The 3-2-1: Michigan State is becoming a finisher, which could mean the Spartans are just getting started
Ann Arbor, Mich. – Michigan State got good productivity from its bench, from forced turnovers, from transition offense and increasing consistency from Malik Hall in defeating Michigan, 83-73, Saturday night at Crisler Center.
Over and above all of those items, here are three things we learned during the Spartans’ victory over the Wolverines, two questions and one prediction:
1. MICHIGAN STATE IS FINISHING THINGS
The Spartans are finishing another trek to the NCAA Tournament. They finished another victory on the road at Michigan. They finished a season sweep of the Wolverines.
None of those things are coming easy. As bad as Michigan is in the record books, the Wolverines played pretty well against Michigan State in both of the meetings between the two rivals this year. Michigan State had to dig down to get this victory on Saturday night, and digging is what they did. They finished.
We know Michigan State has talent and experience. But how bad do they really want it? Tom Izzo wonders at times. He has gotten conflicting signals. But he saw some positive examples during the crunchtime huddles in this game. That might seem like overplayed drama to some of us, and it’s something he has mentioned earlier this season, only to see the Spartans’ focus flicker in subsequent games. But we’re nearing March, and Izzo tends to get less flicker out of his team at this time of year.
This is one of the few times we’ve heard Izzo compliment his players about huddle character during a road game. He says it’s a big deal. When a guy who has 700 wins says it’s important, especially as March is nearing, I listen to him.
With the win, the Spartans improved to 17-9, 9-6 in the Big Ten. Not long ago, many Michigan State observers were sure this was going to be the year the Spartans’ streak of NCAA Tournament appearances would come to an end.
Michigan State was 4-5 and 0-2 in the Big Ten after a loss to Nebraska.
Michigan State was 9-7 and 1-4 in the Big Ten after a loss to Illinois.
Michigan State was 14-9 and 6-6 in the Big Ten after a loss to Minnesota.
After each loss, the knee jerks, with no sense of history, became more fatalistic about this team’s outlook for the remainder of the season. But if you look at those records, they were improving. It might not have seemed like it during the ride, but progress was being made.
Many observers believe 19 wins will get Michigan State into the NCAA Tournament, based on the Spartans’ strong schedule and metrics. If Michigan State had lost this game to Michigan, we would have been back to browbeating about the need to get a victory at home against Northwestern or at Indiana in order to feel safe. The Spartans would have been back in must-win mode.
But we don’t have to worry about that today, because the Spartans finished this one in Ann Arbor. They finished the game at Penn State. They finished the game at home against Illinois. All of those games were teetering with five or six minutes remaining. Each time, Michigan State punched the hardest and the longest.
They made a semi-amazing comeback against a talented Illinois team.
They had a big lead against Penn State, and withstood a couple of charges to win.
They were down by by five with 13:13 remaining at Michigan, having squandered a 9-point first-half lead. But the Spartans eventually found the 3-point shooting, defense and rebounding they needed down the stretch to notch another win.
Michigan State hasn’t had the finishing formula for the entire season. In the loss at Minnesota on Feb. 6, Michigan State led by nine in the second half, but went 7-of-17 at the foul line, including a late miss by AJ Hoggard that could have tied the game with :20 seconds left.
But that loss didn’t lead to another and then another. Hoggard was back practicing free throws hard the next day. Malik Hall, who was 1-of-6 from the foul line that day and scored only six points, has been one of the best players in the Big Ten over the last three games, and really over the last month and a half.
They could have withered and whimpered. But they rallied and decided they wanted to finish. Along the way, they finished this two-game sweep of Michigan. Michigan State hadn’t won in Ann Arbor since 2019. Hoggard and Hall had never won in Ann Arbor. They were aware of it. They made a point of it. That made Izzo smile.
“They mentioned it the other day, which was another encouraging thing,” Izzo said. “The seniors mentioned it. Part of what I talked about was having a memory-making night. When they come back for reunions when I’m gone, they will be able to tease somebody who hadn’t won here.”
But Hoggard, Hall and the rest of the team won’t be teased about that particular topic.
“It was important to them,” Izzo said. “When Malik and AJ brought it up, those are good things.”
The rivalry grew to mean something to those out-of-state players. Michigan State doesn’t have as many Michganders on its roster as it used to. High school basketball in the state isn’t as great as it used to be. In the age of the NIL, the transfer portal and dozens of meaningless wins and losses in the summer grassroots circuit during these players’ formative years, Izzo wonders if today’s 22-year-olds get as geared up for a rivalry as they used to.
Izzo learned this week that they did ratchet it up. And they finished.
True, Michigan has a horrid record. And they were atrocious in taking care of the ball through most of this game. But they have some shot-makers. And they made shots in this game, enough to make Michigan State work.
Your Walmart Wolverine friends can act like they don’t care about basketball, and that they weren’t paying attention to this game. But when Michigan led by five with 13 minutes to go, you can bet they were tuning in, and leaning in. That’s right around the time the Spartans huddled, rallied and decided it wasn’t going to happen this time. And the Spartans were back to monopolizing the college basketball season in this state for the remainder of the year.
It wasn’t a great win. The Spartans weren’t all that impressive. The impressive thing is that they had every chance to stall like they did at Minnesota, at Nebraska, at Northwestern, at Wisconsin – albeit against a weaker opponent. Instead, the Spartans found a gas pedal.
“I thought we played well at times and it seems like we would get a lead but we just don’t have the maturity or consistency to build on it,” Izzo said. “We should have that. So again, I’m going to take some responsibility for that and see if we can clean that up.”
They’re socking away wins, moving forward, unsatisfied, eager to get back to work. That’s what finishers do.
2. WALKER’S INJURY SEEMED OKAY (KIND OF)
On Monday, Izzo told us Walker wouldn’t be at 100 percent health for the rest of the year, due to a groin pull, or groin strain, or something. But Walker has deflected those comments. He says he’s okay, going to be okay, has always been okay. But that’s probably just an athlete talking, trying not to give competitors any intel on his actual situation.
We saw him limp through the Minnesota and Illinois games. We saw him turn down shots against Penn State, seemingly wanting to avoid straining that thing any more than he needed to.
In this game against Michigan, AJ Hoggard and Jaden Akins went to the bench with foul trouble. Walker had to play 19 minutes in the first half. He wasn’t at his efficient best. He missed 10 of 16 shots on the night. He was 1-of-5 from 3-point range. But he led Michigan State in scoring with 19 points, and he was 6-of-6 from the foul line, which had been a bit of a problem for him at times this season.
He played 35 minutes, offered pretty good defense, had three steals.
We know he’s tough. We know he has heart. But what about that groin? That’s one of those things that needs rest. And there aren’t many windows for rest between now and March.
Walker was good on this night. Not at his best. But there were times when I forgot he was playing hurt. And there were times when he was what he should be – the best player on the court.
Walker scored eight of Michigan State’s first 14 points. Michigan led 16-14 at that point, and it would have been a steeper hill to climb if he hadn’t had that hot start.
But Walker missed his last six shot attempts of the first half. Was it a cold streak, or was the groin limiting him? Meanwhile, with Hoggard and Akins on the bench, Walker could not conserve. Michigan State needed him to play defense and do all he could to keep things stapled together.
That’s when the bench made its biggest statement of the season for the Spartans. Tre Holloman ran the point for the last 14 minutes of the half. When Akins picked up his second foul, freshman wing guard Coen Carr played the last four minutes of the half.
Carr totaled eight minutes in the first half, and eight points. He was his usual active self, with two blistering, momentum-inducing dunks. And he would have had a third if Michigan’s Will Tschetter hadn’t committed a flagrant foul on Carr as he set sail, a semi-dirty knock to the hip which drew thunderous boos from the thousands of Michigan State fans in attendance.
Michigan State’s bench outscored Michigan’s, 23-2. Carson Cooper did his regular solid defensive duty, and added seven rebounds, including a pivotal follow-up dunk off a Hoggard miss, giving Michigan State a 63-61 lead with 7:40 to play.
However, Cooper caught the wrath of Izzo when he was called for an illegal screen with 1:28 to play and Michigan State up 71-63.
“What the (freak) are you doing?!” Izzo yelled at Cooper during a time out. Cooper probably didn’t have a good answer. But we know his mission. He was trying to set a flat screen for Hoggard at the top of the key. Rule interpretations say that a flat screen should give the defender a couple of feet of daylight. Cooper can’t go chest-to-back on the guy guarding Hoggard. That’s a foul.
Cooper raced up to the top of the key to set the screen. He had a little too much adrenalin. He set the screen a little too closely, maybe a foot away from the Michigan defender. And Tschetter gave Cooper a little push, which ate up last last foot of daylight. Foul!
It could have been a major turning point in the game. But Michigan was too cold by that point to make a run. And Cooper, who has played finishing minutes for four straight games, caught some pretty good hell. That comes with the responsibility of being a finisher.
Izzo will be patting Cooper on the back in practice on Sunday. That’s what fans and outside observers don’t see. They assume Izzo rants and curses and terrorizes these players every minute of every day, like he does at times when a game is at a crisis moment. But he doesn’t. He spends most practices and film studies building guys back up.
But when it comes time to produce, and to carry out responsibilities, Cooper might have messed up that flat screen by a half step. But you can bet that mistake won’t happen again.
That’s how screws get tightened. Thirty games, get your crap together.
As for Walker, we didn’t see him limp as badly as was the case in previous games. Maybe he won’t get to 100 percent for the rest of the year, but whatever Mr. Miyagi treatment he received since the Penn State game, maybe more of that can be untapped between now and March.
After Saturday’s game, Izzo was talking less in terms of Walker’s injuries, and more about the bearish potential the Spartans are still chasing.
“One of these days we’re going to get Jaden and Tyson shooting well together,” Izzo said. “I guess we’re saving it for when we need it.”
3. DEFENSE TRAVELS (KIND OF)
Michigan State’s defense was a savior in the last seven minutes of the game. But it wasn’t a strength during other checkpoints on Saturday night.
Michigan shot more than 50 percent for most of the night, and more than 40 percent from 3-point range for most of the game. (Michigan ended at 45 percent and 35 percent, both marks better than Michigan State).
But Michigan didn’t score in the final 7:01, as a 63-63 game became a 73-63 Spartan victory. Michigan went 0-for-5 from the field during that stretch with six turnovers.
“It was really good defense, I thought,” Izzo said. “Maybe they thought they missed some shots, I don’t know. The defense led to the offense. We got some breaks. We got some plays. That was good hands on our part.”
Michigan State produced 15 steals. This isn’t a program that emphasizes reaching and getting into passing lanes. Spartans are taught to stay in their gaps, play sound, cut off avenues to the rim. But on this night, Michigan State did a lot of scratching and clawing for steals, and there were a lot of times when Michigan just plain threw interceptions.
Was Michigan that bad with the ball? Or was Michigan State kind of good?
Probably a little bit of both. Walker, Akins and Hoggard each had three steals. Michigan State’s centers combined for three steals as well.
“Tyson has long arms for a little guy,” Izzo said. “He has unbelievable anticipation skills. Unbelievable.”
“All the steals we got today were just us doing the right things,” Walker said. “No one took any chances.”
Taking chances is a bad thing, on Izzo’s list of commandments. Izzo used to rap Branden Dawson on the knuckles for being overzealous in trying to time steals in the passing lanes. That wasn’t a problem for Michigan State on this night. They got steals without over-extending on defense, or collecting unnecessary reach fouls.
“It was just all of us in our rotations, just rotating to the right person,” Walker said. “That was just us paying attention to the scout and just being focused. Just being in the right spot. We had a plan and we followed it to a tee and that’s what got those stops.”
Michigan State doesn’t have a lot of size and width in the low post. The Spartans were concerned about Michigan center Tarris Reed and power forward Olivi Nkamhoua.
The Spartans haven’t been terrorized in the low post yet this season, but that could be coming with Zach Edey on the schedule on March 2, and who knows who else in the NCAA Tournament. With that in mind, Michigan State has been working on playing double-team defense in the post. Michigan State dabbled with it at times against Wisconsin, Maryland and others, with varying levels of mediocrity.
But Michigan State’s double-teams, and more importantly the scramble rotations behind them, were at a new level of effectiveness in this game. As part of the rotations, Michigan State often sent one of its wing guards sprinting from one side of the court to the other in a race to get out on the open shooter while Michigan was busy trying to relay a pass toward that shooter.
Tre Holloman blocked one shot and forced an airball with his defensive rotations in the first half.
“And that one time Jaden knocked the ball loose in the corner late in the game, we were on a hell of a rotation after a double and he got there as quick as I’ve ever seen him,” Izzo said.
That’s the same Jaden Akins who twice blew his rotation assignment on the back side of double-team defense against Maryland. Coaches ripped into him hard for that. He’s probably more mistake-prone than any regular on the roster, when it comes to assignments. But we saw progress on Saturday night – although he lost his man for a wide open 3-pointer on another occasion in this game.
Weighing defensive accountability is one of the reasons Izzo didn’t put Carr back in the game in the second half, despite Carr’s eight noisy points in the first half. As flighty as Akins can be with defensive assignments, he’s still more trustworthy than Carr.
But did Izzo think about putting Carr in the game in the second half?
“Yeah, I did,” Izzo said. “But I kept thinking Jaden is going to come back around, too. And Jaden has to cover Dug McDaniel. Jaden did a pretty good job. The second half, Jaden did a real good job. I didn’t know if Coen could do that. And then you have the free throw situation, even though he hit some, as it got late, I didn’t want to put him in there for that. And with the rotations, we were running some different things defensively and I wasn’t sure Coen could pick up all of that.
“But he’s going to play more. So is (Xavier) Booker. Booker did just fine for me. I know it was only three minutes but they are making progress.”
As for team defense and the choke hold Michigan State applied to Michigan late in the game, it wasn’t a Rembrandt, but it was kind of reminiscent of some of the Cleaves era victories. When those guys were winning championships in 1999 and 2000 (especially in 1999), the Spartans were often embroiled in tight games with seven or eight minutes to play. Izzo would rest Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell for four minutes a half, and stagger their resting periods. And then when Cleaves and Bell were on the court together for the final seven or eight minutes, Michigan State was strong, and the opposition was often wearing down. The Spartans would dominate the last five minutes the way they did in this game.
Michigan State didn’t plan it that way for this game. Hoggard and Akins missed time due to foul trouble. But Michigan only goes two deep on the bench. Michigan State goes four deep, sometimes five.
“We said in our pregame that they have always been good in the first half,” Izzo said. “We have to wear them down. That’s kind of the way the game went.”
Michigan State needed defense and the wear-down process to be a factor because the Spartans had an off shooting night. Michigan State didn’t hit its first 3-pointer until Walker’s triple eight minutes into the second half, which cut Michigan’s lead to 53-50.
“I thought offensively we were stagnant,” Izzo said. “Some of it was Jaden couldn’t make a shot (he was 1-for-6 in the first half). And AJ was out of the game, and then Jaden was out of the game.
“But they (Michigan) did a good job. They covered us. We just did not move the ball. But I thought we did a hell of a job defensively. We created offense off our defense.”
Those 15 steals helped give Michigan State a 19-2 edge in fastbreak points. And they fed into another pillar of the Izzo belief system: There will be times when your shooting is cold. But a great defense never goes cold, and it travels to road games and NCAA Tournament games. A great defense can bail you out when you shoot 14 percent from the three.
Was Michigan State’s defense great throughout this game? No. But it was quite good at the end, after those productive huddles.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. WILL REBOUNDING EVER COME AROUND
Probably not. To the naked eye, it looked to me like Michigan wasn’t nearly as aggressive on the boards as Michigan State. Michigan State was trying. Michigan was kind of trying. But Michigan still carved out a 35-31 edge in rebounds.
Actually, in terms of analytics, it was a stalemate on the glass. Michigan State grabbed offensive rebounds on 19 percent of its missed shots. Michigan got rebounds on 20 percent of its missed shots. Neither team did damage on the offensive glass.
Michigan State has been trying to emphasize better work on the offensive boards, with Akins a big part of that movement. He had only one rebound in 32 minutes. The early foul trouble probably had something to do with that.
With Izzo placing increased emphasis on rebounding in the past month Michigan State turned a -15 on the glass against Maryland on Jan. 21 into a 36-30 edge over the Terps two weeks later.
Michigan State was a plus-10 on the boards against a smallish Penn State team on Wednesday. But the 31-28 loss on the boards at Minnesota, and this rebounding defeat at Michigan will ramp up the emphasis again.
“You ask what things we have to get better at: We’re still not rebounding real well,” Izzo said. “We have some work to do there. Some of it is because we’re not as big and strong in the post so we find different ways to guard the post.”
He’s talking about the double-teams, which can hamper box-outs.
“We got beat on the boards again,” Izzo said. “I have enough stuff to coach, so I’ll still earn my paycheck tomorrow.”
2. WHAT’S GOING ON WITH BIG MAN ROTATIONS?
That’s the biggest area of fluctuation right now, and it’s also an area of potential.
Mady Sissoko continues to be the starting center, but his playing time is diminishing. He played a season-low eight minutes in this game. He played only 10 minutes against Illinois, but was back up to 18 minutes against Penn State.
Sissoko played only five minutes in the first half against Michigan, being sent to the bench after picking up his second foul. That’s usually utilized as a means of conserving fouls and saving a player for the second half.
But Sissoko played only four minutes in the second half and was a -7 in plus/minus during those four minutes.
“I’m disappointed in Mady,” Izzo said. “He had a rough night. It is what it is. The best players are going to play.”
Jaxon Kohler played 10 minutes in the second half, logging more minutes at center after halftime than any Spartan. Carson Cooper played seven minutes in the second half, including five at center.
That marked the first time this season that Kohler played more minutes at center for a half than any other Spartan.
Cooper has been a consistent role player off the bench all year. Kohler, who missed the first 14 games of the season due to a foot injury, played a season-high 13 minutes.
“Believe it or not, Jaxon Kohler did a lot of good things,” Izzo said. “He just couldn’t make a lay-up. The poor kid, when you have time off like he had, he thinks it’s all going to come back, and he’s just throwing the ball at the rim. But he goes up and gets rebounds. He doesn’t jump, but he gets rebounds.”
Kohler’s strength is post scoring, and medium-range shooting touch (which can extend out to 19 feet). We haven’t seen the shooting touch take hold yet. But if he’s gaining trust (and minutes) due to rebounding, then it’s a matter of time before he makes a dent on the score sheet.
Lateral movement on defense remains the biggest determinant of playing time for Kohler. Michigan didn’t put him in any pick-and-roll blenders, but future teams will. That’s where Sissoko is better.
As for Sissoko, don’t look for him to exit the starting lineup. He’s still going to get a chance to be a tone setter early in games. But Kohler and Cooper are coming hard for his minutes. What about Booker? He’s more of a four, not a five. He’s not really in the conversation at center right now.
ONE PREDICTION
1. MICHIGAN STATE WILL GET TO 21 WINS
Don’t look now, but Michigan State is 8-2 in its last 10 games.
Not long ago, when Michigan State was floundering below .500 in the Big Ten, the idea of going on an 8-2 run against conference competition seemed outlandish, considering the way Big Ten teams were cannibalizing each other, with few teams able to win on the road.
But Michigan State has won nine straight at home. Mix in road wins at Maryland, Penn State and Michigan, and the Spartans’ record is starting to take on some shine.
Michigan State has winnable games against Iowa and Ohio State coming up at home. Win those, beat Northwestern at home, and win at Indiana and the Spartans will be 21-10 (assuming a loss at Purdue). Are we ready to trust the Spartans to knock out all of those winnable games?
Michigan State had its stumbling moments in the past two games against Michigan and Penn State. The Michigan State of this week might not be good enough to win four of its last five regular season games. But the Michigan State team of next week and the final week might be better than the Michigan State of this week. That’s how Izzo works it.
If I’m off by one regular season win, it might take one victory in the Big Ten Tournament to get to 21. Either way, I think Michigan State will have at least 21 wins when the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced.
Twenty-one wins doesn’t sound like a big deal? Creighton was 21-12 as a No. 6 seed last year and was two points away from going to the Final Four.
There’s a lot of basketball to be played between now and Selection Sunday, and a lot of improving to do for the Spartans. Izzo specializes in late-season wrench turning.
“Hey, we’re not a perfect team,” Izzo said. “Although I haven’t seen many that are right now.”
UConn is dominant. Purdue is a big problem. Aside from those two, who is scary? Arizona? North Carolina? Auburn or Alabama on a given day. Tennessee on a given day. Kentucky yesterday? Or Kansas, Houston. Iowa State has had a good month.
The list levels off really quickly after the top two. If Michigan State gets to 21 wins, there could be increased reason for people to start lumping Michigan State into the “anyone can beat anyone” category. And there will be a team or two in that category that make it to Phoenix. Just saying.
Malik Hall scored 18 points in helping lead Michigan State to a 73-63 victory at Michigan, Saturday. (Photo by Rick Osentoski | USA TODAY Network)
The post The 3-2-1: Michigan State is becoming a finisher, which could mean the Spartans are just getting started appeared first on On3.
