Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from first exhibition win

Oct 15, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Michigan State Spartans men

It’s been a long summer/fall without Michigan State basketball and now that the Spartans are back to work, it’s feeling like another season in which Tom Izzo could engineer a Final Four run. Although Michigan State will be losing Travis Trice and Branden Dawson, the Spartans are still one of the top teams in the country and come in ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP poll.

Officially opening the season on Wednesday night at home agains Izzo’s alma mater, Northern Michigan, the green and white looked lethargic through one half, taking a five-point lead into the locker room, but came out swinging in the final 20 minutes.

Michigan State ended up with a 94-53 victory over the Huskies of Northern Michigan and Izzo has to be quite pleased with his team’s first performance of the season.

5. Free throws are improved

Mar 1, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard/forward Branden Dawson (22) shoots a free throw during the 2nd half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Illinois won 53-46. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

An area where Michigan State struggled mightily last season had to be the free throw line. Every time a Spartan player was fouled, it seemed like there was a strong possibility that whoever was on the line would miss at least one out of two shots.

In fact, the Spartans were an abysmal 63 percent from the charity stripe all year long. Luckily for the Spartans, the top two foul shooters return to the team in the forms of Bryn Forbes and Denzel Valentine.

There’s no doubt Tom Izzo has harped foul shooting with his team this summer and likely made them hit a certain amount of shots during each practice in order to head home. That hard work has paid off as this MSU team shot 17-for-23 at the stripe on Wednesday night, an 11 percent increase from last season.

If Michigan State can continue to improve in this facet of the game, the final minutes of a game will no longer be as scary or unpredictable.

Next: 4. Deyonta Davis is going to be special