Michigan State basketball: The ramblings of a sad Spartan fan

Heartbreak. To be fingertips (literally and figuratively) away from the Elite Eight fills my mind with every “could’ve-would’ve-should’ve” in the book. Flat out, Michigan State basketball was good enough to win that game.

Over 50 percent from three, plus-6 on the rebounding advantage, and made 81 percent of their free throws (although, 86 percent would have won the game outright). The problem? Kansas State played at such a high level, that I was shocked that this game even went to overtime. All game, I felt that the Wildcats were always the better team, and the Spartans were just there to play catch-up.

You can’t help but think that it was just Kansas State’s day. A team that averages 14 turnovers a game commits just five, coming five days after Michigan State forced Marquette into 16 turnovers. That same Marquette team that committed the second-fewest turnovers in the Big East.

It was obvious that it was Markquis Nowell’s day, with a record-setting 19 assists with some of those passes that would make Peyton Manning blush. An inch too low or too high on more than a few of those passes and it turns into a turnover, which could have made all the difference on the scoreboard.

How about Ismael Massoud having a season-high in points and 3-pointers made? He’s a good basketball player, do not get me wrong, but to triple your season average in points and make double your average 3-point percentage is just a hot shooting day.

Every single starter with the exception of Desi Sills scored more than their average and a lot of that had to do with Michigan State having no answer for back-door cuts into easy layups, but not all of it. Sometimes you must tip your cap and realize that it was just their day to have a good day. I realized that when Nowell banked in that ridiculous 3-point shot in the second half.

But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be sad about this loss. I’m angry about the missed opportunities between the missed free throws down the stretch and the failures to defend. I’m frustrated with some of what Malik Hall does in sum total. I’m disappointed that the flaw of not having an alpha dawg on this team reared its ugly head on the last possession of overtime. I’m tired of Izzo not having a second title to really cement his name on the all-time greats list. Not that they were the clear favorite to win it this year, but with the unpredictability in the tourney this year, this was a golden opportunity to shock the world.

And they couldn’t. They could’ve, but they didn’t, and a loss this close stings all that much more.

I’ll think about this one a lot. I’ll think about this one the way I thought about that Iowa game (I swear this will be the last time I bring it up). It felt like that loss would be the last thing I thought about before I went to bed and the first thing that would pop into my head when I woke up. For a few days, that was the case. But as the days went on, I thought about it less than the day before. Then one day, I didn’t think about it at all.

In the moment, it’s hard to call the season a complete success because of what was potentially ahead in the tournament. It’s also my belief that the goal for Michigan State every year until Izzo retires is to win a national championship, and by those standards, the season was not a success. But by no means was it a failure.

Box scores and statistics are great and provide great value but the development and growth of a lot of these players gives me hope. Let’s say Joey Hauser, Hall, and Tyson Walker leave (this is the worst-case scenario), I have watched AJ Hoggard, Jaden Akins, Mady Sissoko, and Jaxon Kohler (on a smaller scale) take monster steps in growth, smarts and lastly, stats. This team will be loaded with leadership and skilled veteran players, and with an injection of young NBA potential talent (something MSU has lacked) coming in, it’s hard not to get excited for next season.

Plus, we get to do this rollercoaster all over again with football coming up in a short five months. So, eat your vegetables and lift those weights because our collective hearts will be stressed to the max for 3.5 hours, once a week for 13 weeks. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.