Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from horrendous loss vs. Indiana

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 02: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans during a game against the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half at Breslin Center on February 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 02: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans during a game against the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half at Breslin Center on February 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 02: De’Ron Davis #20 of the Indiana Hoosiers drives to the basket and draws a foul from Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Breslin Center on February 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 02: De’Ron Davis #20 of the Indiana Hoosiers drives to the basket and draws a foul from Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Breslin Center on February 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

4. Michigan State played soft for first time this year

There were times last season where it looked like the Spartans were just playing soft, which is saying a lot since that team finished with just three losses before the NCAA Tournament and was the most talented in the Tom Izzo era.

Everyone knew they had to toughen up in 2018-19, especially after losing Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. to the NBA.

Thus far, the Spartans have been one of the toughest teams in the country and arguably the most gritty in the Big Ten. They like to get scrappy, fight for rebounds and take it to the post for easy buckets, forcing opponents to foul just to stop them.

None of that happened against Indiana.

Michigan State settled for threes, struggled to get the ball into the post and didn’t exactly win 50/50 battles for the ball. The hustle just wasn’t there. The grit was missing. This team was soft for the first time this season.

Tom Izzo needs to bring out the football pads at practice this week to prepare for the most important stretch of games this season because soft play won’t win many games.

Home/Spartans Basketball