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Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from pull-away win over WMU

By Connor Muldowney

Dec 6, 2020; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Rocket Watts (2) signals to his team as they get back on defense during the first half against the Western Michigan Broncos at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2020; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Rocket Watts (2) signals to his team as they get back on defense during the first half against the Western Michigan Broncos at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Another game, another sloppy performance against an inferior opponent. Michigan State basketball had a tough time with Western on Sunday.

It took a while for Michigan State to finally get it going and put Western Michigan away, but the Spartans figured it out before it was too late, going on a 20-7 run to end the game with a 79-51 victory.

Joey Hauser had a career game with 24 points, Aaron Henry added 12 points and Rocket Watts had 10 points with six assists as he’s growing into that point guard role.

Michigan State shot 52 percent from the floor and over 40 percent from deep so offense wasn’t an issue, but the defense continues to get gashed in the paint and that needs to be focused on moving forward for Tom Izzo, especially with Virginia next on the schedule.

What’d we learn from Sunday’s win?

3. Turnovers continue to be a major problem

If you know anything about Michigan State basketball, you probably know that turnovers have been a consistent theme over the years.

It continued on Sunday night despite just 11 total turnovers.

That was never more evident than when Michigan State was up 11 in the second half and looking like it was about to just run away with a win, the Spartans had five turnovers in about three minutes of action, allowing the Broncos to claw back into the game. Western Michigan went on a 9-0 run to make it 52-50 before the Spartans extended that lead again.

Against Detroit Mercy, turnovers and poor defense were what let the Titans hang in the game as the massive underdog. The same happened with the Broncos.

Tom Izzo knows that turnovers continue to be an issue for this team, so expect that to remain a focal point at practice moving forward — especially with a defensive team like Virginia next up on the schedule.

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