Southern Cal ready to play a physical ballgame, is Michigan State up to the task?
Columbus, OH – The last time Michigan State faced Southern Cal in the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans won a dogfight against the best defensive team in the Pac-12 that year. The names on the back of the jerseys may have changed, but this USC team still plays great defense, and Michigan State will face a difficult test in Friday’s match-up and No. 10 seeded Southern California.
This Spartan team is far less physical than the Travis Walton-led ballclub that defeated USC in 2009 before leading Michigan State to the national championship game in Detroit. Southern Cal players must not have got the memo because, senior guard Drew Peterson is gearing up a physical game, and he believes that he and his teammates will be up to the task.
“We know the Big Ten is physical and that’s their thing, and a little slower pace,” Peterson said. “With Michigan State it’s relatively fast-paced compared to usual Big Ten teams. But we know they’re going to be physical with us and we’ll be prepared with that with our scout and know how they play. We know what we need to adjust to and stuff like that.”
This Michigan State team also gets out and runs less than vintage Spartan teams. Be that as it may, Southern California coaches are looking to prevent the Spartans from getting easy points in transition.
“I think it’s very difficult to just change your strengths or how you play when you go into the NCAA Tournament,” Southern Cal Coach Andy Enfield said. “So, I assume Michigan State will push the ball. They’ll try to shoot threes early in transition because they have great shooters. They’ll play their style like we will.”
Beyond limiting Michigan State’s transition scoring chances, Southern Cal will look to contain Michigan State’s leading scorer in Tyson Walker. While much of the talk surrounding this match-up centered on the challenge Michigan State has in defending dynamic USC guard Boogie Ellis, Enfield and his staff are focused on containing Walker.
“Tyson Walker is an elite scorer,” Enfield said. “He can shoot it with range. Very quick. And just a really good player. He’s all-conference player in the Big Ten. He’s one of their leaders. But they have a lot of other good players that complement what he does. Walker will be a big focus of any team that plays Michigan State. We were impressed on watching video on him. He’s a terrific player.”
Southern California intends to counter the quickness of Walker with its length on defense. And this Trojan team is better on defense than some of the others Enfield has coached during his time at Southern Cal.
“This year’s team is different for us,” Enfield said. “We’re not really concerned about what other perceived styles are in other conferences. We’re just concerned about USC and what we have to do to win games.”
Michigan State is also concerned about what it has to do to win games, which is play well from start to finish, something that has rarely happened this season.
“We just can’t relax the whole time,” Tyson Walker said. “Can’t give them open shots because they can shoot the ball well. And just keep the pressure up.”
