Michigan State Basketball: 3 keys to turnaround after horrid Big Ten start

2. Getting Rocket Watts, Joey Hauser going

A few weeks ago, I did a little research into Rocket Watts and Joey Hauser and their impact — both positive and negative — on Michigan State’s success. When they both play well at the same time, Michigan State is extremely difficult to beat. When one plays well, the Spartans are beatable. When neither play well, the Spartans can almost sharpie in a loss.

In fact, when Rocket scores less than nine points, Michigan State is 1-4. When he scores more than nine points, the Spartans are 7-0. He has had a tough time getting going consistently.

As for Hauser, Michigan State is just 2-3 when he scores less than 10 points. He has just 29 points over his past four games after scoring a career-high 27 against Wisconsin. He has looked like a shell of himself and the Spartan offense has struggled.

In games when both score in double figures, Michigan State is 4-0.

That means that Tom Izzo needs to figure out how to get both of these guys going at the same time consistently while allowing Aaron Henry to be ‘the guy’ still.

If the Spartans flash that ‘Big 3’ — or ‘Big 4’ with Joshua Langford — consistently, this team will be scary down the stretch.