Spartans fail to make Izzo tops in BIG
The Spartans faced off against the Hoosiers Tuesday night in East Lansing with the expectations to make history. The Hoosiers entered having lost 5 of its last 7 and MSU losing 2 of its last 3. Would tonight be the night of Izzo or would MSU fall short?
The first half, was well, a hot mess. MSU gets out to a nice 20-8 lead heads to the free throw line and then suddenly the game takes an ugly turn. MSU’s hot shooting turned very cold. MSU looked as if they were being assaulted trying to break the zone and no whistles. Our bigs exhaled and whistles galore. IU closes the half on a 12-2 run. MSU had only 6 fast break points and really needed to do more passing and less dribbling to beat the zone that seemed to be causing them fits. Cooper headed into the locker room with 3 fouls and a pair each for Zapala and Kohler. The Spartans were 2-12 from behind the arc and it really felt as if things were just not looking good at all. Booker was looking ugly out there, Fidler was playing sloppy and Fears definitely looking as if he is not 100%. Indiana finally took its first lead of the game and went into halftime up 32-29.
The second half started off with a couple of IU turnovers and Kohler picking up his third really quick. MSU graciously turned the ball right back over and took three and a half minutes to score its first basket of the half. The Spartans never were able to get over the hump as they would pull close and then be back down by 9 in a blink. Poor shooting, untimely turnovers, and the inability to play the type of game the Spartans like to play. Their fast break tempo pushing persona was stifled. The Spartans attempted to step up its defense with about three minutes left and pulled within five with two minutes remaining. A basket reversal takes two away from IU and Holloman makes a sick jumper pulling the Spartans to within 3. Richardson has a costly turnover, IU misses a free throw, Holloman almost turns the ball over and throws up a three that MSU rebounds and puts in to pull within 2 with 32 seconds left. The final two minutes of this game were very frustrating as I wondered where this teams intensity was for the prior 38 minutes. The remainder of the game turned into foul off and while MSU stayed close, the plan didn’t work and MSU failed to make history for Coach Izzo and fell to IU 71-67.
Here’s my take on likes and dislikes on this disappointing night.
Three things I liked:
Richardson getting the starting nod. I like the fact that Izzo was able to make this adjustment. He tends to be a bit stubborn at times and I think this was the right call. Shout out to O, who was the only TOC writer that said a change would happen. He didn’t say this change, but he did say a change. Giving Richardson a starting nod is good for him and the team. Unfortunately, poor shooting from everyone made it tough to judge tonight.
The fight at the end. I liked seeing the team put on some press and fight to get back in the game but I wonder what would have happened if they played this way a bit earlier. A few more minutes of that intensity may have had the result turn out differently. I do think that fight is going to be important come March.
Free throw percentage. The fouls game down the stretch only kept the game close because the Spartans kept making free throws. Holloman bricked his last one on purpose, but the shots put down by Holloman and Fidler were crucial to keeping the game close. Continuing to be solid from the line will pay dividends in March.
Three things I disliked (I will try hard to keep it at three):
Izzo and his continued failure to beat the zone. This is just mind numbing on so many levels. How many times over the past decades have we seen this? I can’t seem to understand why this is still kryptonite for a coach of Izzo’s caliber. Obviously he can’t improve everyone’s shooting percentage but stressing better ball movement would be one way to solve the problem. I can only imagine how every Spartan fan was screaming at their Peacock stream, “not this again”.
The flu. This bug is clearly still moving through the team and it needs to go away real quick. Fears did not look like himself at all. He’s someone you would think would be crucial against the zone. Even Aikens had moments where he seemed a bit gassed but still doing everything he can.
Shooting percentage. MSU was atrocious from everywhere on the court tonight. They still rank dead last in every three point category and it was actually a bit shocking to see IU play the foul game and not just let MSU brick some threes. It would have put us all out of our misery much sooner. You just aren’t going to win games against anyone with shooting the ball so poorly. Everyone has an off night and its even more unfortunate when everyone has it on the same night.
Overall, not much to be happy about with this game. These are the games they need to win as the schedule just gets tougher. Perhaps the reality of distance from floor to ceiling on this team is further than we thought two weeks ago.