Michigan State Basketball: 3 quick reactions to grind out win against Maryland

Michigan State basketball started its tough month with a road win against an underachieving Maryland team. They didn’t play to their best abilities.

Rolling into the XFINITY Center, the Spartans were coming off a great win against Michigan. They started strong, getting out to a 10-point lead.

Early in the second half, the Spartans got the lead up to 15 points. However, it was from then on that they started to play Maryland basketball and not their own brand.

With only six weeks left until Selection Sunday, the Spartans still clearly have a long way to go and some stuff to work out before then. Gabe Brown has all but disappeared and the other Spartans are not playing consistently and not their best. This was the case once again against the Terrapins.

Here are three quick reactions to this game.

3. Extra passes should not be the top priority

This team is always looking for the extra pass and getting teammates going. They have a high assist rate like most Tom Izzo-coached teams do. However, these extra passes or kicks-outs are hurting this team, at times.

On two separate occasions with two different Spartans, they turned the ball over trying to make a difficult pass instead of going up and taking a shot to try and draw the foul. Joey Hauser (who has been playing really well) drove to the basket and when he got there, instead of going up strong when he got cut off, he tried to make a circus pass behind him above his head.

Hauser should have gone up strong it would have probably sent him to the line for two free shots. However, this errant pass led to a turnover and a fast-break opportunity for Maryland. A similar thing happened a few possessions later, only it was Tyson Walker this time.

Walker had a lane to the basket and he drove. He had a defender there but the defender was not in great position. He could have gone up strong created contact and gotten a foul. Instead, he saw Gabe Brown open in the corner and tried to make a skip pass to him. What Walker did not see was a streaking defender who ran into the pass and was able to catch the ball for the steal.

This happens frequently to this team. They are sometimes too reliant on the pass when they should drive and be strong. If this team could go up strong and get to the free throw line they could be even more dangerous.