After a quick two-game West Coast swing, Michigan State basketball will be back in East Lansing for a weekend before heading back on the road to Rutgers.
The one-game home stand will give the Spartans an opportunity to recharge and get their legs back after the time zone change they’ve experienced over the past week. Plus, they’ll get to face a Maryland team that isn’t exactly pulling off too many upsets this season. The Terrapins are just 8-11 on the year and 1-7 in Big Ten play. Not a great start for Buzz Williams in College Park.
This is a game in which Michigan State absolutely needs to dominate.
Here's what I'd like to see from the Spartans on Saturday.
1. Jaxon Kohler getting back on track
Seeing Jaxon Kohler struggle is tough because you know it’s not for lack of effort. The senior big man is going through a mini slump which is probably especially frustrating since he hasn’t had one of those yet this season. He’s been as consistent as anyone on the roster, and he’s trying to avoid letting this mini slump spiral out of control.
Kohler scoring his usual 15 points with 10 rebounds — or even a 10-10 game — would be nice. It would get him some of that confidence back entering a big stretch at the end of January and into February.
The senior big man’s confidence is a key to this team’s success.
2. A full 40-minute effort
The quick two-game West Coast road trip was not exactly a perfect showing for Michigan State although it did pick up two double-digit wins over Oregon and Washington to improve to 17-2 on the season. Even in the two games before that against Northwestern and Indiana, the Spartans struggled for long stretches before eventually pulling away.
I’d like to see more of a complete 40-minute effort where the turnovers are minimal, the shooting is above average, and the defense is elite. It’s been too long since we’ve seen one of those games — probably the USC game to begin the new year.
3. Trey Fort minutes
Earlier this week in Eugene, Trey Fort got some extra minutes with Kur Teng apparently struggling on the defensive end of the floor — I think the whole country heard about that. And Fort did the most with his extra minutes, putting together a nice outing on the offensive end with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
I’d like to see more minutes for Fort, showing that Izzo is starting to really trust in the senior transfer from Samford. He’s gotten plenty of tough love already in his Spartan career, it’d be nice if it paid off with a bigger role down the stretch.
Let’s see two straight good games from Fort.