JULIUS MARBLE

A move back home has worked out well so far for one former Michigan State forward. Former Spartans forward Julius Marble earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Monday after a standout week for Texas A&M. Marble scored 17 points apiece in wins over Florida and LSU last week. Marble transferred from Michigan State last spring after three seasons in East Lansing. After a disappointing 8-5 non-conference slate that included losses to Murray State and Wofford, the Aggies are now a surprising 2-0 in SEC play.

Plenty of Michigan State followers have thought for weeks that the Spartans needed to mine the transfer portal for a new frontcourt player. Spartans center Julius Marble officially entered the portal, putting Michigan State in danger of losing its most experienced big man. Michigan State could also play Joey Hauser out of position there, after he announced on Wednesday that he’s returning in 2022-23. But if those three options don’t seem sufficient and Tom Izzo and company want to add another option there, the best bet is the transfer portal. Michigan State should have no trouble getting in the mix for his services if it wants to.

The wave of portal departures across college basketball has arrived at Michigan State. Spartans forward Julius Marble entered the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday, he confirmed in a text to MLive. It doesn’t rule out a potential return to Michigan State. Michigan State had not made any known overtures to centers in the transfer portal. Joey Hauser, who is currently mulling a return to Michigan State as a fifth-year player, also played center in limited capacity last year.

But as it unfolded, the bench realized the play would give Michigan State a favorable matchup it could exploit. In that matchup, point guard Tyson Walker rose up and hit a 3-pointer with one second left that sent Michigan State to a win over Purdue. Hoggard said he left Walker with a message. A week ago, Walker recorded 24 second-half points and 18 in the final seven minutes as Michigan State nearly came back upset Illinois. But no points for Michigan State this season have been bigger than his last three.

Tyson Walker made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, lifting Michigan State to a 68-65 win over No. 4 Purdue.

EAST LANSING – If Michigan State is ever going to toughen up for good, both mentally and physically, now is the time to do it. Michigan State has few glaring issues: it’s shooting the ball well and has an offense and defense both ranked near the top of the conference. But what’s been holding Michigan State back are things that don’t show up in the box score, Tom Izzo said. But Michigan State is plenty aware of how dangerous he can be. So while Michigan State has struggled for consistency for the last month, it can take comfort in the fact that it has company.

Seth Lundy hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining and finished with 17 points as Penn State beat No. 19 Michigan State 62-58.

Ryan Young had 18 points and eight rebounds, helping Northwestern hold on to beat No. 10 Michigan State 64-62 for its first road win over a top 10 team in nearly five years.

Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 29 points and No. 3 Kansas beat Michigan State 87-74 at the Champions Classic on the opening night of college basketball.

Note: This is the fifth in a series of stories evaluating returning players on Michigan State’s 2020-21 roster. Hoggard, Joey Hauser, Mady Sissoko, Malik Hall, Marcus Bingham Jr.EAST LANSING – Michigan State’s topsy-turvy season can be encapsulated, in a way, by looking at Julius Marble’s season. THE BASICS: Marble played 9.3 minutes per game, averaging 4.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 57.7 percent from the field. Put another way, if Marble were to play even 20 minutes per game, he would commit an average of 4.8 fouls per game. The full picture of Marble’s 2020-21 season must be considered, too.

OVERTIMEFINAL: UCLA 86, Michigan State 80Michigan State’s season is over and UCLA is moving on to face BYU in the NCAA Tournament first round on Saturday. Michigan State falls to UCLA for early exit from NCAA Tournament1:23: UCLA 81, Michigan State 78After nine straight points by UCLA dating back to late in the second half, Langford spilt a pair of free throws to pull Michigan State within three. Michigan State extended its tournament streak with a late-season push that included a trio of wins against top-five teams in Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan. GAME INFORMATION:Who: Michigan State (15-12) vs. UCLA (17-9)When: 10:19 p.m.Where: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette, Ind.) 206Line: Michigan State -2Twitter: Follow Kyle AustinRelated Michigan State basketball stories:Michigan State looks to go on NCAA Tournament run starting with play-in vs. UCLASpartan Confidential podcast: Michigan State, UCLA set for blue blood battleCan Michigan State go from a play-in game to an NCAA Tournament run?

“We keep playing musical chairs there, which isn’t good, but you can see why,” Izzo said on Tuesday. But in terms of consistency in the big man rotation, the game was a step back. Marble was a hero of the Spartans’ game against Duke in December, but two games later was scoreless in seven minutes. Bingham played double-digit minutes regularly in non-conference play, then sank out of the rotation early in Big Ten play. In most years, summer practices, exhibition games and non-conference buy games all help players and coaches sort out the rotation.

It’s not a question I thought would be posed a few weeks ago, when Michigan State was ranked in the top five. But it was the first one asked when I put out a call for Michigan State mailbag questions. Let’s send 2020 into the past with a final Michigan State mailbag for the year:Q: Must-win game against Nebraska. This stretch is bad, but Michigan State has had plenty of similar ones before. Michigan State needs to find a regular playing group and rotation to be able to find consistency and allow players to develop some chemistry.

EAST LANSING – More than once every 60 seconds of gameplay on Sunday, at least one Michigan State player was entering the game and one player was leaving it. That was partly a function of the final score and Tom Izzo emptying his bench late. Even by Izzo’s standards, Michigan State has played a deep rotation in the first three weeks of the season. “We’re playing a zillion guys,” Izzo said afterward. Against Oakland, Michigan State spent more time than normal with Joey Hauser playing center and Malik Hall at power forward.

8 Michigan State (3-0) vs. Detroit Mercy (0-0)When: 5 p.m. Where: Breslin Center, East LansingTV: Big Ten Network (Jeff Levering, Brian Butch)Radio: Spartan Sports Network, WJIM-AM (1240)/WMMQ-FM (94.9) in Lansing, WJR-AM (760) in Detroit, Sirius Ch. 196 (Streaming 958)Line: Michigan State -26Twitter: Follow Kyle AustinGAME NOTES• Michigan State has played Detroit Mercy 62 times in program history, but not since 2001. Michigan State leads the series 45-16, but Detroit has won three of the last four. He also upset Michigan State at the Breslin Center in 2014 while coaching Texas Southern. • This marks the first year since 2015-16 that Michigan State has started a season 3-0.

KALAMAZOO, MI — A two-vehicle crash Thursday morning in Kalamazoo resulted in a man being extricated from his vehicle and taken to the hospital where he is in serious condition. The crash occurred at 11:45 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 3 at the intersection of South Westnedge Avenue and West Lovell Street, prompting a shutdown of South Westnedge between West Lovell and South streets. Arriving officers located an unconscious male entrapped in one vehicle, a news release from Kalamazoo Public Safety states. After being extricated from the vehicle, the man was transported to Bronson Methodist Hospital by Life EMS for serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at 269-337-8140, Silent Observer at 269-343-2100 or report online at www.kalamazoosilentobserver.com.

A few days before Michigan State traveled to Duke for a top-10 matchup, sophomore forward Julius Marble went to Tom Izzo’s office to make a common college basketball request. Marble came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points in 12 minutes in the win at Duke on Tuesday. But there was little drop off when Michigan State went to its reserves. The Michigan State bench outscored the Duke bench, 17-6, in the first half. But it wasn’t a pandemic that caused Michigan State to need that depth on Tuesday.

6 Duke 75-69 on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic. “They are able to play at a consistently higher level than us due to their depth right now,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Joey Hauser had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Malik Hall added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan State. Matthew Hurt had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Duke, but freshman Jalen Johnson was limited to 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting after scoring 24 in his college debut. POLL IMPLICATIONSMichigan State should continue to climb in the AP Top 25, while Duke might slip a bit.

DURHAM, N.C. – Rocket Watts scored 20 points and Julius Marble had a career-high 12 to help No. Joey Hauser had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Malik Hall added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan State. BIG PICTUREMichigan State: Izzo improved his coaching record to 3-12 against the Blue Devils. “I’m going to smile and enjoy it because I haven’t done a very good job against Duke," Izzo said. POLL IMPLICATIONSMichigan State should continue to climb in the AP Top 25, while Duke might slip a bit.

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo has tested positive for COVID-19. 8 Michigan State beat No. “They are able to play at a consistently higher level than us due to their depth right now," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Joey Hauser had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Malik Hall added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan State. “I’m going to smile and enjoy it because I haven’t done a very good job against Duke," Izzo said.