Michigan State Basketball: 3 quick reactions to disappointing loss at Ohio State

Michigan State basketball had to travel to Ohio after being bullied in Ann Arbor. They were fatigued and outworked in another loss. What did we notice?

Michigan State went down big early, forgetting how to play defense against another top offensive team. This lack of intense defense led to a double-digit deficit within the first 2:20 of the game. That was the deciding factor as the Spartans lost by 11 when the final buzzer rang.

This Michigan State team has struggled to come out of the gate running and looking like they want to play the game. In this game, they let their opponent get a hot start (scoring 10-plus points in the first five minutes of the game), and when the Spartans do that they have a record of 4-5.

When the Spartans get off to a hot start themselves, they have a record of 4-1 and that lone loss is to Michigan in Ann Arbor who they also let get off to a hot start.

The way Michigan State’s schedule played out did not do this team any favors. They had one of the hardest Februarys in the conference. Before this, they had a softer schedule and those hot starts they let their opponents have were not good enough to keep that momentum. Now that they have a harder schedule it almost seems like these Spartans think they can make up a hot start from their opponents but clearly, that is not the case since they could never come back from an early 11-point deficit and ended up losing by 11.

With this, let’s get into what my reactions are from this one.