Michigan State Basketball: Report card for win over Southern Utah
Michigan State basketball hosted Southern Utah on Saturday night and came away with its ninth win of the year. How did the Spartans grade out?
Non-conference play is back as Michigan State took on Southern Utah on Saturday night and came away with a 25-point victory. The Spartans didn’t make it look all that pretty, but they found a way to win even when it looked like the Thunderbirds were hungry for an upset.
The Spartans beat Southern Utah 88-63 at the Breslin Center on Saturday evening and although the win seemed comfortable, Tom Izzo has to feel a little frustrated with how his team played. There’s just too much talent on this squad to let a team like Southern Utah hang around.
Still, Michigan State will take any wins as Week 5 in college basketball seemed like it was full of upsets and the Spartans avoided one.
How did the Spartans grade out on Saturday night?
Bench: B-
The bench hasn’t been extremely productive in recent games and that didn’t change against Southern Utah. Granted, there weren’t a ton of minutes to be had from this group as the starters played a decent amount for Tom Izzo.
Michigan State’s bench finished with a combined 13 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, three turnovers and two blocks, making 4-of-11 baskets and just 1-of-5 from long-range. The offensive production totaled just 15 points.
Tum Tum Nairn led the Spartans’ role players with 19 minutes, scoring no points and dishing three assists. He took just one shot and was a relative non-factor on offense.
Matt McQuaid finished with five points, four assists and a steal in just 16 minutes, but his shooting woes continued as he was just 1-of-6 from the floor, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range.
Kenny Goins and Gavin Schilling were the only other two bench players to finish with over 10 minutes of action. They combined for 23 minutes, scoring seven points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots. Lastly, Conner George, Xavier Tillman and Ben Carter combined for just 11 minutes and scored three points and grabbed four total rebounds.