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Michigan State arrives in Detroit to warm reception from fans

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The Spartans held an open practice on Thursday in front of a few thousand fans
DETROIT – The scoreboard at Little Caesars Arena was turned off and there was no opposing team on the court.
But as Michigan State players came out of the locker room and onto the hardwood for their Thursday afternoon open practice, they did so to a hearty round of applause anyway.
That applause kept up throughout Michigan State’s open practice. Fans cheered big dunks and made shots as the Spartans went through their final tune-ups before opening NCAA Tournament play here on Friday against Bucknell (7:10 p.m., CBS).
And if the fact that a few thousand fans showed up just to watch the team go through layup lines for 40 minutes is any indication, Michigan State will indeed have the vast advantage of fan support for the first two games of what they hope to be a run to a national title.
“It’s going to feel like a home game, like we’re back in the Breslin,” Spartans forward Kenny Goins, a Troy native, said. “A little different, but it’s just going to be really nice to see all of that love from the Michigan State fans.”
Goins is one of two Detroit-area natives making a homecoming this weekend. Spartans point guard Cassius Winston, who played high school basketball at University of Detroit Jesuit, said he had to ask around the locker room to find extra tickets for all of his friends and family members who asked for them.
“I tried to scrape as many tickets as I could,” Winston said. “It’s a tight squeeze.”
Michigan State fans who weren’t lucky enough to get a ticket from a player were forced to purchase one of the most expensive first-round tickets in the tournament. The price to get in the door this week was around $140.
Michigan State tickets among priciest in NCAA Tournament
Thursday marked the second time Michigan State has taken to the court at Little Caesars Arena, which opened in September. The first time was in December, when the Spartans beat Oakland.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo said he doesn’t believe the myth that shooting at NBA arenas is more difficult for college players. But players said there’s still a greater comfort level in having played at the arena before.
“For some guys it’s kind of like a culture shock to look around and take it all in, but now we don’t have to worry about that because we’ve already been here before,” Goins said.
Izzo is plenty familiar with this scenario from both sides. He’s 5-1 in previous NCAA Tournament games in Michigan, winning a regional title in Auburn Hills in 2000, sweeping an open weekend at The Palace in 2013 and advancing to the 2009 national title game at Ford Field in Detroit before losing to North Carolina.
And as he pointed out on Thursday, he’s also lost to North Carolina twice in the NCAA Tournament while playing in the Tar Heels’ home state, in a 1998 regional semifinal in Greensboro and a 2007 second-round game in Winston-Salem.
Izzo, always warn of potential pitfalls, said he weight the advantage of having the home crowd with the distractions of having his players’ family and friends nearby. But the scene like Thursday’s open practice ultimately won out in his mind.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit of an advantage,” Izzo said. “How much, I don’t know.”

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