What’s wrong with Michigan State hoops; quick reaction to loss

Follow @SpartyAve

If you’re sick to your stomach, you should be. Michigan State had won 15 games in a row prior to Saturday morning and now … well, let’s just say that losing to Michigan was worse than the losing to Northwestern.

rey Burke, Zack Novak and Tim Hardaway Jr. run up courts celebrating their 60-59 win over Michigan State in Ann Arbor on Tuesday.(Detroit Free Press photo)

MSU (15-4, 4-2) came out in Ann Arbor a bit flat, and in the end, ended flat in the 60-59 loss.

So what happened Tuesday night inside Crisler Center?

For starters, there was little inside game outside of Derrick Nix’s 13 points. And that’s another issue. It’s never good to have Nix lead the team in scoring.

The bad

Draymond Green, who was called a Perfect Spartan earlier this week by Tom Izzo had 8 points, missing the final shot that would have won the game.

Keith Appling looked lost at times and was unable to finish near the rim.

And then there’s Brandon Wood, the senior transfer from Valparaiso. Wood was 1-of-5 from 3-point range and made a few costly turnovers.

The good

Here is where it gets weird: MSU out-rebounded Michigan 31-15 and had five more assists. The Spartans shot better from long range (47 percent) than the Wolverines (29 percent).

If not for Trey Burke, State would have won the game easily. It wasn’t a bad game, but the slow start really hurt.

Moving forward

So is it time to sell the Sparty stock? Is their record inflated? Will this team compete for the Big Ten title?

Answers: No, No, and maybe.

The season is far from over, and what we might have learned is that this team just has not had the chance to play together in a clutch situation. After all, it looked like nobody wanted to shoot the ball in the final few minutes. There is no doubt this was a heartbreaking loss, but will we even remember it at the end of the regular season? Only time will tell.

Tags: big ten basketball, Michigan State, michigan state basketball