Nick Ward of the Michigan State taking the USU rematch personally

Next Sunday is a rematch against his home state Ohio State Buckeyes (13h / CBS). The 6-year-old and 9-year-old junior striker from Gahanna, a suburb of Columbus, exorcised two years of demons in his hometown after scoring 21 points and 8 rebounds in MSU's 86-77 victory at Ohio State on 5 August. January.

And this remains a personal game to Ward.

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"It's still a motivation to go against my home country," said Ward, who averages 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game this season.

Ward's win in three games coincided with the Spartans' three-game losing streak, but he returned to form on Saturday with a 22-point game and nine rebounds in a win over Minnesota. Then Tuesday in Wisconsin, he scored nine points in the first period and added three points late. Yet even without scoring, Ward affected the match with his defense on Happ and passing the ball off the post to prepare his teammates.

And MSU's offensive this season has worked at its best when Ward is using pass capacity, he has been working all season off to defeat the doubles teams.

"It's pretty good. All my teammates share the ball very well, "said Ward, who has already had 22 career assists. "It's great, I can not complain. I am taking pictures, playing and everything else. I can not complain. And in addition, we won these last games. "

Izzo said he had eliminated Ward from the bench for a match, against Illinois, as a "motivational tactic" after talking to his big man. He saw the answer he wanted and he thinks that "Nick is perhaps the best place he has been since arriving here".

"Maybe from time to time, there is a relapse of forgetfulness which has brought him to where he is," Izzo said. "So if he stops running, yes, I'll tell him he has to run harder. It does not necessarily put him in my niche. … it's in my dog ​​house, I'll tell you that it's in my dog ​​house.

"I think most of the time, my relationship with Nick Ward and hers was really good. He just comes back from time to time. And when he does, I pull the chain. "

Ahrens sick

Kyle Ahrens, who has a backache, did not train on Thursday. The back tightened during the second half of Tuesday in Wisconsin. Managing the junior striker's health is a juggling act that he and he believes should allow Izzo to last the rest of the season.

"It's part of our problem, getting some consistency when we do not have guys who train every day," Izzo said. "So, given that, I think our guys did a lot of work."

Ahrens first injured his back in his first game against Ohio State, before engraving him again at home against Purdue on Jan. 8 and missing the next two games. He also did not play at Purdue on January 27 after upgrading after losing a ball to Iowa three days earlier.

Over the last four games, the 6-6 drummer has averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds and is making 33.3% in 23.8 minutes. He played only 16 minutes on Tuesday and had five points and four rebounds against the Badgers.

Izzo on Beilein

Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo, left, and Michigan coach John Beilein. (Photo11: Julian H. Gonzalez, DFP, Julian H. Gonzalez, DFP)

Izzo had not yet seen the expulsion of Michigan coach John Beilein on Thursday afternoon, but the Michigan state coach praised him. from his counterpart.

"I've heard about it." "Very unusual," Izzo said after practice. "To be honest with you, I heard that it was a call to the point of interrogation. And usually it's a question mark, even if it's the right call, it's not the kind of guy to have two techniques, so without seeing it, I have to say I'm sorry for him.

Izzo said that the Big Ten coaches had a symbiotic working relationship with the officials in which they knew each other, knew their trends and worked to avoid the situations of ejection. This surprised him that the referees threw him with such a short fuse.

This is the second time Beilein has been ejected and the first since he was 26 as a second-year head coach at Erie Community College in New York.

By the way, Izzo has never been ejected in 824 games, all at the MSU.

"What do you mean? Beilein, this idiot, get run like this? Oh, man, "Izzo said with a good laugh. "I just can not believe John Beilein pushing the envelope he's not right, it's just proven that he's what he is." been a class guy all the time. "

MSU and Michigan – tied for first place in the Big Ten standings – play on February 24 in Ann Arbor, and finish their regular season on March 9 in East Lansing.