Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from scary win over Portland

Nov 15, 2022; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo has a moment with Michigan State Spartans guard A.J. Hoggard (11) during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

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Is it too early to say survive and advance? OK, well I’m using that phrase anyways. Michigan State basketball survived a massive scare against Portland on Sunday night to win fifth place in the PKI.

It wasn’t quite the weekend Michigan State had expected, but it’s about as good as you could imagine without Malik Hall and Jaden Akins for all three games. Both guys missed the tournament and Hall is likely to be out three weeks and yet the Spartans still went 2-1 in the tourney, beating Oregon and Portland after losing to No. 18 Alabama in the opener.

Alabama lost to UConn and beat No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday in the third-place game.

Michigan State held a 12-point lead late against Portland but the Pilots battled back to only lose by one, 78-77. What’d we learn?

3. Inbounding against the press has become an issue

We saw this against Villanova, we saw it against Oregon, and now we saw it on Sunday night against Portland: Michigan State simply struggles to break the press.

At the end of all three of those games, Michigan State has turned the ball over a number of times, allowing each team to get back into it. The Spartans had a nine-point lead with 1:10 left and somehow Portland was able to cut it to one with 40 seconds left. That’s inexplicable.

Tom Izzo needs to practice breaking the press in practice with Joey Hauser inbounding and AJ Hoggard catching the ball in the corner. Both have struggled mightily.

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