Spartans' schedule begins to toughen up

EAST LANSING — When Michigan State’s nonleague schedule was unveiled in August, it did not have the immediate sizzle of some Spartans schedules past.

Look at it now. MSU has played No. 2 UCLA and a good Missouri team. Future foe BYU (Dec. 8 in Salt Lake City) upset then-No. 6 Louisville over the weekend, nearly did the same to No. 1 North Carolina, and found itself ranked No. 21 in Monday’s Associated Press poll.

Texas (Dec. 22 at The Palace of Auburn Hills) bombed then-No. 7 Tennessee on Saturday and jumped to No. 8 in the rankings.

Wednesday’s opponent, North Carolina State, fell out of the poll last week after an upset loss to New Orleans, but the Wolfpack won the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., over the weekend — edging then-No. 20 Villanova on Sunday to clinch it. N.C. State is now ranked No. 24.

“And Bradley’s good, too, don’t forget about them,” MSU junior guard Walton said of a team the Spartans will visit a week from today. “We’ve got a tough schedule coming up, no doubt, so we’ve got to pick up our game.”

The Spartans, who remained at No. 10 in Monday’s rankings, get the Wolfpack at Breslin Center, but Texas at The Palace will be less of a homecourt advantage. And BYU and Bradley — the games coach Tom Izzo said he “feared the most” when the schedule was constructed — will be played in hostile environments.

“I think this could end up one of the top two or three non-conference schedules we’ve had,” Izzo said, which is a bold statement considering nonleague slates such as 1999 (North Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, Texas, Kansas) and 2003 (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma, UCLA, Syracuse).

INJURY UPDATE: Marquise Gray, who played sparingly in Saturday’s 75-71 win over Oakland because of an ankle sprain, returned to practice Monday. Drew Neitzel continues to improve from the illness he picked up last week and should be close to full strength for Wednesday’s game.

ANOTHER CRACK: The Big Ten will try this week to avoid going 0-for-9 in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. MSU is 4-3 entering the N.C. State game.

Izzo said the matchups have been “ridiculously skewed” in some seasons, but conceded that the Big Ten needs to get it done on the court. The perception of both leagues, he said, has been shaped in part by the results of the Challenge.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “that carries through the year.”

ANOTHER BIG FRESHMAN: A week after matching up with UCLA freshman center Kevin Love, the Spartans will tangle with another big youngster who might be in the NBA next season.

J.J. Hickson leads N.C. State with 18.0 points and 8.0, despite coming off the bench. At 6-foot-9, 242 pounds, Hickson has strength and quickness. Izzo compared him to former Spartan Zach Randolph.

“Great footwork and great hands. … If he gets it down there, he’s scoring,” Izzo said.

“We’ve got to beat him with our feet and stay out of foul trouble,” said MSU’s Drew Naymick, who will guard Hickson often. “We didn’t do that against UCLA.”

Izzo recruited Hickson, who is from the Atlanta area. Hickson is good friends with MSU freshman guard Chris Allen. They played on the same AAU team, coached by Allen’s father.

But Izzo said Hickson’s family made it clear early in his recruitment that they wanted him to stay closer to home.

PROGRESS SEEN, NEEDED: Allen and fellow freshman Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers have been up and down through five games, as expected.

Lucas (6.2 points per game, 19 assists to 13 turnovers) is starting at point guard and “at times has been very, very good,” Izzo said, while struggling to find his way at others.

Summers (8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds) “is gonna be one of the great rebounding guards we’ve had, in the Charlie Bell-Jason Richardson mold,” Izzo said. He’ll earn more time when he better grasps MSU’s team defense concepts.

Izzo said of Allen: “He’s really improved his defense a lot.” But the outside specialist is just 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from 3-point range so far. He’s averaging 8.8 points a game.

“I’m disappointed in his shooting because he can shoot a lot better than that,” Izzo said.

ON DANTONIO: Izzo was asked about the MSU football team, which finished the regular season 7-5 and will find out its bowl destination Sunday. He said of first-year coach Mark Dantonio: “It’s been affirmed we’ve got the right guy for the job.”

Izzo sat with his son, Steven, in the messy conditions as MSU came back from a 24-7 deficit to beat Penn State 35-31 in the regular-season finale.

“It was what it should be,” Izzo said. “The way we won that game was about as good as it gets. Fortunately or unfortunately, (Dantonio’s) got to build from that.”