Michigan State basketball came into Thursday night’s game with some confidence. The Spartans just beat the 12-2 USC Trojans by 29 points and didn’t play their best game, and they looked like a team that could run everyone off the floor.
Northwestern and Chris Collins, however, seem to have Tom Izzo’s number. The Wildcats were able to get the Spartans off their game through the first 30 minutes, and then they finally stepped on the gas and put them away in the final 10 to improve to 14-2 with a 76-66 win.
Izzo will probably have a lot to say about the turnover issue again, but you can’t be too upset with the result with Nick Martinelli having such a solid game.
What’d we learn from Michigan State’s 10-point win over the Wildcats?
1. Jeremy Fears Jr. is becoming more clutch
I remember a time when Jeremy Fears Jr. didn’t like to shoot the ball in situations where the clock was winding down, but he’s gaining a little bit of Cassius Winston to his game where he’s not afraid to take a defender one-on-one and hit a circus shot to demoralize the defense.
He made several key baskets with the shot clock winding down, and if he can add that to his bag, this offense becomes exponentially more dangerous.
The offense was a little off on Thursday, but Fears really picked it up with his 15 points and five assists with several clutch end-of-shot-clock makes.
2. The rotation might be shrinking
It may have been just for matchups, but Izzo didn’t exactly give Trey Fort, Jesse McCulloch, and Denham Wojcik quality minutes.
Fort finished with three minutes, Wojcik also played three, and McCulloch was only on the floor for a breath and came out after one minute. I don’t know if this was a matchup thing, but it feels like Izzo might be shortening the rotation for Big Ten play.
I hope not because I like Fort and McCulloch minutes.
3. Turnovers (again)
This is like the fourth or fifth straight game in which the Spartans have had a major turnover issue. They finished with 15 turnovers to just 17 assists on Thursday night, and that’s not exactly winning basketball. Earlier in the year, this wasn’t a problem, but it feels like some guys are forcing things.
Carson Cooper needs to be more confident in his dump-downs, Coen Carr needs to be more aggressive, and Jaxon Kohler also has to take advantage of mismatches.
The turnovers are atrocious, and that essentially falls on the point guard. Fears needs to run a more clean offense without letting the clock get away from him.
The turnovers need to be cut in half.