Spartans' Izzo Ready For Unfamiliar Big Ten Matchup
The No. 16 Michigan State Spartans (12-2) jumped up two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 after an impressive road victory against the Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5) and will now look to extend their seven-game win streak against one of the newest Big Ten teams in the Washington Huskies (10-5).
The Huskies are one of the many teams that made the journey from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten after conference realignment brought them over this past offseason. They are 4-4 in their last eight games but are playing much better basketball in the past few games.
After starting the season 0-2 in conference, the Huskies responded with an extremely impressive win over the Maryland Terrapins and followed that performance up by playing No. 22 Illinois extremely close just a few days later. This team is no slouch and head coach Tom Izzo knows that.
"New team in the league, it's hard to believe that we're sitting here saying we play a conference game Thursday against University of Washington," Izzo said in his press conference on Monday. "But they are coming off this big win against Maryland and an impressive performance over Illinois, who seems to be the hottest team in our league right now. They've also beat a good Washington State team, so they have kind of lived up to things that I said earlier, that every team is going to be effective in one way."
The Big Ten is a slaughter of a conference due to the fact that is so even talent-wise, and any team can win on any given night. The Huskies will be playing their second of three-straight ranked teams and will be making the trek out east for a two-game stretch this weekend.
The overall star player of this Washington team is undoubtedly senior forward Great Osobor, who came over from Utah State alongside first year head coach Danny Sprinkle this past offseason. If the Spartans want a good chance at a home win, they will have to find a way to limit Osobor.
"They do have arguably one of the better players in the country in [Great] Osobor," Izzo said. "A 6-8 kid who leads them in scoring, rebounding, assists, second in blocked shots, he kind of does a little bit of everything. He doesn't always look the part, but he sure does make the part. He's got incredible basketball skills as far as putting the ball on the floor, finding guys open, can score it down there with either hand, and maybe as good a passer out of double teams as I've seen."
Osobor leads the team in points (14.3), rebounds (8.7), assists (3.5), and steals (2.3) per game. He may not be having the career-high year that he did with the Aggies a season ago, but in a much stronger conference, he has made his presence known with his dynamic playing ability.
Besides Osobor, the Huskies have two other lethal scorers in sophomore guard Tyler Harris and freshman guard Zoom Diallo. Both guys are shooting above 50% from the field and Harris is shooting 46.3% from three-point range, something Izzo's group must pay attention to.
The Spartans will have massive home court advantage due to the long travel that the Huskies will endure over the coming days, not to mention the temperatures in East Lansing are looming around the low 20's. It is another opportunity for this team to boost their confidence and conference record.
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