Michigan State Basketball: 3 things we learned vs. Minnesota

Michigan State basketball lost another tough game against Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals and here’s what we learned.

It’s not easy to beat a team three times in one season, I tried warning you guys. Michigan State basketball took on Minnesota Friday with the hope of making the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and the Golden Gophers took down the Spartans, 63-58.

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Although it was a tough loss, Michigan State will likely be headed to the NCAA Tournament once the selection committee makes its decision on Sunday. However, we did learn more about the Spartans after the loss, and not much of it was positive.

What did we learn from the five-point loss to Minnesota on Friday afternoon?

1. Kenny Goins can’t continue to play over Nick Ward late in games

This is just a head-scratcher. Tom Izzo is trying to teach lessons this late in the season? I mean, I get what message he’s trying to send to Nick Ward about his defense, but he can’t sacrifice an offensive body for Kenny Goins who doesn’t contribute much on either side of the floor. The former walk-on struggles defensively because he’s not a big (he’s about a small forward’s size) and he’s stuck playing the center position. Ward has to be in during late-game situations when Michigan State is trying to make up ground or the Spartans will lose 100 percent of the time.

2. Michigan State struggles when down by a bucket, or two

In three of the past four games, this has never been so evident. It started with the Illinois game in the final week of the regular season, Michigan State fought back to pull within two, and then even one, and tried too hard to jack up threes and hope to take a lead that way. Nope, can’t happen. Then, against Maryland, the Spartans did the same thing while down by a bucket or two late in the game. Lastly, against Minnesota, the Spartans regained a two-point lead thanks to a Matt McQuaid 3-pointer, but Minnesota took it right back and Michigan State was trying too hard to make a big three. No more forcing shots, just slow down the offense and get easy baskets.

3. Miles Bridges, Nick Ward can’t do it all

For yet another game, Bridges and Ward carried the Spartans. In fact, those two combined for 35 of Michigan State’s 58 points against Minnesota. That’s not exactly the type of “spread out” scoring you want to see. The Spartans struggled to get more offense all game long, shooting just 33 percent from the floor. Bridges and Ward can’t be tasked to carry the team, it’ll always fall short if that’s the case.

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