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V-Cast: talking Michigan State hoops and hockey after Spartans win GLI Championship

On3 imageby:Paul Konyndyk•12/31/24•

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Michigan State faced WMU in both basketball and hockey on Monday, and came out on top in both games. On the basketball court, the Spartans improved to 11-2 with an 80-62 win over the Broncos in a performance that left a lot to be desired for the final tune-up before Big Ten play resumes. In hockey, the No. 1 ranked Spartans defeated No. 4 ranked Western Michigan in the Championship of the Great Lakes Invitational.

Afterward, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk checked in from Van Andel with the final V-Cast of the 2024 calendar year.

V-CAST TOPICS

Not According to Script: Michigan State’s final non-conference game in basketball did not play out the way Tom Izzo would have liked. Against a Western Michigan team that has struggled to be competitive against teams within its own peer group, Michigan State played down to the level of its opponent. The Spartans committed an inordinate number of turnovers and struggled to rebound the ball effectively. Some of the issues that Michigan State had rebounding the basketball may have had something to do with the illness that prevented Jaxon Kohler from making the contribution he typically does. One of the positives for Michigan State in this game was the play of junior center Carson Cooper who scored a career-high 13 points in the 80-62 win.

Are the Spartans ready to Big Ten Play? Michigan State returns to Big Ten play with a road game at Ohio State on January 3. The Buckeyes have been wildly inconsistent to this point in the season with impressive 20-point plus wins over teams like Indiana State and Kentucky as well as really lopsided losses to Auburn and Maryland. The Spartans cannot afford, however, to take Ohio State lightly given the success that the Buckeyes have had against Izzo’s ballclub in recent match-ups.

Playing like No. 1: Michigan State has spent several weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in college hockey, and the Spartans have earned their place at the top of the college hockey rankings with quality wins against good teams. The Spartans added another impressive win to their resume with a 3-1 victory over No. 4 ranked WMU in the championship game of the GLI Hockey Tournament. After skating even with the Broncos for the first two periods of this game, Michigan State did the dirty work around the net that enabled them to score a pair of third-period goals that gave the Spartans their first GLI Championship since 2009.

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