Spartans may not have Morgan this week
Michigan State’s basketball team simply doesn’t lose at home. Well, I should say didn’t, not doesn’t.
That’s because Sunday’s 72-69 setback to Penn State means the Spartans have lost back-to-back games at Breslin Center for the first time since falling to Temple and Detroit on Dec. 4 and Dec. 13 of 1997, respectively. Sunday’s win is Penn State’s first victory in 17 visits to East Lansing.
When the Spartans fell 70-63 to Northwestern on Jan. 21 to initiate its two-game slide at Breslin Center, it ended a 28-game home winning streak and gave the Wildcats their first win in East Lansing.
“The mystique is gone,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said of the Spartans’ homecourt advantage.
Point guard Kalin Lucas said the team focuses better on the road, where it is unbeaten in conference play.
“I think when we’re on the road, we have a better focus,” Lucas said after the Spartans fell to PSU. “Since we do have the crowd, our parents, everybody else at the game, and we have the Izzone I think we don’t come out with the focus that we should.
What once was a comfortable lead in the Big Ten is about gone, with Purdue a half-game back entering Tuesday and Minnesota just a game back. However, there is an obvious reason for MSU’s recent struggles, and that is the mystery illness affecting former leading scorer Raymar Morgan.
Morgan, a forward, has been diagnosed with “walking pneumonia,” a mild form of the illness. He has averaged just 12.5 minutes in the Spartans’ last four games, and just 5.5 minutes in the last two. Izzo said he doesn’t expect the junior to play at all this week, with games against the Gophers on Wednesday at Indiana on Saturday – bet on them at WagerWeb.com.
Morgan scored a team-high 17 in MSU’s 78-73 win at Penn State on Jan. 14, but he has 15 total points in the past five games while dealing with the illness. He continues to be unable to run for long stretches because of the effect on his upper respiratory system.
“We’re baffled,” said Izzo of Morgan’s condition. “He just doesn’t have any strength.”
Without Morgan’s inside play, MSU is overly reliant on jump shots. We’ll see if the Gophers can take advantage of it this time. Morgan had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the last meeting, an MSU win.
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