Michigan State, U of D will both be part of ESPN’s 24 hours of hoops
July 12, 2012 in Cover Story, Division I
ESPN recently announced its schedule for its season-opening 24-hour college basketball marathon starting Nov. 13, and both Michigan State and the University of Detroit will both play.
Michigan State plays Kansas at 7 p.m. and Detroit plays St. John’s at 2 p.m.
Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo!’s The Dagger ranked all 12 of the games in the marathon. Here’s what he had to say about MSU-Kansas:
2. Kansas vs. Michigan State (from Atlanta), 7 p.m. EST
Comment: The Jayhawks will have a huge advantage in this matchup of perennial Final Four contenders. Michigan State will play a mere four days after opening its season against Connecticut at a U.S. military base in Germany, a scenario eerily reminiscent to the loss the Spartans suffered to Duke last season in New York two days after facing North Carolina in San Diego.
And here’s Eisenberg on UD-St. Johns:
7. Detroit at St. John’s, 2 p.m. EST
Comment: To avenge a 69-63 loss to Detroit last season, St. John’s will have to do a better job on Titans star Ray McCallum Jr. The talented point guard scorched the Johnnies for an efficient 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting last year. The good news for St. John’s is it will have considerably more depth than a year ago when six players logged all but seven minutes.
I think it’s worth noting that although Detroit does lose key big men LaMarcus Lowe and Eli Holman, the Titans, thanks to a strong recruiting class and Nick Minnerath returning from injury, could have more depth as well for the rematch of one of their signature wins last season.
