Michigan State basketball: 3 quick reactions to loss against No. 3 Kansas

Tuesday night marked a return for college basketball with ESPN’s coverage of the State Farm Champions Classic featuring Michigan State basketball, Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky.

Entering the season, Michigan State was looking for something to prove, as they are unranked, the most votes for a team outside of the top 25. Big Ten teams such as Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, and Maryland are ahead of them.

Turnovers were the clear highlight of the Spartans’ first game. They had 16 turnovers, which led to a loss against Kansas, 87-74.

Michigan State basketball knows where it stands vs. elite teams

With 16:07 to play, the Spartans started moving the ball well and gained enough momentum to force a Kansas timeout. That seemed to be the best it would get.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas pointed it out during the game, but the discipline has been lacking in the last few seasons for Michigan State. It was clear in this game. Between that and a technical foul fiasco with Tom Izzo, the Spartans looked like they have potential, with clear stuff to work on.

The easy benefit to an early neutral-court game against Kansas, the No. 3 team in the country, is that one can easily imagine where they stack up against a top team. A loss is far more likely, but at least it hurts you less in the rankings, and you are thrown to the deep end earlier.

In the end, it’s pretty simple: Kansas is a better basketball team than Michigan State. The Spartans lacked fundamentals, and AJ Hoggard looked like the best player in green on the floor. He wasn’t even a starter. Hoggard shot 62 percent from the floor with 17 points. Meanwhile, starting center Marcus Bingham Jr. had 10 points, freshman Max Christie had nine points, and Joey Hauser scored eight.

The loss may sting a bit for Michigan State, and it should. Sloppy fundamentals, poor execution, and a lack of any outstanding performance really held the Spartans down all game. Kansas was able to do everything it wanted.

Here are my three instant reactions.

1. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers

Michigan State’s turnovers continue to be a problem. Drinking each time the word “turnover” was mentioned would be a dangerous game.

That seemed to be the story for the Spartans. It’s an issue that may carry on for the rest of the season. Even after addressing the highlight issue at halftime, they continued to give the ball away. Whether it’s lazy passing or giving Kansas fast breaks towards the other end, it was sloppy and frustrating to watch.

Tyson Walker and A.J. Hoggard combined for six turnovers. Hoggard seemingly carried the offense, but it was a sloppy game filled with careless mistakes.

2. No answer for Ochai Agbaji

It was the Ochai Agbaji show at Madison Square Garden and Michigan State had no answer. All game long, the Spartans failed to combat him. Even if you omit the Spartans’ matchup issue against Agbaji, there were plenty of problems elsewhere.

Six dunks for Kansas, compared with one for Michigan State; Kansas led 20-11 in fast-break points; Agbaji led the Jayhawks with 29 points.

The Spartans just looked outmatched in every facet of the game.

3. Freshmen weren’t impressive and starters weren’t great

For the newbies, there wasn’t much to discuss. Sure, Max Christie had a debut, but that’s it — a debut. He ended up finishing with nine points, but it was less than exciting. Jaden Akins wasn’t close, at all. In fact, he went 0-for-3 from the field, 0-for-1 from 3-point range, with only a free throw to show for his minutes.

Even some starters had a lackluster first game. Michigan State’s bench had a big performance: Julius Marble and Hoggard combined for 30 points.

It wasn’t the best start to the season, but that’s what these games are for, right? Michigan State was underwhelming against Kansas, but they weren’t boat raced. The competition was there and it was largely an entertaining game to watch. It still would’ve at least been nice to see the Spartans play with a notion that they actually care about the basketball after this game.