20-0? I think NO.

In the closing seconds of last night's 77-70 victory over Boston College the Michigan State bench was all smiles, hugs, and handshakes. They thought they had just knocked off the #6 team in the country. Tom Izzo knew different.

"This was a step. How big a step? It's too early to tell."

At Madison Square Garden, in front of a largely Spartan-friendly crowd Michigan State proved that BC lacks the size the quickness to defend both good perimeter shooting and solid interior play. After a back and forth first half the Spartans quickly siezed control in the second half with an 18-4 run and an impressive shooting display. At the 7:00 minute mark in the second half the Spartans had missed exactly one shot since halftime and finished the half shooting over 77%. The Eagles responded to pull within 2 at 69-67 but were buried in the end by clutch free throw shooting by the Spartans. Down the stretch they made them all and for the game made 15 of 18 never opening the window for BC to pull within one possession.

Jared Dudley played well for BC scoring 23 points, most of which came in crunch time. His first team All American (scoff) teammate Craig Smith on the other hand was invisible throughout the second half. He scored 17 of his 18 points in the first 27 minutes of the game and was unable to beat Paul Davis one on one with 3 minutes to play and the Eagles trailing by 5. Davis, a good player, is not going to make anyone's NCAA all-defensive team. A first team All American should dominate him without help from the middle, Smith could not.

Over the first 7 games Smith seems unable to handle the defensive attention that opponents are paying him without the assistance of Shawn Williams in the middle. John Oates is hardly providing a second interior presence and until Williams returns the lack of a "true" big man will continue to put added defensive attention on Smith. This should not be a suprise, Smith while a shifty player with massive strength is only 6'8" and will not command the interior and be able to manage double teams from players with several inches on him. He scored his last basket last night at the 12:53 mark in the second half. A first team All American does not wilt on national television against a highly ranked opponent with Paul Davis on him when his team is trailing. If this team is to deserve a ranking anywhere in the neighborhood of #6 Smith is going to have to play better when the game is on the line.

No reasonable basketball observer can be surprised that BC lost this game. Michigan State had 2 losses coming in to the contest but one was against a top 10 team in Gonzaga and they already had a win against another top 10 team in Arizona. They were certainly more tested whereas BC had "earned" their top ranking by not losing to inferior competition while teams ranked ahead of them did so. Not to mention the Eagles, in both football and basketball, always lose this game. "This" game being a big early season game on a national stage which they have a chance to win but don't ultimately proving that they are still one step from elite (see Florida State).

You cannot take anything away from Michigan State's second half performance. They took the bull by the horns and shot the lights out scoring 51 points after only managing 26 in the first half. If you look at the box score the Spartans clearly outplayed the Eagles on the offensive end shooting 53.8% to BC's 46.9%. From beyond the arch Michigan State connected on 46.2% while the Eagles managed to only hit on 30%. And in perhaps the most important statistical category the Spartans hit 83.3% of their free throws while BC made just 66.7% (18-27).

On the positive Al Skinner's team proved that they can, at the very least hang in there with a top caliber team, even one that shoots 77% for the second half. Also the Eagles showed great resiliance in making a run to come back from a 54-41 defecit with 9 minutes to play and a 65-53 defecit with 5 minutes remaining. Had Michigan State missed some free throws or if another three pointer had dropped for BC (like Dudley's at 3:02 with the score 67-61) they would have been in a position to win this game, which is more than I expected. Frankly, I thought that they were going to get blown out of the building in this one, at least we can take something out of that not being the case.

I think what we learned from this game is that Michigan State was a bit underrated at #14 due to their murderous schedule over their first few games and that BC was a bit overrated at #6 due to their easy schedule and the teams ahead of them falling off. In the end we won't know much about this BC team until we get into the arduous ACC season which begins on Sunday in College Park, Maryland against Gary Williams and the Terrapins.

One quick sidenote: This game was played for the V. Foundation for cancer research, named after the late Jim Valvano. Every year one of Valvano's closest friends ESPN color man Dick Vitale gives a speech at halftime of the second game about the foundation and his deceased friend.

This year as Vitale started his comments a smattering of boos was heard throughout Madison Square Garden. That is absolutely deplorable. We all know that Dickie V. is a Duke homer and sometimes irritatingly over enthusiastic but that does not change the fact that he is a man who lost a friend and wants to do something to help erradicate a terrible disease. Largely due to his influence the V Foundation stays in the forefront of people's minds long after Valvano's death and as a result they have raised over 50 million dollars for cancer research.

Boo him all you want at ACC road games when he is brown nosing Coach K and J.J. Reddick, but when he is post-humously giving homage to a great and inspirational figure like Jimmy V. allow the man his piece. It's so obviously cathartic for him to get on stage and make a statement about his friend and this cause that to attempt to besmirch it is childish and embarassing. We are all better than that.