Izzo will wait and see on Sampson

EAST LANSING - Michigan State coach Tom Izzo doesn't know what to make of close friend and Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson's latest brush with the NCAA.

Izzo has his own problems as MSU has lost two of its past three games heading into Saturday night's game against the Hoosiers in Bloomington (9 p.m., ESPN).

"I did talk to (Sampson) a little the other day and there's some pretty harsh things that are being said, and if those are true it's gonna be a tough situation," Izzo said after practice Thursday. "If they're not, hopefully they can move on.

"I'm sure it's been some kind of a distraction, and yet like I told my team we're not gonna worry about their distractions, we're gonna worry about our team."

The NCAA released a report on Wednesday citing five "major" violations and stated that Sampson, "Acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct ... by providing the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff false or misleading information."

Most recently, Sampson allegedly made illegal phone calls to recruits, while the program was on its one-year probation.

In May of 2006, Sampson's first at Indiana, he was hit with the one-year ban forbidding the Indiana staff to call recruits and visit them off-campus for violations committed while Sampson was still coaching at Oklahoma.

"Disappointed, bummed out," Izzo said of Sampson's mood during their phone conversation. "I mean, it's a tough situation when those kinds of allegations come out. I really haven't taken the time to read the stuff, but I've talked with a few people that have. There seem to be a few new things and a few old things, but (he's) not ecstatic about what's going on that's for sure."

LINEUP SHIFT? Izzo said that he's considering a lineup shift for Saturday's game.

"I'm looking at it, to be honest with you, no hidden secrets," Izzo said. "I don't have any secrets. We practiced a little this morning and a little bit tonight, and by (Friday) I'm gonna figure whether or not I'm gonna change a few people. If I do it'll be more for the reasons of getting some chemistry in our substitution pattern which has been not very good."

Izzo joked that he's thought about removing each of the current starters from the lineup for this weekend's game. MSU's bench has been relatively short in recent weeks, as junior Marquise Gray as well as freshmen Chris Allen and Durrell Summers have seen a drop in their minutes.

"With everybody healthy, I think I'm gonna look at that and see what I think will be help us because we have to play more people more minutes," Izzo said. "We can't get stuck with this three-guard lineup, this three small-guard lineup all the time. It's not beneficial to us."

But according to Izzo there's a chance he may revisit the experiment from earlier this season of taking out junior Travis Walton in favor of freshman Kalin Lucas.

"One big plus, No. 1, Kalin's playing well," Izzo said. "No. 2, I'll never be stuck with three freshmen in there together.

"But Kalin has deserved his accolades, too, I think, as one of the better freshmen in this league. I think what has been fun for me is, there's never been a word said from Kalin. He's just done his job. He hasn't let that be a distraction from the day we changed it back. Some day I think that's gonna benefit him greatly because he's had to earn some things."

AIR GORDON: MSU's guards will receive a serious test in trying to defend Indiana star freshman Eric Gordon, who leads the Big Ten in scoring at 21.4 points a game. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder provides a number of challenges.

"He's a bad boy," Walton said. "It's gonna be tough. He's a great player. He can shoot off the dribble, he can shoot off the catch, he can drive. I don't think you can really stop him, you just have to contain him and make every shot he takes tough."

Walton said Gordon reminds him of past MSU wings Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown, as well as a few current Spartans.

"He's got a little bit of every one of them," Walton said. "He's got a little bit of the Mo (Ager) that can come off screens and shoot and can drive. Then he's got that Shannon with the hops. And he's got a little bit of Kalin in him, too, because he's got a hell of a quick first step, and he can also handle the rock."

DISTRACTIONS, WHAT DISTRACTIONS? With ESPN's Game Day scheduled to be in Bloomington and both teams tied for second place in the conference with identical records (20-4, 9-2 Big Ten), the atmosphere will be charged. But all of the outside distractions are of little concern to MSU's players.

"There's a good team all-around," MSU junior Goran Suton said. "Yeah, they've got two superstars, (D.J. White) inside and Eric Gordon on the outside, and they're gonna be tough to guard. But I think if we help each other out, we can get it done."