Allen delivers defensive effort of career

ANN ARBOR - While Michigan State coach Tom Izzo sometimes resembles a madman, stomping his way across the court and often giving officials more than an earful, he's a relatively sane person.

But something about the Spartans' 57-56 win at Michigan Tuesday may have sent him over the deep end in recent years.

"When I think that I put Chris Allen on Manny Harris, (if) you would have told me that a year ago they would have taken me to a nut ward," Izzo said.

The junior guard checked the Wolverines' (10-10, 3-5 Big Ten) star guard for much of the game and confirmed what Izzo and many others have noticed for several weeks. Allen has made the transition from defensive liability to defensive stopper.

"That just showed me coach got faith in me, and in my defense," Allen said regarding Izzo's decision to stick him on Harris. "That just shows improvement."

A glance at the stat sheet wouldn't do Allen justice in this one, considering he finished 0-for-2 from the floor and didn't score in 29 minutes. The way he was able to contain the focal point of U-M's offense, however, made a big difference.

Harris scored 16 points, but finished just 5-of-13 shooting. He checked in with 16:50 remaining in the first half having been suspended from the team last week, and was held scoreless for over nine minutes before connecting on a free throw.

"That was a pretty good job by him and I'm really proud of him," Izzo said. "I said to him before the game, did you ever think this would happen a year ago? And the answer is no."

Izzo told Allen he intended to use him on Harris after Saturday's 60-53 win at Minnesota, when he held Golden Gophers standout guard Lawrence Westbrook to 15 points. Allen then enlisted some help, calling Big Ten defensive player of the year Travis Walton. Walton held Harris to seven points last season for the Spartans 54-42 win at Crisler Arena.

"I watched the game from last year and I talked to Travis," Allen said. "Travis was like just keep a hand on him, (keep) something on him. Just bump him, get him out of his game, and it worked."

Even though Harris said the defense was "no different than I've seen all year" following the game, it was certainly something different for the Spartans. Izzo used to joke that Allen couldn't find a guy on campus he could guard.

Tuesday night, however, he effectively guarded the biggest man on Michigan's campus.

SCORING MACHINE: Senior guard Raymar Morgan continued his hot play Tuesday, with double-digit points for a fourth straight game. Morgan had 20 points against U-M, coming off a 17-point performance at Minnesota. He had more than half of MSU's points in the first half with 13.

"My confidence is sky high right now," Morgan said. "I've been working on my game a lot."

Morgan was 8-of-9 shooting and also grabbed eight rebounds.

SMALL WORLD: Izzo opted for a smaller lineup against U-M, opting to put sophomore Draymond Green and sophomore Delvon Roe on 6-foot-8 DeShawn Sims. Freshman center Derrick Nix played briefly while Green was out with a knee injury, but fellow freshman center Garrick Sherman did not enter the game.

Izzo said after the game it would have been a tough assignment for Nix and Sherman, with Sims averaging 17.4 points per game.