better tonight,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said. “That, too, was important for us.”
Blocks mark
Jaren Jackson Jr. became the MSU freshman blocked shot record holder early in the second half when he surpassed the previous mark of 64 set by Deyonta Davis during the 2015-16 season.
“It feels great. I’m glad I have it,” said Jackson, whose three swats upped his season total to 65. “I’m gonna try to bump it up now so no one can catch it.”
The 6-foot-11 Jackson now needs eight more to overtake Ken Johnson’s team record of 72, which was set during the 1984-85 season.
“I didn’t realize he passed it tonight. That’s a great credit to him,” Izzo said, before joking. “Great coaching, I’m sure I taught him how to block shots, and the funny thing is I never taught him one thing about it. That’s all him growing. That’s all him.”
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A-Rod’s message
Former MLB superstar and current broadcaster Alex Rodriguez sat behind MSU’s bench after contacting Izzo recently about coming to a game.
Rodriguez visited football coach Mark Dantonio at the Duffy Daugherty Football Building before taking in the Spartans’ basketball shoot-around and delivering a pregame pep talk.
“He’s won a championship,” sophomore Miles Bridges said, “so we can take his advice to heart. In order for us to win a championship, we gotta play like a championship team every game.”
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Izzo was impressed with what he heard from A-Rod.
“Any time that you can be around people that have achieved a level of greatness, that’s always good to have around,” Izzo said. “Even when he talked to the team at the end in the locker room, I just reminded them this (effort) has got to be every day. … I said to the team that the greatest thing was that in New York he had to play for a championship every year. And he said, ‘No, coach, every day.’
“I thought that was a hell of a statement. Every day, you are under pressure there, so maybe our guys aren’t under as much pressure as they thought, so I think I am going to crank it up a bit.”
New uniforms
MSU wore a new uniform combo, black jersey and shorts with neon green trim, numbers and nameplates. The Spartans also wore green laces in their LeBron 15 Nike shoes they received from LeBron James for participating in the Phil Knight Invitational/PK80 in November.
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Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.