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Texas, Michigan State compete in battle of top 10 teams

Dec 22, 2007 - 2:23 PM No. 5 Texas (11-0) at No. 10 Michigan St (10-1) 6:30 pm EST

AUBURN, Michigan (Ticker) - Two of the nation's powerhouse programs meet on Saturday when fifth-ranked Texas takes on No. 10 Michigan State.

The Longhorns recorded a 66-56 victory against Oral Roberts at the Erwin Center on Tuesday, winning their first 11 games in a season for the first time since the 1981-82 campaign when the Longhorns won 14 straight games.

Sophomore D.J. Augustin scored 24 points in the win. The 10-point margin of victory marked only the second time this season that the Longhorns did not win by at least 15 points.

The Longhorns are no strangers to facing difficult opponents, however, as the Spartans will be the third top-10 team Texas has faced. Texas downed Tennessee, 97-78, on November 24 in New Jersey before pulling out a hard-fought 63-61 victory over then-No.1 UCLA on December 2 at Pauley Pavillion.

Michigan State cruised past San Jose State, 85-45, on Wednesday. Freshman guard Durrell Summers and sophomore forward each scored 16 for the Spartans, who registered 16 steals and blocked 13 shots.

However, Drew Neitzel - the Spartans' leading scorer - recognized that executing against San Jose State and Texas are two very different things.

"We know we have a top-five team coming up Saturday, so we know this is our practice game for that game and coach (Tom Izzo) expects us to be flawless and as players that's what we expect too, because we're going to have to play a great game to win on Saturday," Neitzel said.

The Longhorns are 2-1 all-time against the Spartans.