The Final Four Is Not On The Schedule - A Podcast Discussing Michigan State Basketball.

February 9, 2023: Mady Sissoko sits down with the TFFINOTS team to talk about life in his home of Bafoulabe, Mali in west Africa, his recruitment to MSU, and what he hopes to do for his village back home. Mady definitely see basketball as a way to give back and transform his impoverished home town.

Be creating a charitable foundation, he is looking to raise money to build a school in his village. Currently, children have to walk an hour and a half to get to and then from school. After school, they are expected to work on their farms so many children stop going to school at a young age because it takes too long and is too tiring to walk and then farm.

Mady is looking to raise $50,000 over the next few months to begin construction of the school to benefit his village and all the neighboring villages of school aged children. He sees this as a great way to help the future of lots of families in his home.

Make a charitable tax free donation at the Mady Sissoko Foundation.

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February 7, 2023: Michigan State hosted a hot Maryland team late Tuesday night and managed to pull out the win 63-58 in a game that ended up a lot closer than it seemed it would at first. MSU started the game on a 15-0 run before Maryland was able to get any scoring. The Terrapins managed to stay in contact with the Spartans and only trailed by 9 going into half time.

MSU started out well in the second half and then the wheels came off as they gave up a 14-0 run and actually trailed Maryland midway through the second half. Maryland was only able to extend the lead to 4 points before MSU went on another run of 8-0 behind some big 3s and never looked back.

The Spartans improve now to 7-6 in the Big Ten behind the strong performances of Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, and Joey Hauser. Next up for MSU is a date with the reeling Buckeyes in Columbus on SuperBowl Sunday.

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February 5, 2023: Michigan State looks to 'get right' on Tuesday night as it welcomes in the Maryland Terrapins for their only meeting this season. MSU is due for a little home cooking as it needs to get back on track from behind the arc in order to generate the offense it needs to win games. Defensively MSU has been generally solid of late but the offense has been largely stagnant behind the point guard play of AJ Hoggard. What was once a strength of this team in the backcourt has become a little bit of a problem as AJ has failed to effectively attack opposing defenses.

This is a Maryland team that is riding a four game winning streak but has obvious weaknesses in poor shooting (especially from 3) and defensive rebounding. A decent offensive rebounding team, the Spartans will have to be strong on the glass to limit the Terrapins' second chances. That is always a priority against a team that doesn't shoot jumpers very well.

Check out our Maryland preseason show here.

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February 4, 2023: In a game where MSU's shooting was as cold from outside as it was outside in the snow, the Spartans lose to Rutgers 61-55 on just 19% shooting from behind the arc. Unlike the first meeting in East Lansing, MSU held their own on the boards and actually finished outrebounding the Scarlet Knights by 10. But it wasn't enough as costly turnovers and poor shooting doomed the Spartans in a game that was there to be had.

MSU will look to bounce back on Tuesday night against the Maryland Terrapins in the Breslin Center.

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February 2, 2023: It's another matchup with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for Michigan State but this time its not at the Breslin Center, but Madison Square Gardens in New York. This is probably a bullet dodged by MSU to avoid playing at the RAC where Rutgers is extremely hard to beat. However, the Knights will once again be a tough matchup for the Spartans.

In the last matchup, Rutgers obliterated MSU on the offensive glass where they pulled down 18 in the game. Luckily for MSU, Rutgers shot poorly at only 32% for the game and a miserable 2-17 from 3 which effectively neutralized their advantage on the glass. The Spartans drained 12 of 22 from deep giving them a 30 point advantage from behind the arc.

Listen to our Rutgers preseason show here.

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February 1, 2023: Michigan State finally has a few days to rest between games after their brutal January schedule so we thought it would be a good time to check back in with LSJ columnist, Graham Couch. We spoke to Graham about where he sees this MSU team at the turn (halfway through the Big Ten season) and the rest of the Big Ten.

Will the Purdue Boilermakers keep up this pace in the league? Can they go deep in the tournament? How about MSU?

And most importantly, what is to be done about officiating in the Big Ten and college basketball in general?

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January 29, 2023: Mackey Arena remains a house of horrors for the Spartans as they drop another game on the road to #1 Purdue. Michigan State will have to wait at least another year as they haven't won on Purdue's floor since the 2013-14 season. The lumbering 7'4" Zach Edey was once again too much for MSU as he had 38 points and was complemented by 3 point shooting from a number of unlikely contributors in the Purdue backcourt.

MSU will have a few days to rest and regroup before taking on second place Rutgers in Madison Square Gardens on Saturday. Despite the lackluster results for this Spartans team there are still 9 games and the Big Ten Tournament left to get the MSU engine running before a (hopefully) deep run in the NCAA tournament. Rod describes why he thinks MSU is about to start a run.

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January 27, 2023: After losing a heartbreaker to Purdue in East Lansing two weeks ago, MSU has a chance for revenge. Aside from being in a different arena, this time the Spartans will have Mr. Versatility, Malik Hall. In the previous matchup, MSU chose to largely play Edey straight up and double hard off Morton. The strategy largely worked as they held Edey to just 50% from the field (he averages 61%) and limited Purdue's 3 point attempts to 10.

On the offensive side of the floor, MSU went to work with mid range jumpers with Tyson Walker leading the way with over 30 points. The question is whether Purdue uses a similar defensive technique against MSU and attacks Michigan State similarly on the offensive side of the ball.

Check out our Purdue preseason show here.

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January 26, 2023: In a game where MSU didn't play smoothly offensively against a poor defensive team, they did just enough to squeak out a win over the Hawkeyes. In good news for the Spartans, Malik Hall returned back to the floor and looked like Malik Hall without a bit of rust. He played 25 effective minutes on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.

Michigan State effectively bottled up Iowa's leading scorer, Kris Murray, holding him to just 11 points on 5-13 shooting and 0-5 from behind the arc. Also, MSU managed to force 10 steals on an Iowa team that rarely turns the ball over. Those stats, along with 8-20 shooting for 3, propelled MSU to a victory over a difficult Iowa team.

The win got Michigan State to 6-4 in the first half of the Big Ten schedule which was quite an accomplishment considering all of the injuries they've had throughout the season. Hopefully, with a full complement of players they can get moving again and start piling up some wins as they prepare for a March run. Purdue in West Lafayette is next on the schedule and a rematch with Zach Edey.

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January 24, 2023: Iowa is coming to town and bringing another fantastic Murray brother into the Breslin on Thursday evening. Fran McCaffrey once again has a team with a very good offensive efficiency rating. And... once again they are terrible on defense. Michigan State looks to defend their home court and return to winning ways before heading on the road next Sunday at West Lafayette.

Interesting story lines abound in this game. Will Malik Hall return to the court? Patrick McCaffrey? Both players are critical to their team's success and how well and how much they play could decide the game's outcome. Also, will we continue to see a progression at the 5 for MSU in improved play from freshmen Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper?

Listen to our preseason episode on Iowa here.

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