2019 COLLEGE BASKETBALL SHOWCASE RECAP
14 Dec / 2019
DETROIT -- The Michigan State men’s basketball team used several big offensive runs and a stifling defensive performance to dominate Oakland, 72-49, on Saturday afternoon in front of 18,145 fans in the 2019 College Basketball Showcase at Little Caesars Arena.
With a balanced attack, which saw 12 different Spartans score a point in the contest, Michigan State went on a 20-3 first-half run in a 7:27 span to put Oakland down, 24-9, and the Spartans never looked back.
Sophomore forward Aaron Henry led Michigan State’s scorers with 10 points, junior forward Xavier Tillman grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and the Spartans forced the Golden Grizzlies to shoot a season-low 26.2 percent from the field (17-for-65).
Michigan State, which improved to 7-3 this season and defeated its in-state rival for the 18th straight time, led by as many as 29 points in the second half and held its opponent to under 50 points for the third time this season.
Despite the matchup technically being a home game for Oakland, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said he was thrilled with the raucous Spartans-heavy atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena.
“It’s so good to come down here. Our crowd was so good,” Izzo said. “It’s great to have Spartans here that don’t get to see us play. I’m appreciative of the arena and what they’ve done. It’s great to be down in Detroit. It’s fun for our guys. It’s just awesome what this city is starting to turn into, and places like this are a big reason.”
Oakland, which dropped to 5-6 this season, was led offensively by redshirt senior forward Xavier Hill-Mais with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Despite Oakland’s poor offensive output, head coach Greg Kampe said he was proud of his team’s defensive performance against the once-No. 1-ranked Spartans. The Golden Grizzlies forced the Spartans to commit a season-high 17 turnovers and only allowed one player to score in double figures.
“I knew we could guard them, and I think we really did,” Kampe said. “They scored 1.04 points per possession. That’s really good defense. I’m really pleased with the way we defended today.
“We wanted to make them shoot threes. They shot 58 shots and 33 of those were from three. We did that to the No. (16) team in the country. We forced that, we did that. That’s what we wanted, that was the game plan. We felt that we could win if we did that. We did what we wanted to at that end.”
The matchup marked the 21st NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball game at Little Caesars Arena since the venue opened in September 2017. It was the sixth time Oakland and Michigan State have met at the home of the Detroit Pistons, and the second meeting at Little Caesars Arena.
The Spartans and Golden Grizzlies are scheduled to meet again in Detroit in two of the next five seasons, as the two teams signed a six-year agreement this past July to play three games at Little Caesars Arena and three games at the Breslin Center.
The next college basketball action at Little Caesars Arena will be in March 2021 as the venue will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four seasons, with Oakland and Detroit Mercy serving as co-hosts.