Just when everyone on the HoopsBoard was ready to mail the
season in, Montgomery and his boys pull of a minor upset and win
another thrilling Pete Newell Challenge game, 75-64. It was a
milestone game for many reasons, as Julius and C-Bo each had
career highs in points. It was also a coming out party for
Stanford after their embarrassing defeat to the BYU Cougars the
prior weekend.
This game looked like it might be a blowout early as the
Spartans jumped out to a 30-18 lead after the first 10 minutes of
play. They were scoring at will, and Stanford couldn’t
establish anything on the offensive end. After the first 10
minutes of the game, though, the game was basically all Cardinal.
Borchardt started dominating the post en route to 27 points and
10 rebounds. He also had six very timely blocks and almost had
about 5 more. He fouled out almost every Michigan State post
player, which forced Izzo to play a walk-on midway through the
second half. The stats can’t even tell half the story - he
was the reason why they won and played brilliantly.
Barnes also went off for 19 points and at times reminded people
of Brevin Knight the way he drove to the hoop... his moves off
the dribble. Barnes seems to love playing in the Newell
Challenge, and this can hopefully lead to more big games in the
future. Casey was shut down for most of the game, statistically,
but drove to the hoop often and drew many fouls on the Spartan
players. Justin Davis also had an electrifying 12 points on four
dunks and brought the crowd to life often in the second half.
Overall it was a great offensive performance.
Marcus Taylor led Michigan State with 21 points of his own and
definitely established himself as one of the top point guards in
the country. He also had eight assists to go with his points, and
drove the lane at will. He had a slow second half, which limited
Michigan State’s options on offense. Chris Hill and Adam
Wolfe were the only other Spartans in double-figures, which shows
how much the Stanford defense clamped down. Kelvin Torbert,
Michigan State’s heralded freshmen was held to only eight
points and did not play much of a role in the outcome of the
game.
Many positives come out the game tonight. First of all,
everyone has to be thrilled the way Borchardt played. I am coming
off a little on my predication that Childress would be the second
best freshmen, but it looks like Borchardt might be the BEST
center in college basketball. The combination of his scoring,
rebounding and defense put him on a level occupied by very few
players right now. Secondly, Barnes came alive tonight. He scored
19 points on 7-9 shooting. But it wasn’t how much he was
scoring - it was how he was scoring. He constantly pushed the
ball upcourt and had two great assists to Davis on fastbreaks. He
has definitely earned himself a longtime starter’s spots and
is proving to be a big game player. It will be interesting to see
how Barnes fares in the Pac-10 season after his up and down life
as a starter. Lastly, Davis brought lots of energy to the team.
His dunks in the second were great to see, and he showed a lot
more aggressiveness on the rebounds. The defense also played a
great game for the final 30 minutes, holding Michigan State to
only 34 points. The help defense that Montgomery preaches was in
full effect in the second half as the Spartans' shot attempts
were of a low percentage.
Some things in last night’s game didn’t go very
well. Michigan State shot 48%, which is a bad sign because these
high percentages are becoming the norm for Stanford opponents. It
is something that will have to change because it is tough to win
games when your opponents are constantly shooting 50%. On the
other hand, Stanford shot 56% against a defense that embarrassed
Arizona and has held opponents constantly under 35%.
Another negative is the regression of Josh Childress. He came
on strong in the early going but has seemingly hit the rookie
wall very early. He doesn’t seem like he is in sync with the
game often and looks lost. We all know what he is capable of, and
it is important in the upcoming Pac-10 season for him to have a
strong role off the bench. Barnes is going to be off some nights,
and so will Davis. It is important that Childress can provide
some scoring off the bench when the starters struggle.
Overall there are not many negatives that can come from a game
like this. This was a truly well played game and a joy to watch
for any basketball fan. Only 18 total turnovers all game and
great ball movement by both teams. The Oakland Arena always
provides a great atmosphere, which was very pro-Michigan State,
with the Spartan football team ready to play Fresno State in the
Silicon Valley Bowl. Even with the semi-hostile crowd, Stanford
played very mature and never wilted in Michigan State runs. This
has to make every Bootie ready for the Friday night matchup
against the hated Weenies.