If you love offense, Friday night’s Michigan State vs. Northern Iowa game was for you. The Spartans ended up stepping on the gas and pulling away, 106-72.
Northern Illinois couldn’t keep up with the Spartans’ red-hot offense that broke a school record (you’ll read that in a minute). The unconscious offense held off the high-scoring Panthers who were averaging 93 points per game entering Friday night’s matchup. The defense hit a wall, but suffocated Northern Iowa late.
The Spartans are clicking at the right time with a huge road game against Tennessee looming — no trap here.
This was the best the offense has looked in a decade
The last time that I watched an offense and felt like it was going to score on every single possession was back in 2015-16 when Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes were shooting the lights out of the ball. I had the same feeling on Friday night.
Granted, the Spartans were playing Northern Iowa, but they also looked good offensively against Duke, Toledo, and Quinnipiac. I would say it’s an outlier, but it’s not through four games.
Everyone was hitting shots and the ball movement was elite, leading to the Spartans’ first 100-point game of the season and third 90-plus point game. The Spartans shot over 50 percent from the floor and it broke a program record for 3-pointers made in a game (18).
If not for a lull when the deep reserves came in late, Michigan State probably would have scored 115.
It’s almost like the poor offensive performance we saw in the two exhibition losses meant nothing.
Jasiah Jervis is a pro
It’s not often that a true freshman comes along and looks like an NBA player in their first few games, but Jasiah Jervis looks like a pro.
The freshman shooting guard had 20 of the smoothest points, on 7-of-9 shooting, that you’ll ever see. He may be the calmest freshman that Izzo has coached since Gary Harris — there’s a reason the two have been compared. Jervis can handle the ball, run the offense, hunt his own shots, and he’s a willing defender.
Scouts have to be watching this Michigan State and drooling over the talent and potential of several players, most notably Jervis.
The center spot is still a mystery
It was mostly good across the board for Michigan State on Friday night, but the center spot is still a little puzzling. Anton Bonke got the start, played seven minutes, and scored zero points with three fouls and three turnovers. He was bad, to put it bluntly.
Ethan Taylor played nine minutes off the bench and scored four with four rebounds and two blocks but he made some freshman mistakes like putting the ball on the floor in traffic after catching it up high in the post. He looked like he could be the guy at center, but he is still raw.
McCulloch played 16 minutes and looked like the best option, scoring seven with five rebounds, and a steal. He can stretch the floor, too, hitting a couple of threes. The only problem there would be the fact that he’s more of a natural four. He’s shown he can play the five and it looks like he may be the guy there.
It’s still a mystery as to who the starter should be, but it should probably be between McCulloch and Taylor at this point.
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