3 close wins

The Minny game was ugly but somewhat expected. It is just plain hard to play at the barn. Illinois and Wisconsin aren't going to be much easier. However, having won at Minn and UM it becomes less important to win both the Wisc and Illinois games.

This team is as frustrating as almost any team I can remember. There is no reason to let a very bad Iowa team back in to a game and there is no reason to be down 13+ to Minny and 7 to UM. That said, all three ended with W's. The frustrating thing is this team hasn't once played to its potential. There has not been one game this season where the team has clicked on both ends for a majority of the game. I'm not talking about perfection, I'm talking about playing like Duke. If you are up by 15 at the half you should win by at least 30. We win by 5.

Raymar has finally decided to be a force. He can be nearly unstoppable because of his size and ability. Green is similar. Lucas remains the hardest player to stay in front of in the B10, and he seems to be figuring that out too.

I think a win against Wisconsin is possible if not likely now that Leuer is out. Although 3's can keep any team in a game (see: Iowa) Wisconsin is not built to shoot 29 three's per game (see: UM). I think a win either at Illinois or at Purdue is a bonus at this point.

Ummm, current record 10-10, only needs 4 more wins to make the NCAA tournament. Too bad they need to be consecutive and in the B10 tournament. They cannot make the tournament as an at large bid. There really isn't any way.

I still think Bruce Weber is going to be lucky to see his big time recruiting class hit the floor next year, at least as their coach. This team is not as bad as the record would make you think. That has been true for the last two years. It isn't a lack of talent.

Northwestern will come in this week fired up and in need of a marque win. However, without Coble, they just don't have enough to play 40 minutes at the speed MSU can push teams. NU doesn't have the depth, or talent for that matter, to beat the top teams in the conference. All that goes out the window when there are foul problems or NU hits 50%+ of their 3's.

MSU - 74
NU -- 61