No. 7 Michigan State’s focus on Rutgers, not No. 3 Michigan
Tuesday might be the ultimate trap game for No. 7 Michigan State.
Winners of six in a row, Michigan State (18-2, 8-1) heads into a Big Ten contest against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., knowing that a showdown with archrival and No. 3 Michigan is looming at home on Friday.
So before the Spartans worry about Michigan, they want to make sure they are fully focused on Rutgers, especially with the schedule about to get harder with upcoming games against Michigan, at Minnesota, against No. 9 Illinois and at Wisconsin.
"It gets tougher now," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. "We're going to play a lot of the top three teams, four teams. We're going to play them. We've still got a lot, a lot of basketball left. But it's good to go into Rutgers, go on the road again, feeling good. I don't feel cocky.
"I think our players, with the maturity of those four guys (Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper) and the age of the coach, I think we're all a little more mature than I was years ago. So I'm approaching it in a sound way and hopefully it will continue to grow."
All four of those players have a scoring average in double digits. Fears leads in scoring (13.4) and assists (8.9) per game.
Michigan State enters Tuesday tied with Michigan and Illinois for second in the Big Ten, a game behind league-leading Nebraska.
"I personally like being the hunted because that means you're somebody," Izzo said. "You should be, if you're at Michigan State, always hunted. But we've got a kind of funny team. It's not one that is as imposing as some that I've had, which is almost more rewarding in a lot of ways and I think our fans kind of appreciate who we are."
The next challenge for Michigan State is a Rutgers team (9-11, 2-7) that has had a rough go of it in Big Ten play.
Rutgers has lost three in a row, the latest being an 82-59 home defeat to Indiana on Friday.
"It doesn't get any easier with Michigan State coming to town," Scarlet Knights head coach Steve Pikiell said.
The biggest challenge for Rutgers might be rebounding. Michigan State holds a 13.3 rebounding margin, while Rutgers has a rebounding margin of -0.6. Rutgers also has been a poor defensive team, allowing 74.5 points per game.
"Those have been our Achilles heels all year," Pikiell said. "I know we have 10 new guys, but we've shown signs of improvement. (Thursday's bad practice) set the tone for (Friday), and we can't let that happen again. This is the toughest league in the country. You get knocked down, but you have to get back up, and these guys will."
Tariq Francis leads the Scarlet Knights with a 15.9 scoring average.
This will be the teams' first of two meetings this season. The rematch will be held in East Lansing on March 5.
Michigan State won the only meeting last season 81-74 at Madison Square Garden. The Spartans have won three of the last four matchups, but have lost to Rutgers the last two times they've played in Piscataway.