Key matchup: Familiarity in frontcourt adds layer of intrigue to Gonzaga-Michigan State game
SAN DIEGO – How Gonzaga and Michigan State handle the unique elements of Friday’s game on the USS Abraham Lincoln may prove more significant than how the Bulldogs and Spartans handle each other.
Will 10-mph wind gusts influence perimeter shooting? Does a setting sun blind whichever team has to face it head on in the first half? Is depth perception a major factor, a minor factor or no factor at all?
But it’s hard to speculate on any of that until a ball is in the air, so let’s proceed as planned and delve into the individual matchups the Armed Forces Classic is serving up.
Not including closed-door scrimmages, the Bulldogs and Spartans haven’t met in 11 years, but you don’t have to look hard to find connections between the players suiting up in Friday’s game.
A pair of veteran forwards, 6-foot-8 Malik Hall and 6-9 Joey Hauser, headline a small-yet-physical Michigan State frontcourt.
Hall and Hauser combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds in a season-opening win against Northern Arizona and should play more than 30 minutes each against the Zags.
Hall, who was born at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane while his father Lorenzo served as a men’s basketball assistant at Eastern Washington, is one of the many college basketball players who’ve been befriended by Gonzaga All-American Drew Timme.
“They got my boy Malik over there,” Timme said of the versatile Spartan forward earlier this week. “A great friend of mine. I know he’s a stud and everything.”
There could be instances when Timme and Hall match up against each other , but the productive GU senior is more likely to draw Hauser or 6-9 center Mady Sissoko. Timme faced Hauser’s older brother, Sam, who’s with the Boston Celtics, during a 98-75 Gonzaga victory over Virginia. Timme scored 29 points and Gonzaga held Sam to 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
“He’s a veteran and he’s done it all for them,” Timme said of the younger Hauser, who had 18 points against NAU.
Add another frontcourt connection to the mix: Gonzaga starting forward Anton Watson played with Paxson Wojcik, the son of Michigan State assistant Doug Wojcik, while Tom Izzo’s top aide worked under Mark Few as a special assistant in Spokane from 2015-16.
The Spartans also have some background knowledge on Gonzaga guard Rasir Bolton, but it’s minimal and might even be outdated at this point. Bolton encountered Izzo’s team once as a freshman at Penn State, playing 6 minutes and missing both of his field-goal attempts in a 71-56 Big Ten loss.
It’s rare for Bolton to take the floor against an opposing player who maintains a higher 3-point percentage than the steady senior guard, but that’ll be the case. Michigan State senior Tyson Walker, a former Northeastern player, made 47% of his attempts last year, a touch better than Bolton’s 46% clip.