Spartans host their former assistant coach, Dwayne Stephens
On Monday afternoon, Michigan State will welcome the Western Michigan Broncos to the Breslin Center for their final non-conference game of the regular season. The Broncos, of course, are coached by Dwayne Stephens, who is in his third season running his own program after being an assistant coach under Tom Izzo for 19 seasons. On one hand, this is one last game that the MSU schedule makers thought would be an easy win before getting into the thick of their Big Ten slate. On the other hand, with Izzo coaching against his former disciple, we could see MSU not trying to embarrass their opponent and not playing at full speed. I also would not be surprised if the Breslin Center does a video tribute to the long-time assistant.
Dwayne Stephens played his college ball for MSU from 1989 to 1993 when Izzo was an assistant to Jud Heathcote. After graduating, he played in Europe for three seasons, and then his coaching career got underway at Oakland University on Greg Kampe’s staff. After two seasons serving with the Golden Grizzlies, Stephens was hired by Marquette and Tom Crean, another former Izzo assistant. While there, Marquette made a Final Four run, with Dwyane Wade in 2003. After that season, Stephens returned to East Lansing to join Tom’s staff, and in 2012, he was named Associate Head Coach. In that role, MSU went to its two most recent Final Fours – 2015 and 2019.
Western Michigan has not seen much success under Stephens. In his first season at the helm, the Broncos finished 8-23 and 12th in the MAC. The following year, they improved to 12-20, good for 6th in conference. So far this year, they are 3-8, so Stephens has a 23-49 overall record as a head coach.
This year’s Broncos are being led by Detroit Native, Chansey Willis Jr., who is averaging 17.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.7 APG. Joining him in double-digit scoring are Markhi Strickland (12.5), Owen Lobsinger (11.4), and JaVaughn Hannah (11.2). This is a team that does not have much in the way of size among its roster, with only one player at 6’10”. That guy, Max Burton, is giving 7.0 PPG and 5.6 RPG to the squad.
As a team, WMU is scoring just 71.2 points per game, which is the 279th best mark (out of 364). Defensively, they are allowing 73.5 PPG (#243). What is interesting, especially considering their lack of height, is that these Broncos have a +6.5 rebounding advantage, which is the best mark in the MAC. Some of that statistic is due to having names like Davenport, Canisius, and Youngstown State on their schedule. I will go out on a limb and say they will not outrebound the Spartans on Monday.
When: Monday, December 30 @ 3 PM
Where: Breslin Center; East Lansing, MI
TV: BTN
Records: MSU (10-2); WMU (3-8)
O’s Prediction: Tom Izzo will be able to go to the deep bench before the final tv timeout as this game will be won handily. Spartans get win #11 on New Year’s Eve Eve, 93-68.