Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State basketball: Did the Spartans listen to me?

By Scott Tolonen

Michigan State's A.J. Hoggard, left, scores as Ohio State's Justice Sueing defends during the second half on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.230304 Msu Ohio State 149a
Michigan State's A.J. Hoggard, left, scores as Ohio State's Justice Sueing defends during the second half on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.230304 Msu Ohio State 149a /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Michigan State’s Tyson Walker, left, celebrates after forcing a Rutgers turnover during the first half on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.230119 Msu Rutgers Bball 051a
Michigan State’s Tyson Walker, left, celebrates after forcing a Rutgers turnover during the first half on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.230119 Msu Rutgers Bball 051a /

3. The bigs’ time to shine

Twelve points between Mady Sissoko, Jaxon Kohler, and Carson Cooper may not look exciting on a stat sheet, but the eye test says these guys played a superb 34 minutes of basketball. The other six minutes? Sissoko and Cooper forgot that there was a player named Josh Morgan and let him slip behind them quite a few times.

To be fair, I told them to sell out to defend Boogie Ellis and Chris Peterson but Sissoko and Cooper were late getting back. Again, credit the team for fixing that after halftime.

Concerning defense, I loved what I saw from Sissoko with two blocks, five rebounds, and two thunderous dunks, but it was the Cooper show when it comes to big men. Huge minutes from a guy who doesn’t get many. He had a couple of nice buckets, drew fouls, and also grabbed four boards. The big men were plus players today.

Home/Spartans Basketball