MARQUETTE — “… and from Iron Mountain Michigan …”
The murmur in the darkness.
“… a 1977 Northern Michigan graduate …”
The long wait ending.
“…please welcome back, No. 10, Tommmm Izzzzzoooooo!!!!”
The lights flipped back on, and a thunderous roar that could be heard from St. Ignace to Sault Ste. Marie and, yes, even Iron Mountain, echoed off the roof and wooden rafters of the Superior Dome.
Tom Izzo brought college basketball back to the Upper Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula to the rest of the country.
Izzo’s long-dreamed-about exhibition game against his alma mater, Northern Michigan, finally became a reality, tipping off Michigan State basketball’s season Sunday afternoon with a 70-53 victory in the Superior Dome Showdown.
Freshman Jase Richardson led the balanced Spartans with 11 points off the bench as 10 players scored. Julien Smith’s 10 points were the tops for the pesky Wildcats, who held their own throughout the day in front of a sellout crowd of more than 11,000.
But basketball really was secondary. This one was about Izzo, plain and simple.
REQUIRED READING: Tom Izzo’s Yooper homecoming: Michigan State coach has U.P., hometown abuzz
Homecoming celebration
Izzo greeted and met with as many people as imaginable throughout the past two days in Marquette. He had fans from both schools waving towels when NMU retired his jersey number at the first media timeout of the first half, his 98-year-old mother Dorothy and the rest of his family on the court, including son Steven wearing a No. 10 NMU football jersey. The Wildcats gave away an autographed Izzo jersey at halftime for a contest.
And when 11-year-old Senya Smith of Marquette was introduced with her family during a second-half stoppage, preparing for her final chemo infusion this week at CM Mott Children’s Hospital in Flint, every bit of the true impact of what this meant to Izzo and the U.P. showed in her face as the 69-year-old Hall of Fame coach came over and put his arm around her. Tears flowed, from Senya and Tom.
Pure Yooper love. Pure Izzo. A pure Michigan moment.
First steps
As for the basketball, well, it looked like it should have — a Division I powerhouse dismantling a Division II school, and also a season-starting game on Oct. 13. The Spartans do not open regular-season play until Nov. 4 at home against Monmouth, with another D-II exhibition game against Ferris State on Oct. 29 at Breslin Center.
Izzo started Jeremy Fears Jr. at point guard, less than 10 months after the redshirt freshman was shot in the left leg and missed the bulk of the 2023-24 season. He was joined by senior Jaden Akins at shooting guard, sophomore Xavier Booker at small forward and two senior transfers, Frankie Fidler on the wing and Szymon Zapala at center.
Despite playing three August games in Spain, MSU struggled to shake off the rust offensively as Izzo went to nearly wholesale substitutions early and often to get looks at different combinations. The Spartans led 6-5 after a sloppy first six minutes by both teams, then pulled away with a 24-9 burst over the next 9½ minutes, highlighted by three straight 3-pointers from Fears, Fidler and freshman Kur Teng.
Izzo made it a priority to get to the free-throw line more frequently, and the Spartans did so throughout the game. MSU went 18-for-23 at the line and drew 18 fouls, with Fears getting four while driving frequently into the paint.
Fidler, however, battled foul trouble and started the second half on the bench, with sophomore Coen Carr replacing him. Carr also finished with four fouls. Fidler had five points and Carr scored two.
MSU’s size advantage was clear as the 7-footer Zapala had nine rebounds with six points, including a put-back dunk. Jaxon Kohler had nine points and eight rebounds off the bench as the Spartans outrebounded NMU, 40-29. And Booker had 10 points with three blocks and a pair of rebounds.
MSU shot just 33.3% in the first half but recovered by making 51.9% in the second. Akins scored just four points on 2-for-12 shooting.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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