EAST LANSING - Lights flashed, techno music blared, 11,597 fans stomped and screamed, and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo looked around and muttered: "I must be out of my ... mind."
It was Dec. 4, 2007, at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill., home of the Bradley Braves. The Braves were at home to play their first top-10 team in 25 years - because teams like Michigan State don't agree to play teams like Bradley on the road.
But Izzo took the challenge, earned some chuckles on press row with his pre-game exclamation, escaped with a 66-61 win after trailing by nine in the second half, and learned his lesson. Or not.
Tonight, the No. 5 Spartans (1-0) travel to Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (0-1) in what promises to be another rowdy scene at Allen County Memorial Coliseum.
"So now I'm out of my mind again," Izzo said. "But it is what it is, and we're going to have to go on the road (later in the season), so I think there's some good to it."
Games like this provide danger - just ask the 1999-2000 MSU national title team that lost at Wright State - and little payoff. But Izzo wants to prepare this team for the hostility of the road..
A typically harrowing nonleague schedule cranks up from here with the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 27-30. Potential opponents include No. 9 Gonzaga, No. 14 Tennessee and No. 22 Georgetown.
That's followed immediately by a matchup with No. 1 North Carolina on Dec. 3 at Ford Field. So tonight can be viewed as a much-needed adversity appetizer for the Spartans.
It's also a favor from Izzo to his friend, IPFW coach and former Indiana star Dane Fife. Asked Monday if he would have scheduled this game if Fife weren't on the other bench, Izzo smiled and said: "No."
The Mastodons did not look good in their season opener, a 71-43 loss at Xavier. Fife lost some key players from last season's team that went 13-18 and tied for fifth in the Summit League.
MSU, meanwhile, looked offensively prolific in Sunday's season-opening 100-62 win over Idaho. Raymar Morgan and Chris Allen scored 21 points apiece, but the Spartans were outrebounded 33-31 by the Vandals.
"For a team to come into our place," senior Travis Walton said, "our environment that we have, and outrebound us, is terrible."
Izzo also wasn't thrilled with some of his team's defensive mistakes. In front of 10,000 or so unfriendly fans, such miscues can help a heavy underdog.
"We've got to get in their face right away," MSU senior center Goran Suton said. "We can't let them get hot."
