TV: BTN (Dave Revsine, Jon Crispin) | Radio: Hawks Radio Network (Brendan Gulick) | Game Notes: Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Michigan - Fresh off a difficult road loss that saw it come from 21 points down to within one point of North Carolina A&T State with just over a minute left, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) now faces a two-game swing that could be the most difficult in program history.

The Hawks (1-7, 0-2 MEAC) will tangle with newly anointed No. 1 Michigan State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, before returning "home" to No. 6 Maryland to face the Terrapins on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Comcast Center in College Park.

"We have got to get everyone on the same page," Hawks coach Bobby Collins said. "We are still a young team. We just have to start playing together and trust the system and trust the process. We haven't done a very good job of that."

Collins knows that it will be crucial to get the team's buy in against a pair of Top 10 programs after coming up empty on a two-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference road trip.

"I went in the locker room (after the NCAT loss) and told them that I was proud of their effort," Collins said. "They showed that we are capable of fighting and I am going to dwell on the positive things." Those positives included Dominique Elliott's (Savannah, Georgia) first double double of the season, a 20-point comeback, a season-high 12 points for Mark Blackmon (Charlotte, North Carolina), seven assists from Devin Martin (Baltimore, Maryland) despite foul trouble and the team's 54.8 percent shooting after the half.

Michigan State (9-0) -- which garnered 62 of 65 first place votes in the most recent Associated Press Poll -- is off to its best start since the 2000-01 season, when it set a school record with a 12-0 mark. The Spartans boast wins against No. 2 Kansas, No. 15 Providence and No. 22 Louisville and were ranked No. 13 in the preseason poll. They have never faced Maryland Eastern Shore before, but do sport a 5-0 mark against MEAC schools.

Denzel Valentine is the catalyst for the Michigan State offense. The 6-foot-5, 220 pound senior guard leads the team in minutes (30.9), points per game (19.7), rebounds (8.8) assists (7.9), steals (.77) and 3-pointers made (27).

Valentine leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation, averaging 7.9 assists per contest. With 469 assists for his career, he ranks ninth in MSU history, 22 behind Earvin Johnson. Valentine has either made or assisted on 48.6 percent of MSU's field goals, as he boasts a career-best 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Any time a player with his size, ball skills and basketball IQ is on the court Collins knows it represents a considerable challenge for the Hawks defense.

"It is going to be by committee," Collins said. "It is going to be a team effort. We are going throw two guys at him sometimes. He is just a different kind of breed player. He just knows how to play and I don't think he tries to do too much. He just makes plays."

Sophomore forward Marvin Clark (6-6, 230) missed the entire fall practice session for the Spartans with a foot injury and is working his way back into the rotation. He was expected to start before the season and played 17 minutes in a win against Binghamton on Dec. 5 -- his highest total of the season.

For the Hawks, Martin leads the team in scoring (15.4), while Elliott is second with 10.8 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 per contest.

Ten different UMES players are averaging double digit minutes played as the coaching staff has tried to find the right combinations on a team that includes 10 new faces on the active roster.

"We just haven't been able to play as a team yet. We haven't had that good feeling," Collins said. "We beat St. Francis because we just played harder, but we didn't play totally as a team as I would like. I can't hope that we are going to make the play. I have to know that we are going to make the play."

The Hawks will next travel to College Park on Saturday, Dec. 12 for a 4:15 p.m. tipoff against Maryland that can be seen on the Big Ten Network as well.

The games can be heard locally on Fox Sports Radio 960 AM WTGM or on www.umeshawks.com. Brendan Gulick will have the call on the Hawks Sports Radio Network.