A familiar weakness reared its ugly head against Michigan State on Saturday afternoon against Louisville, but I’m not ready to pull all the blame on the Spartans.
Michigan State’s perimeter defense has been an issue for a good chunk of the year, and when the Spartans really struggle to slow heavy-volume 3-point shooting teams down, they usually lose.
Fortunately, Louisville’s 13 threes in the second-round matchup with the Spartans didn’t bury Tom Izzo’s team. The Cardinals went 13-for-37 from deep which may not sound like a hot shooting day, but it kept them in the game when it looked like Michigan State was going to put the nail in the coffin.
Michigan State gave up 37 attempts from deep not only because Louisville shoots a lot and kind of relied on them late, but because they were often open. They did hit some prayers, but they missed a lot of open ones, too.
Outside of Louisville’s Isaac McKneely, no one was forcing up potentially “bad” shots for the Cardinals. Most of their 3-point attempts with comfortably shot. Yes, Michigan State was able to get a hand in their faces for a lot of them, but they had time to set up and get good shots off. That problem is exactly what plagued the Spartans against UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament.
If you’re Izzo, you take the 77-69 win and you’re thrilled by the production that you got from Trey Fort off the bench for a second straight game.
But the 3-point defense is slightly worrisome.
This was a game that Michigan State dominated
Michigan State pretty much dominated every statistical category against Louisville.
The Spartans shot better from the floor, the free throw line, and from deep, they out-rebounded Louisville, out-assisted Louisville, and pretty much out-hustled and out-coached Louisville, but the execution was lacking for most of the first half and a chunk of the second half.
I had a feeling the 3-point defense was going to struggle with McNeely, but the switches often left guys open in the corner or at the top of the key for open shots.
Michigan State has to tighten that up next weekend with an Elite Eight and maybe even a Final Four on the line. Two more wins get the Spartans to Indianapolis.