Michigan State Basketball: Report card for gutsy road win over Michigan

Something might be going on with Kyle Ahrens and that back of his as he just looked a step slow, at times, against the Wolverines. He missed both of his 3-point attempts and one didn’t even graze the rim. He went 1-for-2 from the foul line but did have three rebounds and three steals in 22 minutes. The junior wing is just trying to get his confidence back after a plethora of tweaks to the back.

A guy who continues to give good minutes off the bench is Thomas Kithier. The freshman big man from Clarkston scored in his third straight game, and played solid defense. He finished with 11 minutes of action where he scored an easy bucket in the paint, grabbed three rebounds and had a big block late. He’s gaining confidence with Nick Ward out and playing quality minutes. He could have scored more, but Cassius Winston didn’t push the issue with him running the floor effectively.

We didn’t see much of Gabe Brown as he was in there to guard the wing and provide breaks for the Spartan wings, but he was a bit jittery, getting called for goaltending and not being able to use that length to block layups. He finished with just five minutes and did have one block, but he didn’t take a shot and you have to think he’s in the game to be a sharpshooter.

Overall, it was a gutsy win for Michigan State and if you’re going to give out grades for the coaching staff, it would have to be a collective A as Tom Izzo coached one heck of a game.