(2) Michigan State (1-0) at Montana (1-1)

After having only eight scholarship players in 2001-02 following the early departures of Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph to the NBA, Michigan State may be one of the deepest teams in the country this season.

The No. 9 Spartans, looking to win the Great Alaska Shootout for the second time, face Montana in the opening round in Anchorage on Thursday.

Along with the departure of Richardson and Randolph, Michigan State also lost five seniors to graduation. The Spartans have added five new players to shore up the lineup for 2002-03, and those players had the desired effect in the season opener Friday.

Chris Hill had 18 points and eight Spartans scored as Michigan State held on to beat UNC-Asheville 66-52 in East Lansing. Hill and fellow sophomores Alan Anderson and Tim Bograkos comprise three-fifths of the starting lineup, and they combined for 30 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds Friday.

Freshman reserve center Paul Davis added nine points and four rebounds in 17 minutes.

“One down side of having so much depth is that we have so many different combinations of players,” Hill said. “It makes it more difficult on the coaching staff and the players getting into a rhythm together.

“I’d much rather have that problem than last year when there weren’t enough players to go around.”

Coach Tom Izzo thinks learning how to play everyone is a good problem to have, but he echoed Hill’s concern about a young team with only three seniors jelling on the court.

“We had some negatives too. We had too many unforced turnovers. We had some breakdowns,” Izzo said. “Some of that was due to the fact that there are different players who haven’t played with each other.”

Montana lost its season opener Friday, 77-71 to Northern Iowa, but rebounded to even its record Tuesday with a 75-47 rout of Denver.

The Grizzlies were led by senior guard David Bell’s 16 points. Freshman reserve guard Kevin Criswell scored 13 points, junior forward Steve Horne added 11 and junior forward Victor Venters had 10 as Montana shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60).

Michigan State first competed in the Great Alaska Shootout in 1989, and beat Auburn, Texas A&M and Kansas State to claim the title.

Thursday’s game will be the first meeting between Michigan State and Montana. The winner will face either Villanova or Loyola Marymount in the semifinals Friday.