MSU hopes for magical momentum shift

EAST LANSING - There was a bit of a smile on Raymar Morgan's face after practice Monday - a sight about as frequent as sunshine around here over the past six weeks.

Morgan had just emerged from another meeting with his Michigan State teammates. The difference was, this meeting was conducted by former MSU and NBA great Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

"It was huge," Morgan said. "I'd never really got a chance to talk to Magic on a face-to-face basis, so it was great."

Johnson flew in Monday from New Orleans, the site of the NBA All-Star Game, to visit with his parents and check in with his Spartans. He talked for nearly a half hour, singling out players including Morgan and urging them to "have a purpose for playing," Morgan said.

"I think we've lost that a little bit," Morgan said, and no one appears to have lost more momentum than the 6-foot-7 sophomore forward.

The No. 19 Spartans (20-5 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) have lost three of four games to drop from the Big Ten title race. The next game, Wednesday at home against Penn State, will be the first step in what they hope is a turnaround in time for the NCAA Tournament.

Morgan is the individual focal point. He had a season-low three points in Saturday's 80-61 loss at Indiana.

After averaging 17.4 points a game in the nonleague season, Morgan is at 12.7 a game in Big Ten play - and that includes the career-high 31 he had in the opener against Minnesota.

The jumper isn't falling. Neither are the free throws (57.8 percent in league play). The rebounding and defense appear to be suffering, while the turnovers remain steady.

"We've got a lot of questions on Raymar," MSU coach Tom Izzo said. "He's had some ups and downs, more downs than ups in recent performances. It's something we've talked to him about and we're gonna continue to work on."

Izzo believes some of the problem can be traced to opposing defenses stacking up on Morgan in light of his brilliant play in November and December. Also, that play prompted some in the media to speculate about Morgan perhaps considering the NBA after this season, a potential distraction.

But Morgan said Monday that the outside talk and NBA speculation have nothing to do with his slide. An early jump, he said, didn't really cross his mind.

"I think I'm just in a slump overall," he said. "Mentally and just in general."

Morgan said he's working through it, and that if he spends more time at power forward in the future as expected, it could help him regain some confidence and aggressiveness.

MORE MAGIC: Perhaps Johnson's speech will help Morgan. He helped former MSU star Mateen Cleaves out of a slump nine years ago, urging Cleaves to "have fun" a day before Cleaves broke out with a huge game against Michigan.

On Monday, Johnson talked about passion and "swagger," said Drew Neitzel, but he also impressed the players by getting into specifics.

"He knows how many points people are averaging, rebounds, how many points people were averaging at the beginning of the season," Neitzel said. "He watches every game and follows us closely, and that's the neat thing about this program. It makes you realize you're part of something pretty special."

GIVING IT AWAY: The Spartans are averaging 16.1 turnovers a game in Big Ten play, including 19 in each of last week's losses. Some are "mind-boggling," Izzo said, and he continues to try to figure a way to halt the trend.

"Turnovers, it's like penalties in football, they kind of, in my mind, show a lack of discipline," Izzo said. "That's what I should be controlling. We are working on it, and we're talking about it."

Of course, Izzo also has worried about talking about it too much and, in the process, making his players so tentative they make more mistakes.

MSU has drastically cut down on illegal screening, a problem earlier in the season. The staff is working with Morgan to help him limit the traveling violations he seems to get in every game.

"At least there's a chance to correct that," Izzo said.

But a lot of the general sloppiness is either going to go away or continue to betray MSU's offense, which happens to lead the Big Ten in shooting (48.8 percent).

TICKETS: A limited number of $13 tickets are available for Wednesday's game and for Saturday's 2 p.m. game against Iowa. Call 800-GO-STATE or (517) 355-1610, or go to msuspartans.com.

KEEP IT CLASSY: Neitzel is one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which is based on the following criteria: classroom, community, character and competition.

Fans can vote for Neitzel until March 21 at www.seniorclassaward.com.

Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@lsj.com.