Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from win over Georgia Southern

1. The second-half defense was disappointing

How did Michigan State respond to one of its best first-half defensive efforts in recent memory? Oh, just by giving up 44 points and letting the Eagles of Georgia Southern make seven straight field goals at one point in time.

Sure, some of the second-half makes by Georgia Southern were just really good makes against tough defense, but others were just wide-open buckets — including an out-of-bounds bucket where Tyson Walker was just standing still. Tom Izzo is going to look at the film and be disappointed in the defensive effort in the second half.

I’m not sure how you can go from smothering a team and holding it to just 11 points in the first half just to give up that many points before the under-four media timeout in the second half.

Allowing 44 points in 20 minutes to an 0-6 visiting mid-major is just unacceptable.