Michigan State Basketball: Report card for bounce-back win over Minnesota

Kyle Ahrens was one of three players to play 18 minutes off the bench, scoring four points with three rebounds. He wasn’t overly productive, but he played solid defense and didn’t turn the ball over. He made 2-of-4 shots from the field but missed his only three. Michigan State will need him to shoot more off the bench moving forward.

Xavier Tillman had a roller-coaster of a game coming off a career-high 16 points scored against Illinois last time out. He finished with seven points, four rebounds, two assists and an impressive one-handed steal, but he turned the ball over three times and had four fouls. For that up-and-down outing, he earned himself a B-.

If you’re not on board the Thomas Kithier bandwagon, you might just miss out. The freshman big man flashed Matt Costello-like qualities in his season-high 18 minutes of play, filling in quite nicely for an injured Kenny Goins. It felt like he had far more than just three rebounds, but he was all over the place, scoring a career-high six points, too. He also played solid defense against the Minnesota bigs who looked like they should just overpower him. This kid has some serious potential and could help down the stretch.

When you look at Foster Loyer’s stat line, you’d be led to believe he had the worst game of his career, but in reality, he wasn’t all that bad. He didn’t score, had three turnovers and two fouls in 11 minutes on 0-for-2 shooting, but he did have an assist to Thomas Kithier — although it doesn’t show up on the state sheet, for some reason. He didn’t completely blow the lead when filling in for Cassius Winston, and that’s big to see.

Where have Gabe Brown’s minutes gone? Everyone wanted to see him play more after Josh Langford’s injury, but the sharpshooter got just five minutes of court time, going 1-for-3 from the floor and 0-for-1 from distance. He did have four points and two rebounds, but when he starts defending better, he will see more time.

Everyone wants to see Marcus Bingham Jr. on the court much more than he currently plays. He’s usually run out there with the human victory cigars in the final ticks, but he did play seven minutes on Saturday afternoon but didn’t score on three shots. He grabbed three rebounds, had an assists and a nice block, but needs to make the open shots when he gets them — let’s call it rust.

There were others who entered the game off the bench, and Conner George had a nifty move to score two in the final minute, but they didn’t see enough action to merit a grade.