Mich. St. 77
BC 70
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo labeled his team ‘wimpy’ earlier this week.
The man from Iron Mountain, Mich., said he wasn’t getting anything from the power forward spot, so he started Marquise Gray.
When one of his star players, Shannon Brown, foolishly fouled Boston College’s Jared Dudley on a 3-point shot when his team was up 13 with nine minutes left, Izzo pulled Brown from the game and went Izzonic on him.
Playing for Tom Izzo in December is like vacationing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in February. It can be brutal.
But there’s a method to terrible Tom’s madness. When the madness of March arrives, the Spartans have been transformed from wimps to warriors. Izzo has won one national title and took the Spartans to the Final Four last season.
After getting pushed around by the Eagles in the first half, Michigan State battled back in the second to win its Jimmy V Classic matchup 77-70 in the Garden.
The Eagles outrebounded the Spartans 24-14 in the first half and led 27-26. Power forward Craig Smith led the way with nine points and seven boards. But in the second half Izzo put his 6-foot-11 senior center Paul Davis, who as a freshman was a favorite Izzo target on Smith and held him to two boards.
Maurice Ager led Michigan State, which shot 77 percent in the second half, with 22 points, despite throwing up throughout the game. Davis added 18 points and seven boards. BC was led by Jared Dudley’s 23 points, but the Eagles allowed Michigan State to shoot 52.8 percent for the game.
“A lot of layups,” lamented Smith. “I’m pretty upset at the lack of transition defense.”
Michigan State already has played Gonzaga (lost 109-106 in triple OT), Arizona (won, 74-71 in OT), Georgia Tech (won, 88-86) and the Big Ten schedule hasn’t even begun.
“If we’re not as prepared as any team in America by the end of this month . . .” said Izzo.
The Eagles (6-1) trailed 59-46 with 8:27 left before coach Al Skinner went to a small lineup and a 1-2-2 three-quarters-court trap. The Eagles closed to within 69-67 with 1:22 left.
But senior Matt Trannon, one of the wimpy Michigan State power forwards, stood tall at the line and swished two free throws with 1:07 left to hold off BC. The Eagles play at Maryland on Sunday in their first ACC game.
“I was just hoping he’d [hit] the rim so we’d get the rebound,” joked Izzo.
Uh-oh. Izzo is joking in December. This is a bad sign for the rest of college basketball teams. He might have found his answer at power forward in Gray and Trannon who combined for 14 points and eight rebounds.
“Mentally we’re a tough team,” Izzo said. “. . . We have get more physical.”
It’s still December. Izzo isn’t done turning his wimps into warriors.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com
