EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Tom Izzo and Tommy Amaker walked out of
Continental Airlines Arena together, breaking down their just-played game and ending the
conversation with Izzo saying he would call Amaker next week for some more
clarity about what's working.
But Amaker already knows what's not working. He said his Seton Hall team has to get tougher, as tough as Michigan State, if it hopes to compete at an elite level.
Izzo's No. 2 Michigan State, the barometer for every team in the nation, save Duke and Stanford this season, proved Tuesday night that it can handle adversity, shut down two top scorers and bully a team out of its own arena in a convincing 72-57 victory over No. 11 Seton Hall.
The Spartans' headline win over the Pirates capped a five-hour,
two-game night at the Jimmy V Classic that began with No. 14 Virginia's stunning 107-89
blowout win over previously undefeated and No. 4 Tennessee.
The two games, designed to tell the nation where these teams stand as conference play creeps closer, did just that, and the picture is not as pretty for Seton Hall and Tennessee as it is for the Spartans and Cavaliers.
Here's what we learned Tuesday:
The defenders
Defending national champion Michigan State faced its first
game without freshman point guard Marcus Taylor, who is out with a broken
finger for the next two to four weeks. Taylor's injury forced Charlie Bell to play the
point, putting even more responsibility on his plate. It proved to be no problem for Bell, who locked up Seton Hall's Darius Lane, limiting him to 1-of-8 shooting on
3-pointers. Meanwhile, forward Andre Hutson put the clamps on Seton Hall freshman
forward Eddie Griffin, making him go a season-worst 4-of-17 and 0-for-7 on
3s.
"It's all Bell and Hutson," Izzo said. "If there are two better defenders in the nation, then I don't know who they are. Their play did it for us."
Michigan State has shut down the opposing team's top scorers in every
big game this season. The Spartans shut down North Carolina's Joseph Forte,
limiting him to 1-of-7 shooting on 3s. Florida's Brett Nelson was 1-for-10 overall, 1-for-6 on 3s. Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans actually combined
for five 3-pointers, but Saul Smith was 1-for-5 and the Wildcats' big three inside of Marvin
Stone, Jason Parker and Marquis Estill scored a total of 10 points.
"You've got two ways to go defensively; you can either let the top
two guys hurt you and shut down everyone else, or take those two guys out of
the mix," Izzo said.
Beating Seton Hall convincingly also confirmed that the Spartans
could handle adversity and a road assignment for the first time this season.
"That's what we didn't know yet," assistant Brian Gregory said.
"This team showed a lot of maturity."
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Give Him A Hand
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Virginia's Donald Hand ususally has the hot hand against top-10 teams. Over the last two seasons (3 games) he has dramatically increased his shooting, scoring and assist averages in games against teams in the top 10.
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Top 10
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Others
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Ppg
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22.7
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14.2
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FGs
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50.0
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37.6
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3-pt FGs
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47.4
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30.1
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Ast.
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5.7
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4.8
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The newcomers
Virginia took full advantage of its first chance to gain national
attention by outrunning and outhustling Tennessee.
The Cavaliers' uptempo
attack was supposed to lack balance and had the potential to be vulnerable
against a team that could match its offensive production. Both theories
proved false.
Virginia ran circles around Tennessee, punishing the
supposedly stronger Vols on the boards 43-38, including 18 offensive
rebounds. The Cavs' shot quickly in the offense, but then didn't waste time
at the other end, forcing 19 turnovers and converting at a high percentage.
Virginia got balance on offense from Donald Hand's 21 from the perimeter and Stephane
Dondon's 16 and 11 boards off the bench inside.
"I was worried about this game, with it being our first chance to come up to the New York-New Jersey area," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "But we handled it with confidence and poise."
Guard Roger Mason said the Cavaliers had to show that they have the
balance inside, and the lift Dondon provided should send a message to the
rest of the nation and the ACC. A year ago, Virginia didn't have any marquee
non-conference wins to push its cause with the NCAA. A 9-7 league record
wasn't good enough to vault the Cavs over North Carolina and into the
NCAA Tournament.
The schedule prior to Tennessee didn't have a big-time game on it, with the Cavs' only two road games in the state at VMI and Virginia Tech. Drawing an inconsistent and rebuilding Purdue in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge didn't help Virginia's credibility.
Beating Tennessee did.
"Last year, we didn't have one of those big wins," Gillen said.
"This is one of those. We didn't play to lose. We were out there to win and
handled their press, a zone and everything they did. We played fast, played
physical and played together."
The Cavs were able to gamble defensively because they were scoring
at a rabid clip. It paid off when the Vols' couldn't keep up with the pace.
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Vols Low Five
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Tennessee has lost its last four games as a top-five team by an average of 12.5 points, and is just 6-7 all-time when ranked in the top five.
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11/19/00: vs. Virginia
Lost by 18
2/19/00 at Vanderbilt
Lost by 13
2/12/68 at Kentucky
Lost by 1
2/10/68: at Georgia
Lost by 18
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The team in turmoil
Tennessee had already been teetering on a collapse throughout the young
season: The Vols won by only one point at West Virginia and had tussles with
Wisconsin and SMU at home.
Tuesday, they couldn't handle Virginia's pressure, rarely
got more than two to three passes into the offense, and went away from their
strength inside. Tennessee got dragged into Virginia's style, failing to take
its time on offense and hardly ever getting a defensive stop.
The rout on national television was so humbling for this Final Four
candidate that the players called a team meeting immediately after the game.
Senior guard Tony Harris said he couldn't get into the specifics, but he said
the meeting addressed key problems that arose in the game.
Harris said the Vols discussed their lack of pride in a situation
where they were down in bunches and couldn't come back to win the game. He
said poor shot selection and decisions resulted in poor execution. And he
said there has to be a dramatic wake-up call with Syracuse up next on Friday, and
the Rainbow Classic and a possible matchup with Iowa on tap next week.
Tennessee coach Jerry Green said the Vols were walking on eggshells throughout
the game and were beaten off the dribble by Virginia nearly every possession. The porous defense and lack of toughness when the Cavs were slicing through the Vols should be a red flag. Syracuse will slow down the game, but the Vols were exposed Tuesday night.
"I'm glad this happened right now so we can fix it," Harris said. "This loss is hard to take, but we've got a long way to go in this season."
Teaching toughness?
Seton Hall coach Amaker said the Pirates had to experience Michigan State's toughness
to learn how to be tougher in big-time games. He said his youthful Pirates
won't realize it until they actually watch the game.
But Griffin wasn't as convinced. He said the toughness can't be taught and has to come from within.
"Michigan State is such a good basketball team and they're so tough
and that's why they're the national champions," Griffin said. "It's up to
all of us to get tougher inside. It just comes down to how bad you want to
play."
The Pirates were hammered on the boards, giving up 58 rebounds,
including 26 offensive boards for the Spartans.
Griffin rarely went inside
and center Samuel Dalembert had one play on which he actively pursued a
second shot. He was virtually nonexistent in the second half, playing a
total of 18 minutes after committing five turnovers and committing two
fouls.
"Michigan State is a tough basketball team right now and we aren't," Amaker said of his Pirates, who lost their first two major tests -- at Illinois and now at home to Michigan State. "We need to be more physical. Our guys need to see it and internalize it and we'll find out how to apply it."
Seton Hall rushed shots, made sloppy passes and looked lost at times
on offense. The Pirates couldn't hang with the Spartans on the boards, which meant long defensive possessions after Michigan State took two, three and four shots at scoring.
"Once our guys see it, then maybe they'll internalize it and dive
for the loose balls," Amaker said. "We've got to be more of a physical team, and they can be."
Whether they will or not be tougher could determine if Seton Hall is a major player atop the Big East and in the NCAA Tournament in March. Tennessee could ask itself the same question in the SEC. Michigan State and Virginia, meanwhile, answered plenty of questions with this display.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
Virginia bumps off Tennessee, rolls to 7-0 start
Michigan State crashes boards, dashes Seton Hall
AUDIO VIDEO
 Listen to the audio stream of the 2000 Jimmy V Classic.
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