Michigan State Basketball: 5 biggest concerns entering 2018 NCAA Tournament

There are plenty of concerns heading into the 2018 NCAA Tournament for Michigan State basketball, but here are the biggest of them all.

Michigan State has plenty of be excited about heading into the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but after losing to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, there’s also plenty to be concerned about. Although it’s not enough for full-blown panic mode, the Spartans’ lack of quality wins this year has left fans, and experts, confused about a potential tourney run.

How far will this uber-talented team mostly freshmen and sophomores go in March? The sky is the limit, but when the Spartans play like they did against Michigan, a quick exit could also be in store.

Here are the five biggest concerns surrounding this team heading into the tourney.

5. Matchup problems

Being a team with more bigs than it knows what to do with, Michigan State has encountered issues with opponents which play with guard-heavy lineups. The perfect example of that would be Michigan.

Yes, the Wolverines have been the better team this year, but that also has something to do with the matchup nightmares they’ve caused for the Spartans. They line up and run four-guard lineups, at times, and that forces Nick Ward out to the perimeter more than he would like.

In other instances, the screens and switches often lead to more mismatches and a shooter always seems to be wide open for an easy 3-point shot.

Michigan State doesn’t fare well with perimeter-heavy teams and that’s one of the biggest concerns heading into March.