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Michigan State Basketball: The time is now for Matt McQuaid

By Adam Zdroik

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 11: Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball against Mickey Mitchell #00 of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 11, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Michigan State defeated Ohio State 81-54. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 11: Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans handles the ball against Mickey Mitchell #00 of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 11, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Michigan State defeated Ohio State 81-54. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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With Miles Bridges nursing an ankle injury, Michigan State basketball needs its role players to step up and that includes much-maligned junior Matt McQuaid.

Michigan State basketball will either get a dose of reality in the PK80 tournament this week, or players not named Miles Bridges will step up. With Bridges dealing with an ankle injury, even if he plays, he won’t be 100 percent. To win the tournament and even beat teams like DePaul, others need to take on a bigger role, namely Matt McQuaid, who could be thrown into the starting lineup.

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Of course, it’s logical to think that Cassius Winston, Joshua Langford, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward will step up, but replacing Bridges in the lineup with McQuaid will not come without consequence. You can’t simply replace your NBA lottery pick with a guy that often doesn’t look at the hoop when he has the ball.

McQuaid has only disappointed since a semi-successful freshman season off the bench and that hasn’t changed in the first three games of the new campaign. I wrote about him in the summer and he’s been even worse than a year ago. He’s an abominable 1-of-10 from three-point land with most of his looks coming wide open and from the corner. If you’re considered a ‘3-and-D’ player, you need to hit corner threes, which are the easiest threes on the court.

The season is young, but McQuaid’s offensive rating has dipped every season (stats from KenPom). It was 107.7 as a freshman and went to 101.4 as a sophomore. In the first three games this season, it’s at 82.0. Unsurprisingly, his effective field-goal percentage is an atrocious 32.4 percent. He also isn’t rebounding or setting up teammates (1.9 assist rate). The one thing he’s good at is not committing fouls with just 1.7 per 40 minutes. Maybe Jaren Jackson should learn from him?

The other positive is that McQuaid has a career-best two-point percentage. He’s 4-of-7. One of those was a late game dunk in a blowout.

If Bridges misses time, that only means McQuaid could be in the lineup for up to 30 minutes per game. It’s possible Tom Izzo turns more to Winston, Langford and Tum Tum Nairn, but he’s always been McQuaid’s biggest fan, so that’s unlikely.

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McQuaid has built a hole for himself the past three seasons and has shown no reason he can climb out of it. With his team needing help in a tournament that could mean plenty toward a No. 1 seed come March, the time is now for McQuaid to step up and make some shots.

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